Darkness Visible, a book following a man and his journey through depression.

I have just finishing reading a book called Darkness Visible by an acclaimed writer named William Styron. This book is about him and his battle with severe depression, he takes you through a detailed guide of his fight with the illness and his inability in coping to such an extent that suicide, seemed like the only option. The way he wrote the book is fantastic, the descriptive language used in order to portray in words the pain he endured is just incredible.

 One of the biggest problems with depression is our inability to translate what we feel verbally to others, thus leading to a build-up of bottled emotion and causing a lack of understanding towards the illness by those not in its grasp. But Styron accomplishes this task effortlessly in his writing. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who suffers with the illness or would like to understand it more, reading such a book could help some people to understand the distressing ramifications this affliction can have on those unfortunate enough to be effected by it. It is only a short book, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.

One section of the book that I really enjoyed is his use of part of a poem by a 12th century poet named Dante Alighieri. Styron used the end of the poem as a metaphor for those suffering with tremendous mental anguish.

"In the middle of the journey of our life

I found myself in a dark wood,

For I had lost the right path" 

This passage may seem simplistic in nature, but I feel it relays a rather powerful message.