Leeds Book Club will be participating in the Arts and Minds Network's new project on raising awareness of mental health issues.
The Why...
A few years ago, I inadvertently turned my mother off a
whole swath of books with one flippant remark.
Allow me to explain.
I have someone in my life who lives with mental health
issues.
Most of the time, that's by the by.
They just get on with it but every now and again, they suffer with
mental health issues, or they live in
spite of mental health issues.
And - as is always the case with a new friend - I began to learn a
little bit more about living with a disorder and the way that mental health difficulties are portrayed, just by having this person in my life.
A few years later, I went book shopping with my mum. We
picked up a very popular thriller - one of those books that has brought
saturation marketing to its knees and, despite our having very different tastes
in our literary choices, we had both read it.
My mum thought the story had been all right, but nothing to get
too excited about. I concurred, following up that it only worked because of
'convenient crazy person' bigotry, or (my preferred term)
mad-person-itis.
The Definition Bit:
What I mean by this is that the plot, crime and resolution only
worked as a coherent whole because - as an audience - we
are inured to that most useful of devices - blaming the mad person.
Sometimes
this is a stranger that unexpectedly shows up. However, more often than not, it involves
creating a hidden back-story for a character, giving them a form of mental
health disorder (the more controversial the better) and blaming the
whole of the crime on them.
As an added benefit, an author doesn't even have to provide a
decent motive. After all, they are a crazy person. They don't need one to head
off on a crime-spee. Right?
Most of the time, this device allows the reader the fallacy that a
criminal couldn't possibly be one of 'us' (one of the primary protagonists), it
must be An Other. It must be someone who is fundamentally flawed, someone
broken on the inside, someone...MENTAL.
The truth of the matter is that when I was a kid, no one really
talked about mental health problems, but it was recognised that you'd likely
know someone with a few issues.
Today, they estimate that 1 in 4 people in the UK will experience
some form of mental health issue in the course
of a year. 1 in 10 children
will suffer from a mental health issue at any one time.
Oh, and in a glorious acknowledgement of our tendency to vilify
rather than treat appropriately, only 1 in 10 of those incarcerated in prisons
will have NO mental disorder.
The Project
The Arts and Minds Network in Leeds is determined to use 2013 to raise
awareness and promote positive mental health via the arts. (Tweet them @ArtsMindsLeeds)
They have compiled a reading list with Leeds Libraries, NHS Leeds
and Leeds Waterstones. The plan is to read and review one book a month creating
a conversation on and about the realities of mental health issues versus the
depictions in the books and therefore the stereotypes that ‘regular’ people buy
into.
Here at Leeds Book Club, we think that’s INSPIRED! After all, I
acquired most of my social skills from books (explains a great deal!) and I’m
not alone. So many of us use literature to inform our day to day lives. Where
information is clearly out dated (racist passages for example), it’s interesting to see how much society has
changed. However, where changes are taking place in the contemporary world, the
facts can all become a little fuzzy. The only way to really change a situation
like this is to increase dialogue about it.
Each month, a variety of book clubbers will be providing a review of
the book, paying special attention to descriptions, characters and plot that
include those facing mental health issues. Hopefully, we will then take part in
a vibrant discussion online, on social media and IRL at book clubs.
The List
Feb: The Silver Linings Play Book - Matthew Quick
Mar: The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
Apr: I had a black dog - Matthew Johnson
May: Why be happy when you can be normal - Jeanette Winterson
Jun: Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allan
Jul: 01 - Birthday Letters - Ted Hughes
Jul: 02 - Ariel - Sylvia Plath
Aug: Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald
Sep: Day - A L Kennedy
Oct: Notes from an exhibition - Patrick Gale
Nov: A life too short - Ronald Reng
Dec: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
This is just the starting point. I’d like to invite
anyone who is interested to submit their own thoughts, reviews, recommendations,
playlists, videos - anything at all to enhance our conversation. Ideally I'd love to have more than one perspective on each piece selected - particularly the Ted Hughes/ Sylvia Plath choices!
Where indicated, I’ll happily post blog posts anonymously – I appreciate
that not everyone will want to discuss their personal reflections on a sensitive topic on a public
forum like this. Obviously, on the other hand, I'll also include links to twitter names, your blogs and so on.
Also, read any books that feature mental health? Then let us know - the good, the bad and the ugly!
*Update - like any other really annoying thing, my mother has subsequently informed
me that since our conversation, she now notices mad-person-itis everywhere - in
films, on TV and in books and it ruins her enjoyment of them. We both of us think its very lazy writing.
She's thrilled with me for pointing it out.
Really.
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Mental Health Reading Challenge
Blurbs for the books!
Podcast with Tom at Arts and Minds Leeds
Write Up's
Dec - Jane Eyre - GUEST
Nov - A life too short - GUEST
Oct - Notes from an exhibition - GUEST
Sep - Day - GUEST
Aug - Tender is the Night - GUEST
Jul - Ariel - GUEST
Jul - Birthday Letters - GUEST
Jun - Poppy Shakespeare - GUEST
May - Why be happy when you can be normal - GUEST
Apr - I had a black dog - GUEST
Mar - The Psychopath Test - GUEST
Feb - The Silver Linings Play Book - GUEST
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Table of Contents - Guest Stars
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Full Table of Contents
