William Styron

At 60, when he gave up alcohol (“an invaluable senior partner to my intellect”), Styron fell victim to depression. Visiting Paris to receive an award for “Sophie’s Choice”, he was overcome by a pain of “ferocious inwardness”. “Darkness Visible” (1990), his last work, was an unflinching study of this “despair beyond despair”. Depression, Styron argued, was not a matter of frailty or weakness but of unendurable pain; a death sentence…

… In 1985 Styron decided to take his own life. To his immense annoyance, he found that eloquent parting words failed him. Unabled to compose a suicide note, he abandoned the idea… (The Economist, November 11)

そう簡単に決められないんや。この病を経験し、命を絶とうとした人なら、理解できる。