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Melankolinin Anatomisi #1
Η ανατομία της μελαγχολίας - Ο πρώτος διαμελισμός: Ο Δημόκριτος ο νεότερος στον αναγνώστη
Αν τα τρία από τα τέσσερα βιβλία που πρέπει να διαθέτει ένας Άγγλος είναι η Βίβλος, ο Σαίξπηρ και ο Τσώσερ, το τέταρτο είναι απαραιτήτως Ανατομία της μελαγχολίας. Η περιβόητη πραγματεία που έγραψε στα τέλη της Αναγέννησης ο θεολόγος Robert Burton (1577-1640) είναι αφενός μία σπουδή πάνω στη σκοτεινή αρρώστια που σήμερα ονομάζουμε κατάθλιψη, αφετέρου μία μνημειώδης αφήγηση της ανθρώπινης συνθήκης. Παράλληλα συνιστά και ένα απολαυστικό, ψυχαγωγικό ανάγνωσμα, αντίδοτο στην αρρώστια. Είναι, ακόμη, η γραφή ενός ισόβιο αναγνώστη, βιβλίο καμωμένο από βιβλία· τράπεζα της πνευματικής μνήμης, δεξαμενή γνωμών και φθεγμάτων, ανοίγεται εγκυκλοπαιδικά σε κάθε περιοχή του επιστητού, υφαίνοντας έναν γιγάντιο ιστό από αναφορές και πραθέματα (1.598 συγγραφείς δανείζουν τη φωνή τους στο κείμενο).
Η Ανατομία της μελαγχολίας συγκέντρωσε ήδη από την έκδοσή της υπερθετικές και μόνον κρίσεις και απέκτησε φανατικό κοινό, ασκώντας εξάλλου ισχυρή επίδραση σε κορυφαίες προσωπικότητες των γραμμάτων (από τον Μίλτωνα και τον Κητς έως τον Μπέκετ και τον Μπόρχες).
Χρειάστηκε να περάσουν σχεδόν τέσσερις αιώνες μέχρι το "απόκρυφο" αυτό αριστούργημα να αποκαλυφθεί και στον μη αγγλόφωνο αναγνώστη. Στα ελληνικά παραδίδεται για πρώτη φορά.
Η Ανατομία της μελαγχολίας συγκέντρωσε ήδη από την έκδοσή της υπερθετικές και μόνον κρίσεις και απέκτησε φανατικό κοινό, ασκώντας εξάλλου ισχυρή επίδραση σε κορυφαίες προσωπικότητες των γραμμάτων (από τον Μίλτωνα και τον Κητς έως τον Μπέκετ και τον Μπόρχες).
Χρειάστηκε να περάσουν σχεδόν τέσσερις αιώνες μέχρι το "απόκρυφο" αυτό αριστούργημα να αποκαλυφθεί και στον μη αγγλόφωνο αναγνώστη. Στα ελληνικά παραδίδεται για πρώτη φορά.
648 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1621
34 people are currently reading
573 people want to read
About the author
Robert Burton
27 books145 followersRobert Burton was an English scholar, born in 1577. Entered Brasenose College, Oxford, 1593. Student of Christ Church, 1599; B.D., 1614 and Vicar of St. Thomas's, Oxford, 1616, and rector of Seagrave from 1630 until his death in 1640. Best known for writing The Anatomy of Melancholy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
November 16, 2017
ciddiye alamadım adamı, vallahi güldüm bazen. sorun adamda değil sorun benim bu kitabı okurken fazla sarcastic olmam. nys.
kitaba gelirsem, d&r'da 9,90 standından aldım ta ne zaman (hala 9,90 sitede), müthiş bir eser beklemiyordum zaten (melankoli üstüne olacak da ben bilmicem, hehe). beklentim biraz bilimsel çokça felsefik bir kitaptı. alırken de 1. fasikül zımbırtısına dikkat etmemiştim- etmiş de olabilirim.
eser, ilk kez 1621'de basılmış, 17 yy for god sake. eğer felsefesi ağır basan bi kitap olsaydı, sorun olmazdı ama bu fasikül tamamen insan vücudunu izah ediyor, bir takım meselelerin tezahürünü (dışkılama, nefes, ruh vs) anlatıyor, ON YEDİNCİ YÜZYIL BİLİMİYLE. hadi bunları arada felsefe öğretileri ile özdeştirseydi gene neyse...
yani bazen 'oha bu o dönemde biliniyor muymuş' dediğim oldu ama bazı şeylere de 'kanki bi mantık yürüt iki dk' demekten kendimi alamadım. Bu tamamen çağlar arasındaki gelişim ve 2., 3. fasükülün fln eksikliği.
tavsiyem, 1. başlığın 5. maddesini okusanız yeter gibi. devam fasiküllerden daha umutluyum.
hatta hatta şu linkten çok ponçik bi şekilde mizacınızı öğrebilirsiniz.
melankoliye neden kara safra demişler anlamadım. ahlat-ı erbaadan geliyor, sevda ile özdeşiyor. tdk'nin melankoli tanımı da zaten sevda, kara sevda demek. üfff. Humoral Patoloji Teorisi diye ararsanız daha iyi sonuç alırsınız.
ekşiden falan okuyun daha çok bilgi var adsasdf
Burton, rahip ve oxfordta 'araştırma görevlisi' (scholar) imiş (klise yollamış, eğer yanlış okumadıysam). İslam'a (arap diye değil, türk diye geçiyor, türklerin Kur'an'ı gibi) hatta tevrat ve zebura (ki bu iki din, hristiyanlık ve islamla, sanırım hristiyan çevrelerce rakip görülmediğinden islamdan daha ponçik geliyor, masalsı yanlarını körüklüyor diye düşünüyorum, kendinden önce gelmiş çünkü, kitapta da öyle) atıp tutup eziklemesini hristiyanlığına versem de anlamış değilim. çünkü matertalist-rasyonalist kafayla falan yaklaşıyor desem, değil, çağdaş kliseci kafasıyla yaklaşıyor desem, değil, hristiyanlığı da ezdi asdfasasdf o yüzden adamın öznel düşüncelerini anlamakta zorlandım. depresyondan muzdaripmiş zaten, BELLİ.
Avamı da eziyor ki 1. fasikülün 2. başlığının yazılma amacı, melankoliyi anlatırken kullanacağı terimleri falan anlamamız içinmiş, ay götüm asdfasd
dediğim gibi felsefik bi kitap olsaydı, 1. fasikül için bile, sorun olmazdı, ne haddime, 'düşünce' okuyor olurdum. ancak iş karaciğer, beyin zarı, kol bacak, safraya dönünce benim için *meh*leşti. keşke humoral patalojiyi anlatsaymış, inş 2 ve 3'te vardır. ve yine diyorum, çağ farkındaki gelişim yüzünden mehleşiyor, yoksa kendimi sarcasm'dan arındırdığım anlarda bayıldım kitabın o bölümlerine bile.
ve tahmin edin.
ne olmasını bekliyordunuz adsfadsf
denedim, herkeste tuttu!
nys kısa keseyim, kitaba zaten 60. sayfadan sonra başlıyorsunuz, öncesinde çevirmen önsözü, yeni demokritos mahlasıyla burton'nun kendini, kitabı anlattığı ve önüne geleni ezikleyip sokratvari bir havada da mütevazıcılık oynadığı metinler var. yalnız "Önmuhakeme" kısmı hoştu.
1. Başlık kısmından da çok zevk alarak okudum. zaten sürekli alıntı yaptığı (ya öyle ki bazen satırlarca 'şu bilgi için, bilmemnenin şu kitabı, falancanın şu ciltinin şu bendi' gibi atıflarda bulunuyor) ve 'araştırma görevlisi' olduğu için tez okuyormuşsunuz hissiyatı var. bir yerde de henüz öznel düşüncelerine ya da kendi deney ve gözlemlerini okuyamadığım için, çok da kendi işi sayılmaz. bildiğiniz tez. daha yorumlu olsa ne güzel olurdu ama bu bunu kötü yapmaz :D
2. başlık... yani sırf, bizler, halk, oxford'lu olmayan, muhtemelen dindarlar, çok sayın avam anlayalım diye 2. başlığı yazmış diyorum herif asdfafasdf inanasım gelmiyor asdfads
ancak eli öpülesi bi herif, bu kadar okuma yapmış olmak vallahi göt ister. helal!
bu arada belirtmeden edemeyeceğim, sanırım biraz çevirmen istemiyle çevrilmiş bir kitap, zaten kitabın başında sizi kocaman bir çevirmen önsözü bekliyor, nasıl çevirdiğini izah ediyor (burton, latince ve yunanca çok fazla kelime ve alıntı kullanıyor, ay hele sokrat manyağı herif), kitap zaten dipnotlarla dolu. taktir edilesi bir çeviri!
üf zaten zerre hazetmem sokrat'ı da aristo'yu da
xoxo
iko
November 1, 2016
tadımlık bir kitap. çok daha büyük bir eserin girizgahı. latince alıntıların aynen korunması, onca önemli isme gönderme yanında tam konuya ısınmışken bitivermesi kötü ama oldukça keyifli. keşke "kara safra" melankoliye biraz daha girebilseydik. umarım çevirinin devamı gelir.
October 20, 2016
Tek kelimeyle masterpiece, kanimca muhakkak okunmasi gereken eserler kategorisinde, eserin asli bin kusur sayfadan olusmaktaymis, okudugumuz versiyonu bir fasikul ve ozetleme olarak degerlendirilebilir, ama genel anlamda fikir edinebilmek adina oldukca yarar, fayda saglayabilecek bir yapit.
March 2, 2018
Yanlışlarla dolu, antik çağ eserlerinden alıntılar üzerinden kapsamlı bir araştırma ve bilimsel çalışma amacıyla yazılmış eserin değeri, Burton'ın kendisinden bahsetme tarzında ve dilinin çekiciliğinde. Kitapta, anatomiyle ilgili bilgilerin çoğu yanlış. Yine de günümüzde bile ender rastlanan paralaks bakışlar hesaba katılarak yazılmış. O çağın bilgi düzeyiyle değerlendirilmeli. Edgar Allan Poe ile birlikte okumak benzerlikler bulmama neden oldu. Alıntıların özgür yorumu, Burton'ın amaçladığını sanmadığım "nasıl okur ve yorumlarız" sorusu üzerine epistemolojik bir okuma sağlıyor.
i-want-money
July 21, 2012Text with commentary in 6 volumes.
October 28, 2018
21. yüz yıl bakış açısıyla 17. yüz yılda yazılmış bir kitabı okumak elbette ki kolay değil, ama Burton’un eserini okumak çok keyifli. Öncelikle, şahane bir çeviri. Alıntıların latince verilmesi ve dipnotlardaki ayrıntı zenginliğini çok sevdim. Kesinlikle çok detaylı bir çeviri olmuş. Ben kitabın girizgah bölümünü yani şiirlerin, asrtonomik bilgilerin ve hikayelerin olduğu bölümü daha çok sevdim. Diğer fasikülleri de okumak lazım.
May 6, 2017
"Ben melankoliyi yazarak,melankoliden uzak duruyorum" diyor Robert Burton.Ve ekliyor "...melankoli,faniliğin belirtisidir." 1.fasikül diğer fasiküllerin bir an önce çevrilip yayımlanmasını beklemek için güzel bir başlangıçtı.
*Kitabın değerini artıran diğer özellik çevirinin güzelliği.Bir çok alıntı ve referansları sıkmadan ve akıcı bir şekilde sunuyor Merve Tokmakçıoğlu.
*Kitabın değerini artıran diğer özellik çevirinin güzelliği.Bir çok alıntı ve referansları sıkmadan ve akıcı bir şekilde sunuyor Merve Tokmakçıoğlu.
November 29, 2016
1621 yılından bugününe bir dost bulmak ve değişmeyenleri görmek. Aslında çok da ileri gidemediğimizi, aynı çemberin kendini çarpıtılan dini inanışlar ile tekrarladığını bilmek... Demokritos'un gülümsemesini unutmamaya çalışarak bitiriyorum kitabı.
May 27, 2016
You will, I hope, forgive the length of this review—but Robert Burton’s
The Anatomy of Melancholy
is a very long book.
Truth be told, I began reading The Anatomy early in the fall of 2015. I put a halt to my reading of Burton’s singular work in November of that same year. No, the stress of reading The Anatomy wasn’t killing me … it was simply driving me bonkers.
A couple of remarks before I dive into my review… I once read that the good Dr. Samuel Johnson called Burton’s tome “the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise.” Am I now reading too much into the following quote (from p. 476) by suggesting it may be casting a shadow of premonition? “…as Julian the Apostate once signified to Maximum the Philosopher, as Alexander slept with Homer’s works, so do I with thine Epistles, as with healing drugs, and I do continually read them again and yet again as new and fresh; write therefore frequently, or else come thyself; as a friend you will come to a friend.”
My second remark is this—and I beg your forgiveness if this remark sounds all too skeptical, not to say cynical: I have to question whether most of the reviewers here at Goodreads have read this book in its entirety, whatever their reviews/remarks might otherwise suggest.
And now, on to my review…
“… (W)hat is poetry itself, but … the wine of error administered by drunken teachers? … You may give that censure of them in general, which Sir Thomas More once did of Germanus Brixius’ Poems in particular: they are borne in the bark of folly, and dwell in the grove of madness” (p. 95).
I found myself wondering as I ploughed through Burton’s opus – and I do mean ploughed through – whether we might not devise a literary equivalent to the philosophical principle of Ockham’s Razor and call it ‘Burton’s Axe.’ The nature of B’s Axe, contrary to the nature and intent of O’s Razor, however, is that everyone – and I mean everyone – would fall under it. In other words, no one would escape the affliction of Burton’s definition of melancholy.
Should you believe that only poets are worthy of Burton’s scorn, allow me to quickly disabuse you of that notion. You’d in fact be hard pressed to discover any character of our species he doesn’t call ‘mad’ in the first 98 pages of his treatise. Does anyone ultimately escape his lash? Alas, yes.
On p. 99, we find “...(s)toicks? The Stoick is the wise man, and he alone is subject to no perturbations, as Plutarch scoffs at him, he is not vexed with torments, or burnt with fire, foiled by his adversary, sold of his enemy. Though he be wrinkled, sand-blind, toothless, and deformed; yet he is most beautiful, and like a god, a king in conceit, though not worth a groat. He never dotes, (is) never mad, never sad, (never) drunk, because virtue cannot be taken away, as Zeno holds, by reason of strong apprehension, but he was mad to say so.”
And next, we find this interesting little summation on p. 346: “Generally thus much we may conclude of melancholy: that it is most pleasant at first, I say, a most charming illusion, a most delightsome humour, to be alone, dwell alone, walk alone, meditate, lie in bed whole days, dreaming awake as it were, and frame a thousand phantastical imaginations unto themselves.” (This, by the way, is also one of those rare instances when Burton’s prose is not obfuscated either by his syntax or by his vocabulary.)
“Obsessive-compulsive” is the term that weaseled its way into my thoughts as I read on … and on and on. I also found myself wondering how anyone less obsessive-compulsive could possibly have remembered how and where to credit other authorities without the aid of some data storage device – at the very least, that of thousands of index cards. (Whatever else one might say or think of The Anatomy, it’s clear from the sheer volume of citations and references he uses in support of his various assertions that Burton must’ve done a prodigious amount of reading in order to write the book—if ‘prodigious’ even begins to capture the weight of names and works he cites.)
Perhaps the following example (on p. 204) of how sexual abstinence results in its own form of melancholy will adequately illustrate my point. At the very least, I would think it a propitious paragraph for some enterprising youth to commit to memory, then freely add to his armory of seduction techniques.
“Venus omitted produceth like effects. Matthiolus avoucheth of his knowledge, that some through bashfulness abstained from Venery, and thereupon became very heavy and dull; and some others, that were very timorous, melancholy, and beyond all measure sad. Oribasius speaks of some, that, if they do not use carnal copulation, are continually troubled with heaviness and headache; and some in the same case by intermission of it. Not use of it hurts many; Arculanus and Magninus think, because it sends up poison vapours to the brain and heart. And so doth Galen himself hold, that, if this natural seed be overlong kept (in some parties) it turns to poison. Hieronymus Mercurialis, in his Chapter of Melancholy, cites it for an especial cause of this malady, Priapismus, Satyriasis, &c. Halyabbas reckons up this and many other diseases. Villanovanus saith he knew many monks and widows grievously troubled with melancholy, and that from this sole cause.”
But should his lady-love still resist, there’s always this little bit of sage advice on p. 406: “Of what benefit is coitus to Melancholy? What affinity have these two? except it be manifest that super-abundance of seed, or fulness of blood be a cause, or that love, or that an extraordinary desire of Venus, have gone before, or that, as Lod. Mercatus excepts, they be very flatuous, & have been otherwise accustomed unto it. Montaltus will not allow of moderate Venus to such as have the Gout, Palsy, Epilepsy, Melancholy, except they be very lusty, and full of blood.” And here, once again, Burton goes on to elaborate, in excruciating detail, the arguments, pro and con, of his peers.
Now if you believe that sexual abstinence is bad for the heart, liver, mood, get a load of this on p. 212…: “Idleness of the mind is much worse than this of the body; with without employment, is a disease, the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself, the greatest danger to the soul, Galen calls it. As in a standing pool worms and filthy creepers increase, (the water itself putrefies, and air likewise, if it be not continually stirred by the wind), so do evil and corrupt thoughts in an idle person, the soul is contaminated. In a Commonwealth, where is no publick enemy, there is, likely, civil wars, and they rage upon themselves: this body of ours, when it is idle, and knows not how to bestow itself, macerates and vexeth itself with cares, griefs, false fears, discontents, and suspicions; it tortures and preys upon his own bowels, and is never at rest. Thus much I dare boldly say, he or she that is idle, be they of what condition they will, never so rich, so well allied, fortunate, happy, let them have all things in abundance, and felicity, that heart can wish and desire, all contentment; so long as he or she or they are idle, they shall never be pleased, never well in body and mind, but weary still, sickly still, vexed still, loathing still, weeping, sighing, grieving, suspecting, offended with the world, with every object, wishing themselves gone or dead, or else carried away with some foolish phantasy or other.”
The Anatomy of Melancholy is, if nothing else, a monument of singular proportions to the obsession of an idea and the compulsion to carry it out. Was and is the end result praiseworthy? Many reviewers, here and elsewhere, apparently think so. That said, I feel it beggars the descriptive powers of ‘absurd’ to arbitrarily award stars to a work like this one. And while I might’ve accelerated the task had there been some reason to do so, it took me nine months to accomplish a complete ingestion of Burton’s oeuvre.
Did I enjoy my read in any sense of the word ‘enjoy?’ No. Did I learn anything from the 1,000+ pages (including Index) that comprise this issue The Anatomy of Melancholy? No. Why, then, did I continue (if not out of a certain obsessive-compulsiveness of my own) to read something that promised scant edification?
The best answer – in fact the only answer – I can give is that, historically, great minds have spoken favorably of it. And yet, the same can certainly be said of Lawrence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman; of Francois Rabelais’s Gargantua et Pantagruel; of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake or Ulysses – all of which I either abandoned at some point or never even took down from the shelf.
I can now only conclude that mine is not among those great minds – that it never has been and never will be.
And so, both for this review and for Burton’s monumental work, I have only two words of advice: caveat lector!
RRB
9/28/15
Brooklyn, NY
On April 11, 2016, I resumed reading The Anatomy of Melancholy on p. 408—this time, with the intention of finishing it. In between September 28, 2015 and April 11, 2016, I read and reviewed perhaps a dozen novels/non-fiction books—just to get some ocular relief.
As I resume reading and find myself a few pages further from where I left off at the end of last September, it occurs to me (at least in what I’m presently reading) that Burton may’ve suffered from something for which there was no name while he was still alive—viz., ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).
How did I arrive at this conjecture? Just read a few random pages and tell me whether the same doesn’t occur to you. As you’ll readily see, Burton often grows weary of a thought, concludes it with “&c”—not once or twice on a page, but several times—and then jumps on to the next thought.
At other times, he may wax (and I do mean wax!) on for pages, more as if he were stuck in a mental bog than riding a flight of fancy on dulcimer wings. To take just one instance (in a chapter appropriately titled “Digression of Air” (sic!), we find him describing ad nauseam how and where to construct a happy home, how to place the windows, when to walk about in the yard and when to stay put (indoors) … only to observe, on p. 435, “(t)he best site for chamber windows in my judgment are North, East, South, and which is the worst, West.” Never mind that the plural verb (“are”) doesn’t agree with the singular subject (“site”); I, for one, remain as befuddled as ever about the BEST side of the house from which to fling open a window and embrace a winsome breeze. I mean, which is it? North; East; South; or West—even if West is apparently the worst?
Might we assume that Burton is allowing himself a bit of auto-exoneration when, in concluding his long-winded discourse/digression on the air, he exhales with “(b)ut I rove: the sum is this, that variety of actions, objects, air, places, are excellent good in this infirmity (i.e., melancholy) and all others, good for man, good for beast” (p. 438)? And with a forward glance (but here and now looking backward), we read on p. 975 (in his self-titled ‘Apologetical Appendix’), “…I poured forth whatever my genius dictated, and writ with as small deliberation as I do ordinarily speak. So that as a river runs precipitate & swift, & sometimes dull and slow; now direct, now winding about; now deep, then shallow; now muddy, then clear; now broad, then narrow, doth my style flow, now more serious, then light, now more elaborate or remiss.”
But I, too, digress.
Needless to say, Burton sees physical exercise as an excellent (and necessary) antidote to melancholy. He dwells for a page or two on both hunting and hawking as quite refreshing forms of the same, then moves on to fowling—which, he writes, “is more troublesome, but all out as delightsome to some sorts of men, be it with guns, lime, nets, glades, gins, strings, baits, pitfalls, pipes, calls, stalking-horses, setting-dogs, coy-ducks, &c. or otherwise” (p. 442). Just don’t forget to bring along a sack to bag that sucker … then leave the balls & rackets to the ladies—and let ‘em sweat for it!
Let us also not forget (continuing on p. 442) that “(f)ishing is a kind of hunting by water, be it with nets, weels (sic!), baits, angling or otherwise, and yields all out as much pleasure to some men as dogs or hawks, when they draw their fish upon the bank, saith Nic” (whoever Nic was—albeit, no doubt, an authority).
But if you’re still at a loss as to how to keep melancholy at bay, you might try “(k)eelpins, trunks, quoits, pitching bars, hurling, wrestling, leaping, running, fencing, mustering, swimming, wasters, foils, foot-ball, balloon, quintain &c. and many such, which are the common recreations of the country folks; riding of great horses, running at rings, tilts and tournaments, horse-chases, wild-goose chases, which are the disports of greater men…” (p. 443). Now I ask you, is it any wonder that these English play-boys needed some of our less sportif industry to wage World Wars I & II?
Still at a loss? Long-winded this citation from p. 467 (not even halfway through the book!) may be, but try it on for size: “(w)hosoever he is that shall hope to cure this malady in himself or any other, must first rectify these passions and perturbations of the mind; the chiefest cure consists in them. A quiet mind is that pleasure, or highest good, of Epicurus; not to grieve, but to want cares, and have a quiet soul, is the only pleasure of the World, as Seneca truly recites his opinion, not that of eating and drinking, which injurious Aristotle maliciously puts upon him, and for which he is still mistaken, slandered without a cause, and lashed by all posterity. Fear and sorrow therefore are especially to be avoided, and the mind to be mitigated with mirth, constancy, good hope; vain terror, bad objects, are to be removed, and all such persons in whose companies they be not well pleased. Gaulter Bruel, Fernelius, Mercurialis, Piso, Jacchinus on Rhasis, Capivaccius, Hildesheim, &c., all inculcate this as an especial means of their cure, that their minds be quietly pacified, vain conceits diverted, if it be possible, with terrors, cares, fixed studies, cogitations, and whatsoever it is that shall any way molest or trouble the soul, because that otherwise there is no good to be done.. The body’s mischiefs, as Plato proves, proceed from the soul: and if the mind be not first satisfied, the body can never be cured.”
Just in case the above is not sufficiently fulsome, Burton has another little something in mind in the way of a remedy. On p. 479, we read “(b)ut to leave all declamatory speeches in praise of divine Musick, I will confine myself to my proper subject: besides that excellent power it hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy against Despair and Melancholy, and will drive away the Devil himself.”
But wait…we’re not finished. On p. 482, Burton tells us that “(b)eauty alone is a sovereign remedy against fear, grief, and all melancholy fits.”
Are you now left wondering—as I am—where melancholy begins and ends, and what remedy is not a remedy for it? And if Burton’s syntax and spelling leave you a tad disoriented, allow me to add to your befuddlement—but only at the end of this review with a list of Burtonesque words.
“Of all vanities and fopperies, to brag of Gentility is the greatest; for what is it they crack so much of, and challenge such superiority, as if they were demi-gods?” I must say, parenthetically, that Burton’s take on the gentry—and on their “claim to fame” through birth—is both hilarious and worthy of multiple reads (pp. 500 – 503). If only he could be this lucid in the rest of his treatise!
To treat you to just a snippet of Burtonese on the subject (p. 502): “(a)nd what is their ordinary exercise? sit to eat, drink, lie down to sleep, and rise to play: wherein lies their worth and sufficiency? in a few coats of arms, eagles, lions, serpents, bears, tigers, dogs, crosses, bends, fesses and such like baubles, which they commonly set up in their galleries, porches, windows, on bowls, platters, coaches, in tombs, churches, men’s sleeves, &c. If he can hawk and hunt, ride an horse, play at cards and dice, swagger, drink, swear, take tobacco with a grace, sing, dance, wear his clothes in fashion, court and please his mistress, talk big fustian, insult, scorn, strut, contemn others, and use a little mimical and apish compliment above the rest, he is a complete (O illustrious praise!) a well-qualified gentleman; these are most of their employments, this their greatest commendation.”
And what does Burton have to say about grieving for the loss of a loved one, whether that loved one should be a wife, son, daughter, city or favorite vase or pot? Member 5 in Section 3 (Remedies Against Discontents) gives the answer—and it’s a good one. If this topic interests you in particular, I urge you to read pp. 532 – 540. In the meantime, I’ll highlight here the epitaph of a certain Cardinal Brundusinus, which the Cardinal himself caused “to be inscribed on his tomb, to show his willingness to die, and tax those that were loath to depart.
“I left this irksome life with all mine heart,
Lest worse than death should happen to my part” (p. 539).
But equally good, I think, are the last words of Prudentius:
“Mine haven’s found, fortune and hope adieu,
Mock others now, for I have done with you” (p. 542).
For those (and there are many!) who question the value of modern Western medicine to cure what ails, a close reading of Subsection I of Section 4 Member 1 (“Of Physick which cureth with Medicines”), on pp. 558 – 562, might be of particular interest—viz., “(p)harmaceutics, or that kind of Physick which cureth by Medicines, which Apothecaries most part make, mingle or sell in their shops” (p. 558). If you should then take the words of Burton for wise before their time, you may just resolve to spend your remaining days drowning your aches and pains in herbal baths.
But if a dose of herbal is not your particular cup of tea, how about a cup of a different order? On p. 590, we find the following recommendation for the cure of melancholia: “(a)mongst this number of Cordials and Alteratives I do not find a more present remedy than a cup of wine or strong drink, if it be soberly and opportunely used. It makes a man bold, hardy, courageous, whetteth the wit, if moderately taken, (and, as Plutarch saith,) it makes those, which are otherwise dull, to exhale and evaporate like frankincense, or quicken (Xenophon adds) as oil doth fire. A famous cordial Matthiolus calls it, an excellent nutriment to refresh the body, it makes a good color, a flourishing age, helps concoction, fortifies the stomack, takes away obstructions, provokes urine, drives out excrements, procures sleep, clears the blood, expels wind and cold poisons, attenuates, concocts, dissipates, all thick vapours, and fuliginous humours. And that which is all in all to my purpose, it takes away fear and sorrow.
Bacchus drives away fierce cares (HORACE).
(Sorry, but this is where Goodreads cut off my review.)
RRB
24 May 2016
Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.
Truth be told, I began reading The Anatomy early in the fall of 2015. I put a halt to my reading of Burton’s singular work in November of that same year. No, the stress of reading The Anatomy wasn’t killing me … it was simply driving me bonkers.
A couple of remarks before I dive into my review… I once read that the good Dr. Samuel Johnson called Burton’s tome “the only book that ever took him out of bed two hours sooner than he wished to rise.” Am I now reading too much into the following quote (from p. 476) by suggesting it may be casting a shadow of premonition? “…as Julian the Apostate once signified to Maximum the Philosopher, as Alexander slept with Homer’s works, so do I with thine Epistles, as with healing drugs, and I do continually read them again and yet again as new and fresh; write therefore frequently, or else come thyself; as a friend you will come to a friend.”
My second remark is this—and I beg your forgiveness if this remark sounds all too skeptical, not to say cynical: I have to question whether most of the reviewers here at Goodreads have read this book in its entirety, whatever their reviews/remarks might otherwise suggest.
And now, on to my review…
“… (W)hat is poetry itself, but … the wine of error administered by drunken teachers? … You may give that censure of them in general, which Sir Thomas More once did of Germanus Brixius’ Poems in particular: they are borne in the bark of folly, and dwell in the grove of madness” (p. 95).
I found myself wondering as I ploughed through Burton’s opus – and I do mean ploughed through – whether we might not devise a literary equivalent to the philosophical principle of Ockham’s Razor and call it ‘Burton’s Axe.’ The nature of B’s Axe, contrary to the nature and intent of O’s Razor, however, is that everyone – and I mean everyone – would fall under it. In other words, no one would escape the affliction of Burton’s definition of melancholy.
Should you believe that only poets are worthy of Burton’s scorn, allow me to quickly disabuse you of that notion. You’d in fact be hard pressed to discover any character of our species he doesn’t call ‘mad’ in the first 98 pages of his treatise. Does anyone ultimately escape his lash? Alas, yes.
On p. 99, we find “...(s)toicks? The Stoick is the wise man, and he alone is subject to no perturbations, as Plutarch scoffs at him, he is not vexed with torments, or burnt with fire, foiled by his adversary, sold of his enemy. Though he be wrinkled, sand-blind, toothless, and deformed; yet he is most beautiful, and like a god, a king in conceit, though not worth a groat. He never dotes, (is) never mad, never sad, (never) drunk, because virtue cannot be taken away, as Zeno holds, by reason of strong apprehension, but he was mad to say so.”
And next, we find this interesting little summation on p. 346: “Generally thus much we may conclude of melancholy: that it is most pleasant at first, I say, a most charming illusion, a most delightsome humour, to be alone, dwell alone, walk alone, meditate, lie in bed whole days, dreaming awake as it were, and frame a thousand phantastical imaginations unto themselves.” (This, by the way, is also one of those rare instances when Burton’s prose is not obfuscated either by his syntax or by his vocabulary.)
“Obsessive-compulsive” is the term that weaseled its way into my thoughts as I read on … and on and on. I also found myself wondering how anyone less obsessive-compulsive could possibly have remembered how and where to credit other authorities without the aid of some data storage device – at the very least, that of thousands of index cards. (Whatever else one might say or think of The Anatomy, it’s clear from the sheer volume of citations and references he uses in support of his various assertions that Burton must’ve done a prodigious amount of reading in order to write the book—if ‘prodigious’ even begins to capture the weight of names and works he cites.)
Perhaps the following example (on p. 204) of how sexual abstinence results in its own form of melancholy will adequately illustrate my point. At the very least, I would think it a propitious paragraph for some enterprising youth to commit to memory, then freely add to his armory of seduction techniques.
“Venus omitted produceth like effects. Matthiolus avoucheth of his knowledge, that some through bashfulness abstained from Venery, and thereupon became very heavy and dull; and some others, that were very timorous, melancholy, and beyond all measure sad. Oribasius speaks of some, that, if they do not use carnal copulation, are continually troubled with heaviness and headache; and some in the same case by intermission of it. Not use of it hurts many; Arculanus and Magninus think, because it sends up poison vapours to the brain and heart. And so doth Galen himself hold, that, if this natural seed be overlong kept (in some parties) it turns to poison. Hieronymus Mercurialis, in his Chapter of Melancholy, cites it for an especial cause of this malady, Priapismus, Satyriasis, &c. Halyabbas reckons up this and many other diseases. Villanovanus saith he knew many monks and widows grievously troubled with melancholy, and that from this sole cause.”
But should his lady-love still resist, there’s always this little bit of sage advice on p. 406: “Of what benefit is coitus to Melancholy? What affinity have these two? except it be manifest that super-abundance of seed, or fulness of blood be a cause, or that love, or that an extraordinary desire of Venus, have gone before, or that, as Lod. Mercatus excepts, they be very flatuous, & have been otherwise accustomed unto it. Montaltus will not allow of moderate Venus to such as have the Gout, Palsy, Epilepsy, Melancholy, except they be very lusty, and full of blood.” And here, once again, Burton goes on to elaborate, in excruciating detail, the arguments, pro and con, of his peers.
Now if you believe that sexual abstinence is bad for the heart, liver, mood, get a load of this on p. 212…: “Idleness of the mind is much worse than this of the body; with without employment, is a disease, the rust of the soul, a plague, a hell itself, the greatest danger to the soul, Galen calls it. As in a standing pool worms and filthy creepers increase, (the water itself putrefies, and air likewise, if it be not continually stirred by the wind), so do evil and corrupt thoughts in an idle person, the soul is contaminated. In a Commonwealth, where is no publick enemy, there is, likely, civil wars, and they rage upon themselves: this body of ours, when it is idle, and knows not how to bestow itself, macerates and vexeth itself with cares, griefs, false fears, discontents, and suspicions; it tortures and preys upon his own bowels, and is never at rest. Thus much I dare boldly say, he or she that is idle, be they of what condition they will, never so rich, so well allied, fortunate, happy, let them have all things in abundance, and felicity, that heart can wish and desire, all contentment; so long as he or she or they are idle, they shall never be pleased, never well in body and mind, but weary still, sickly still, vexed still, loathing still, weeping, sighing, grieving, suspecting, offended with the world, with every object, wishing themselves gone or dead, or else carried away with some foolish phantasy or other.”
The Anatomy of Melancholy is, if nothing else, a monument of singular proportions to the obsession of an idea and the compulsion to carry it out. Was and is the end result praiseworthy? Many reviewers, here and elsewhere, apparently think so. That said, I feel it beggars the descriptive powers of ‘absurd’ to arbitrarily award stars to a work like this one. And while I might’ve accelerated the task had there been some reason to do so, it took me nine months to accomplish a complete ingestion of Burton’s oeuvre.
Did I enjoy my read in any sense of the word ‘enjoy?’ No. Did I learn anything from the 1,000+ pages (including Index) that comprise this issue The Anatomy of Melancholy? No. Why, then, did I continue (if not out of a certain obsessive-compulsiveness of my own) to read something that promised scant edification?
The best answer – in fact the only answer – I can give is that, historically, great minds have spoken favorably of it. And yet, the same can certainly be said of Lawrence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman; of Francois Rabelais’s Gargantua et Pantagruel; of James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake or Ulysses – all of which I either abandoned at some point or never even took down from the shelf.
I can now only conclude that mine is not among those great minds – that it never has been and never will be.
And so, both for this review and for Burton’s monumental work, I have only two words of advice: caveat lector!
RRB
9/28/15
Brooklyn, NY
On April 11, 2016, I resumed reading The Anatomy of Melancholy on p. 408—this time, with the intention of finishing it. In between September 28, 2015 and April 11, 2016, I read and reviewed perhaps a dozen novels/non-fiction books—just to get some ocular relief.
As I resume reading and find myself a few pages further from where I left off at the end of last September, it occurs to me (at least in what I’m presently reading) that Burton may’ve suffered from something for which there was no name while he was still alive—viz., ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).
How did I arrive at this conjecture? Just read a few random pages and tell me whether the same doesn’t occur to you. As you’ll readily see, Burton often grows weary of a thought, concludes it with “&c”—not once or twice on a page, but several times—and then jumps on to the next thought.
At other times, he may wax (and I do mean wax!) on for pages, more as if he were stuck in a mental bog than riding a flight of fancy on dulcimer wings. To take just one instance (in a chapter appropriately titled “Digression of Air” (sic!), we find him describing ad nauseam how and where to construct a happy home, how to place the windows, when to walk about in the yard and when to stay put (indoors) … only to observe, on p. 435, “(t)he best site for chamber windows in my judgment are North, East, South, and which is the worst, West.” Never mind that the plural verb (“are”) doesn’t agree with the singular subject (“site”); I, for one, remain as befuddled as ever about the BEST side of the house from which to fling open a window and embrace a winsome breeze. I mean, which is it? North; East; South; or West—even if West is apparently the worst?
Might we assume that Burton is allowing himself a bit of auto-exoneration when, in concluding his long-winded discourse/digression on the air, he exhales with “(b)ut I rove: the sum is this, that variety of actions, objects, air, places, are excellent good in this infirmity (i.e., melancholy) and all others, good for man, good for beast” (p. 438)? And with a forward glance (but here and now looking backward), we read on p. 975 (in his self-titled ‘Apologetical Appendix’), “…I poured forth whatever my genius dictated, and writ with as small deliberation as I do ordinarily speak. So that as a river runs precipitate & swift, & sometimes dull and slow; now direct, now winding about; now deep, then shallow; now muddy, then clear; now broad, then narrow, doth my style flow, now more serious, then light, now more elaborate or remiss.”
But I, too, digress.
Needless to say, Burton sees physical exercise as an excellent (and necessary) antidote to melancholy. He dwells for a page or two on both hunting and hawking as quite refreshing forms of the same, then moves on to fowling—which, he writes, “is more troublesome, but all out as delightsome to some sorts of men, be it with guns, lime, nets, glades, gins, strings, baits, pitfalls, pipes, calls, stalking-horses, setting-dogs, coy-ducks, &c. or otherwise” (p. 442). Just don’t forget to bring along a sack to bag that sucker … then leave the balls & rackets to the ladies—and let ‘em sweat for it!
Let us also not forget (continuing on p. 442) that “(f)ishing is a kind of hunting by water, be it with nets, weels (sic!), baits, angling or otherwise, and yields all out as much pleasure to some men as dogs or hawks, when they draw their fish upon the bank, saith Nic” (whoever Nic was—albeit, no doubt, an authority).
But if you’re still at a loss as to how to keep melancholy at bay, you might try “(k)eelpins, trunks, quoits, pitching bars, hurling, wrestling, leaping, running, fencing, mustering, swimming, wasters, foils, foot-ball, balloon, quintain &c. and many such, which are the common recreations of the country folks; riding of great horses, running at rings, tilts and tournaments, horse-chases, wild-goose chases, which are the disports of greater men…” (p. 443). Now I ask you, is it any wonder that these English play-boys needed some of our less sportif industry to wage World Wars I & II?
Still at a loss? Long-winded this citation from p. 467 (not even halfway through the book!) may be, but try it on for size: “(w)hosoever he is that shall hope to cure this malady in himself or any other, must first rectify these passions and perturbations of the mind; the chiefest cure consists in them. A quiet mind is that pleasure, or highest good, of Epicurus; not to grieve, but to want cares, and have a quiet soul, is the only pleasure of the World, as Seneca truly recites his opinion, not that of eating and drinking, which injurious Aristotle maliciously puts upon him, and for which he is still mistaken, slandered without a cause, and lashed by all posterity. Fear and sorrow therefore are especially to be avoided, and the mind to be mitigated with mirth, constancy, good hope; vain terror, bad objects, are to be removed, and all such persons in whose companies they be not well pleased. Gaulter Bruel, Fernelius, Mercurialis, Piso, Jacchinus on Rhasis, Capivaccius, Hildesheim, &c., all inculcate this as an especial means of their cure, that their minds be quietly pacified, vain conceits diverted, if it be possible, with terrors, cares, fixed studies, cogitations, and whatsoever it is that shall any way molest or trouble the soul, because that otherwise there is no good to be done.. The body’s mischiefs, as Plato proves, proceed from the soul: and if the mind be not first satisfied, the body can never be cured.”
Just in case the above is not sufficiently fulsome, Burton has another little something in mind in the way of a remedy. On p. 479, we read “(b)ut to leave all declamatory speeches in praise of divine Musick, I will confine myself to my proper subject: besides that excellent power it hath to expel many other diseases, it is a sovereign remedy against Despair and Melancholy, and will drive away the Devil himself.”
But wait…we’re not finished. On p. 482, Burton tells us that “(b)eauty alone is a sovereign remedy against fear, grief, and all melancholy fits.”
Are you now left wondering—as I am—where melancholy begins and ends, and what remedy is not a remedy for it? And if Burton’s syntax and spelling leave you a tad disoriented, allow me to add to your befuddlement—but only at the end of this review with a list of Burtonesque words.
“Of all vanities and fopperies, to brag of Gentility is the greatest; for what is it they crack so much of, and challenge such superiority, as if they were demi-gods?” I must say, parenthetically, that Burton’s take on the gentry—and on their “claim to fame” through birth—is both hilarious and worthy of multiple reads (pp. 500 – 503). If only he could be this lucid in the rest of his treatise!
To treat you to just a snippet of Burtonese on the subject (p. 502): “(a)nd what is their ordinary exercise? sit to eat, drink, lie down to sleep, and rise to play: wherein lies their worth and sufficiency? in a few coats of arms, eagles, lions, serpents, bears, tigers, dogs, crosses, bends, fesses and such like baubles, which they commonly set up in their galleries, porches, windows, on bowls, platters, coaches, in tombs, churches, men’s sleeves, &c. If he can hawk and hunt, ride an horse, play at cards and dice, swagger, drink, swear, take tobacco with a grace, sing, dance, wear his clothes in fashion, court and please his mistress, talk big fustian, insult, scorn, strut, contemn others, and use a little mimical and apish compliment above the rest, he is a complete (O illustrious praise!) a well-qualified gentleman; these are most of their employments, this their greatest commendation.”
And what does Burton have to say about grieving for the loss of a loved one, whether that loved one should be a wife, son, daughter, city or favorite vase or pot? Member 5 in Section 3 (Remedies Against Discontents) gives the answer—and it’s a good one. If this topic interests you in particular, I urge you to read pp. 532 – 540. In the meantime, I’ll highlight here the epitaph of a certain Cardinal Brundusinus, which the Cardinal himself caused “to be inscribed on his tomb, to show his willingness to die, and tax those that were loath to depart.
“I left this irksome life with all mine heart,
Lest worse than death should happen to my part” (p. 539).
But equally good, I think, are the last words of Prudentius:
“Mine haven’s found, fortune and hope adieu,
Mock others now, for I have done with you” (p. 542).
For those (and there are many!) who question the value of modern Western medicine to cure what ails, a close reading of Subsection I of Section 4 Member 1 (“Of Physick which cureth with Medicines”), on pp. 558 – 562, might be of particular interest—viz., “(p)harmaceutics, or that kind of Physick which cureth by Medicines, which Apothecaries most part make, mingle or sell in their shops” (p. 558). If you should then take the words of Burton for wise before their time, you may just resolve to spend your remaining days drowning your aches and pains in herbal baths.
But if a dose of herbal is not your particular cup of tea, how about a cup of a different order? On p. 590, we find the following recommendation for the cure of melancholia: “(a)mongst this number of Cordials and Alteratives I do not find a more present remedy than a cup of wine or strong drink, if it be soberly and opportunely used. It makes a man bold, hardy, courageous, whetteth the wit, if moderately taken, (and, as Plutarch saith,) it makes those, which are otherwise dull, to exhale and evaporate like frankincense, or quicken (Xenophon adds) as oil doth fire. A famous cordial Matthiolus calls it, an excellent nutriment to refresh the body, it makes a good color, a flourishing age, helps concoction, fortifies the stomack, takes away obstructions, provokes urine, drives out excrements, procures sleep, clears the blood, expels wind and cold poisons, attenuates, concocts, dissipates, all thick vapours, and fuliginous humours. And that which is all in all to my purpose, it takes away fear and sorrow.
Bacchus drives away fierce cares (HORACE).
(Sorry, but this is where Goodreads cut off my review.)
RRB
24 May 2016
Brooklyn, NY, U.S.A.
March 17, 2025
"Kahkahanın tam orta yerinde keder vardır.
...
Bir faninin hayatta daimi bir mutluluk araması kadar saçma ve gülünç bir şey yoktur."
Başka sözüm yok; melankoliden kaçamazsınız.
...
Bir faninin hayatta daimi bir mutluluk araması kadar saçma ve gülünç bir şey yoktur."
Başka sözüm yok; melankoliden kaçamazsınız.
December 7, 2016
Aylak Adam yayınlarına teşekkür etmek gerek bu kitap için diğer fasikülleri de bir an önce yayınlanır umarım.
September 11, 2023
Um enorme discurso introdutório, retórico e erudito, mas extremamente divertido.
Read
November 16, 202116. yüzyılın yalnız papazı olan Robert Burton, Oxford Üniversitesi kütüphanesinde geçirdiği onca saat sonrasında kaleme aldığı Melankolinin Anatomisi kitabı ile sadece dönemin felsefe anlayışını değil, insanın en gizli düşüncelerinin de kapısını aralıyor.
Melankolinin Anatomisi ilk bölümünde Robert Burton kendisine takmış olduğu Democritus Christianus isminin kaynağını ve neden Democristus’u kendisi için rol model olarak gördüğünden bahsederek başlıyor. Yüzyıllar öncesinde yaşamış olan bu ünlü filozofun hayatının, kendisine ne kadar paralel olarak uzandığının altını çiziyor. Her ne kadar bir önceki paragrafında söylediği “Darvus sum, nullus sum, altum nec spiro ner spero” (ben önemli biri değilim, küçük hırsları ve geleceği olan bir hiç kimseyim) ifadesiyle çeliştiği düşünülse de, bu cümlesini takiben ifade ettikleri neden kendisine bu lakabı aldığını gösteriyor.
Oğuzhan Açıkalın
İncelemenin tamamı: https://kayiprihtim.com/inceleme/mela...
Melankolinin Anatomisi ilk bölümünde Robert Burton kendisine takmış olduğu Democritus Christianus isminin kaynağını ve neden Democristus’u kendisi için rol model olarak gördüğünden bahsederek başlıyor. Yüzyıllar öncesinde yaşamış olan bu ünlü filozofun hayatının, kendisine ne kadar paralel olarak uzandığının altını çiziyor. Her ne kadar bir önceki paragrafında söylediği “Darvus sum, nullus sum, altum nec spiro ner spero” (ben önemli biri değilim, küçük hırsları ve geleceği olan bir hiç kimseyim) ifadesiyle çeliştiği düşünülse de, bu cümlesini takiben ifade ettikleri neden kendisine bu lakabı aldığını gösteriyor.
Oğuzhan Açıkalın
İncelemenin tamamı: https://kayiprihtim.com/inceleme/mela...
March 7, 2017
a.k.a LATİNCE REFERANSIN ANATOMİSİ
October 21, 2018
Nerdeyse 150 sayfa fakat anlatmak istedigi ise icindeki 3 sayfa. Gerikalan kisim o kadar gereksiz ve sacma ki.. Tamam anliyorum cok eski zamanda yazilmis ama bu kitabi yazildigi donemde okumuyorum ki.. Gorusurum ; zaman kaybi!
March 24, 2017
Özellikle, yazarın okuyucuya zamanının taassublarını (günümüzde de aşağı yukarı o şekilde) gözler önüne serdiği kısımlar epey güzel.
Bu fasikül melankolinin anatomisine giriş olarak isimlendirilebilir.
Bu fasikül melankolinin anatomisine giriş olarak isimlendirilebilir.
May 24, 2023
17. yüzyılda yayımlanan ve kendinden önceki iki bin yılda melankoliye nasıl bakıldığını anlatan bir kitap düşünün. Bu kitap bir roman değil, bir şiir, bir hikaye hiç değil. Robert Burton’ın (namıdiğer Yeni Demokritos’un) yazın türlerinin hem hepsine dahil olan hem de tek bir tanesiyle tanımlanamayacak kadar “melez” kitabı Melankolinin Anatomisi’nin yıllardır beklenen çevirisi nihayet Türkçede.
1651’de yayımlanan Melankolinin Anatomisi, Burton’ın son derece yaratıcı melankoli tanımlarının yanında, melankoli hakkında kendinden önce yazılan tüm eserlerin irdelendiği bir kitap aynı zamanda. O kadar ki, bu kitapta melankoli ile ilgili 17. yüzyıla kadar yazılan her şey, herkes var dersek, yanılmış olmayız.
Robert Burton’ın Oxford Üniversitesi’nde öğretmenlik yaparken yazdığı Melankolinin Anatomisi, günümüzden yüzyıllar önce bir yazarın “ben nasıl hissediyorum?” sorusuna verdiği en samimi cevaplardan biri olarak da okunabilir. Melankoli’yi yazma sebebini melankoliden kurtulmak için olarak açıklayan Burton’a göre melankoli, tek bir kelimeye ve hatta tek bir tanıma sığdırılabilecek bir “hal” değil; Burton melankoliyi aylaklık, hayal gücü, nefret ve intikam arzusu, utanç, yoksulluk, ölüm, evlilik ve daha pek çok yerden bakarak ele alıyor.
Kitabın ele aldığı ve Burton’ın asıl melankoli olarak tanımladığı ise alışkanlık olarak vücut bulan melankoli. Burton’ın deyişiyle, kitapta incelenen geçici bir durum yani eğilim olarak melankoli değil; aksine, kronik ya da süregelen bir hastalık olarak melankoli.
“Sahibem melankoli”
Türkçeye oldukça gecikmeli çevrilen (şimdilik “I. Fasikül”ü çıktı) ve konuyla ilgili çevrelere bir hediye gibi gelen Melankolinin Anatomisi yazıldığı yılın anlatım diline sadık kalınarak çevrilmiş. Çevirmen Merve Tokmakçıoğlu, kitabın önsözünde hem İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı öğrencisiyken denk geldiği eserle tanışma sürecini hem de çeviri yolculuğunu oldukça samimi bir dille anlatıyor. Çevirmeninin de özellikle “melez” bir eser olarak tanımladığı Melankolinin Anatomisi, pek çok eleştirmene göre bir çırpıda okunup bitirilecek bir kitap değil. Bu “büyük” kitabı melankolinin tarihini öğrenmek için de okumak mümkün, Robert Burton’ın deneyimlediği melankoli halini öğrenmek için de.
Burton’ın “sahibem melankoli” diyerek yazdığı ve 17. yüzyılda oldukça geniş bir okur kitlesine ulaşan, İngiliz edebiyatı ve sosyolojisinden pek çok ismin hayranlığını kazanan Melankolinin Anatomisi’nin bu temiz çevirisinin, Türkiye’de, bu türden referans kitap çevirilerinin artmasına vesile olması dileğiyle…
1651’de yayımlanan Melankolinin Anatomisi, Burton’ın son derece yaratıcı melankoli tanımlarının yanında, melankoli hakkında kendinden önce yazılan tüm eserlerin irdelendiği bir kitap aynı zamanda. O kadar ki, bu kitapta melankoli ile ilgili 17. yüzyıla kadar yazılan her şey, herkes var dersek, yanılmış olmayız.
Robert Burton’ın Oxford Üniversitesi’nde öğretmenlik yaparken yazdığı Melankolinin Anatomisi, günümüzden yüzyıllar önce bir yazarın “ben nasıl hissediyorum?” sorusuna verdiği en samimi cevaplardan biri olarak da okunabilir. Melankoli’yi yazma sebebini melankoliden kurtulmak için olarak açıklayan Burton’a göre melankoli, tek bir kelimeye ve hatta tek bir tanıma sığdırılabilecek bir “hal” değil; Burton melankoliyi aylaklık, hayal gücü, nefret ve intikam arzusu, utanç, yoksulluk, ölüm, evlilik ve daha pek çok yerden bakarak ele alıyor.
Kitabın ele aldığı ve Burton’ın asıl melankoli olarak tanımladığı ise alışkanlık olarak vücut bulan melankoli. Burton’ın deyişiyle, kitapta incelenen geçici bir durum yani eğilim olarak melankoli değil; aksine, kronik ya da süregelen bir hastalık olarak melankoli.
“Sahibem melankoli”
Türkçeye oldukça gecikmeli çevrilen (şimdilik “I. Fasikül”ü çıktı) ve konuyla ilgili çevrelere bir hediye gibi gelen Melankolinin Anatomisi yazıldığı yılın anlatım diline sadık kalınarak çevrilmiş. Çevirmen Merve Tokmakçıoğlu, kitabın önsözünde hem İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatı öğrencisiyken denk geldiği eserle tanışma sürecini hem de çeviri yolculuğunu oldukça samimi bir dille anlatıyor. Çevirmeninin de özellikle “melez” bir eser olarak tanımladığı Melankolinin Anatomisi, pek çok eleştirmene göre bir çırpıda okunup bitirilecek bir kitap değil. Bu “büyük” kitabı melankolinin tarihini öğrenmek için de okumak mümkün, Robert Burton’ın deneyimlediği melankoli halini öğrenmek için de.
Burton’ın “sahibem melankoli” diyerek yazdığı ve 17. yüzyılda oldukça geniş bir okur kitlesine ulaşan, İngiliz edebiyatı ve sosyolojisinden pek çok ismin hayranlığını kazanan Melankolinin Anatomisi’nin bu temiz çevirisinin, Türkiye’de, bu türden referans kitap çevirilerinin artmasına vesile olması dileğiyle…
September 24, 2023
Herkese merhaba Çok az okunmuş ve değerlendirilmiş bir kitabın yorumuyla karşınızdayım 2 fasikülden oluşan #melankolininanatomisi ilk kitabı. #robertburton tarafından yazılmış orijinal ismi #theanatomyofmelancholy Burton, melankoli matematik ve astroloji üzerine araştırmalar yapmış aynı zamanda papazlık da yapmış, ve intihar ettiği düşünülmekteymiş. Bu arada bu arada kitabın 1621 yılında basıldığını söylemeliyim. Çevirmenin önsözü kısmında Kitabın her yaşta her durumda bazen bir bölüm bazen sadece bir cümle okunabilecek tarzda ara ara ziyaret edebileceğimiz bir kitap olduğu söylenmiş. Ben tüm kitabı bir seferde okumayı hatta ikinci kısma direkt başlamayı tercih ettim tabii ki alıntıladığım Bir sürü yer var onlara tekrardan dönüp ileriki yıllarda bakacağımı düşünüyorum. Burton, üniversitede hoca iken ve orada yaşarken yaşadığı her şeyi bu kitap üzerinde aktarmış. Kendisine "yeni Demokritos" diyen yazar öncelikle bunun açıklamasını yapıyor.(Demokritos üzerine okuma kararımı bu kitapla aldım). Anlatım ve çeviri muhteşem.
Çevirmen çok iyi araştırmış ve dipnotları da çok iyi. Sadece sonda çevirmene ait kaynaklar da verilmeliydi ve osmanlıca kelimeler dönemi yansıtmak adına kullanılmamalıydı. Sonuçta farklı kültürler ve biz eski bir kitabı okuyor olsak da anlamak daha önemli. Kitaba kesinlikle bayıldım. Bir yaz okuması değil ancak hazır sonbahar geliyorken kitabı edinmenizi öneririm.
#felsefe #philosophy #darkacademia #academia
Çevirmen çok iyi araştırmış ve dipnotları da çok iyi. Sadece sonda çevirmene ait kaynaklar da verilmeliydi ve osmanlıca kelimeler dönemi yansıtmak adına kullanılmamalıydı. Sonuçta farklı kültürler ve biz eski bir kitabı okuyor olsak da anlamak daha önemli. Kitaba kesinlikle bayıldım. Bir yaz okuması değil ancak hazır sonbahar geliyorken kitabı edinmenizi öneririm.
#felsefe #philosophy #darkacademia #academia
October 1, 2025
3.5/5
Altı ciltlik bir metin Melankolinin Anatomisi. İlk cildin büyük bölümü giriş niteliğinde. Bu girişte yazar neden böyle bir konuda yazma ihtiyacı hissettiğini ve o zamanın hastalığa dair geçmişten gelen öyküsünü bir nebze anlatıyor. Hem o dönem hem de daha öncesinde filozofların, teologların ve yazarların delilik ve melankoli özelinde neler dediklerini uzun uzun anlatıyor. Özellikle Demoktritos'a saygı niteliğinde önemli bölümü. Kendine de bu kitabı yazarken küçük bir Demoktritos rolünü veriyor. Kitap bolca Latince gönderme içeriyor ama altta hemen Türkçesi verildiği için çok zorlanmıyorsunuz. Üslup çok iyi. Okunması çok rahat geldi bana.
"Hipokrat, Demoktritos'u bir gün ziyaret ettiğinde onu Abdera dolaylarındaki bahçesinde dizinde bir kitapla bir gölgeliğin altında çalışmalarıyla meşgul halde bulmuş, Demokritos ara sıra yazıp ara sıra yürüyüş yapıyormuş. Dizindeki kitabın konusu ise melankoli ve delilikmiş; etrafındaysa henüz kesip biçtiği ve anatomisini çıkardığı pek çok hayvan leşi duruyormuş: Hipokrat'a izah ettiği üzere, Tanrı'nın yarattıklarını hor gördüğünden değil atra bilisin(kara safra) ya da melankolinin yerini bulmak, nereden zuhur ettiğini, insan bedeninde nasıl meydana çıktığını öğrenmek ve böylece kendi içindeki melankoliyi daha iyi tedavi etmek ve melankoliye nasıl mani olunacağını, bundan nasıl sakınılacağını yazıları, gözlemleri vasıtasıyla başkalarına öğretmek maksadı taşıyormuş."
Altı ciltlik bir metin Melankolinin Anatomisi. İlk cildin büyük bölümü giriş niteliğinde. Bu girişte yazar neden böyle bir konuda yazma ihtiyacı hissettiğini ve o zamanın hastalığa dair geçmişten gelen öyküsünü bir nebze anlatıyor. Hem o dönem hem de daha öncesinde filozofların, teologların ve yazarların delilik ve melankoli özelinde neler dediklerini uzun uzun anlatıyor. Özellikle Demoktritos'a saygı niteliğinde önemli bölümü. Kendine de bu kitabı yazarken küçük bir Demoktritos rolünü veriyor. Kitap bolca Latince gönderme içeriyor ama altta hemen Türkçesi verildiği için çok zorlanmıyorsunuz. Üslup çok iyi. Okunması çok rahat geldi bana.
"Hipokrat, Demoktritos'u bir gün ziyaret ettiğinde onu Abdera dolaylarındaki bahçesinde dizinde bir kitapla bir gölgeliğin altında çalışmalarıyla meşgul halde bulmuş, Demokritos ara sıra yazıp ara sıra yürüyüş yapıyormuş. Dizindeki kitabın konusu ise melankoli ve delilikmiş; etrafındaysa henüz kesip biçtiği ve anatomisini çıkardığı pek çok hayvan leşi duruyormuş: Hipokrat'a izah ettiği üzere, Tanrı'nın yarattıklarını hor gördüğünden değil atra bilisin(kara safra) ya da melankolinin yerini bulmak, nereden zuhur ettiğini, insan bedeninde nasıl meydana çıktığını öğrenmek ve böylece kendi içindeki melankoliyi daha iyi tedavi etmek ve melankoliye nasıl mani olunacağını, bundan nasıl sakınılacağını yazıları, gözlemleri vasıtasıyla başkalarına öğretmek maksadı taşıyormuş."
January 12, 2019
Okurken çevirmenin önsözde bahsettiği kitap acaba gerçekten bu mu diyor insan. Sevgili çevirmen bu kadar derin manaları nasıl çıkarabilmiş bu kitaptan da "hayatın her döneminde tekrar tekrar okunması gerekenler" sınıfına koyabilmiş. Benim açımdan kitapta ilgimi çeken tek bir şey vardı o da 1600'lü yıllarda şu anda da kabul ettiğimiz bazı tıbbi bilgilerin biliniyor olduğunu görmek. Bu açıdan belki bir önemi olabilir. Ancak bu tıbbi bilgi edinmek için okunabilecek bir kitap olduğunu da göstermiyor. O zamanın bilgileri ışığında yazılmış ve oldukça yanlış bilgiler içeriyor doğal olarak. Sonuçta tarihsel bir önemi olabilir kitabın ama okumaya değer mi bilemiyorum.
August 10, 2017
Melankoli ile ilgili psikolojik bir kitap beklerken,zaman kaybı olarak gördüğüm bir kitap buldum.Bu okuduğum birinci fasikülmüş ama diğerlerini okumayı düşünmüyorum.Dipnotlar kitabın okunmasını kolaylaştırma amaçlı eklenmişken,bir yerden sonra kitabı okurken zulüme dönüştü.Kitabı tıp ile ilgilenenlere ve tıp öğrencilerine tavsiye edebilirim.
December 19, 2017
Beni yoran kitap olarak not etmek istiyorum.. her şeyin açıklamasını okumak kitaptan zaman zaman kopmama, yan bilgiler okumak ise kitabın ana temasını kaçırmama sebep oldu. 1621 yılında yazılan Melankolinin Anatomisi'ni yorumlayan yazar kendini biraz övmek biraz da bak ben ne kadar çok biliyorum demek için yazmış. Melankoli bir hastalık hali, kabullenin diyor kısaca..
November 20, 2020
Nerdeyse 150 sayfa fakat anlatmak istedigi ise icindeki 3 sayfa. Gerikalan kisim o kadar gereksiz ve sacma ki.. Tamam anliyorum cok eski zamanda yazilmis ama bu kitabi yazildigi donemde okumuyorum ki.. Gorusurum ; zaman kaybi!
January 10, 2019
çevirisi baya kötüydü ikincisini almıcam lmao
May 27, 2023
Daha çok insan varoluşu, davranışı üzerine yazılmış kitapta melankoliden ziyade anlamlandırma çabası yer alıyor. Melankoliye övgü yapılıyor aslında.
January 2, 2017
Robert Burton "ben melankoliyi yazarak, melankoliden uzak duruyorum" demis. Bu kitabi okudum bitirdim ama en guzel sozu Burton'un kendisi degil alinti yaptigi Razi ve Seneca soylemis bence. Seneca "tutkular, ruhun sakincali durtuleri hastalik haline gelir; nezle gibi baslar, öksürüge cevirir, düzenli ve kronik hale gelince de verem olur" demis. Razi ise su aralar favorim ilan ettigim sozu eklemis "mesguliyetten daha iyi bir tedavi yoktur!"
May 31, 2020
Boy, can Bob spew! :D
December 19, 2010
It feels somewhat silly to "rate" and "review" a historic text, especially a non-fiction one, but here you go. If you're interested in medieval and renaissance medicine, humoral theory and melancholy in particular, then this is the source for you. Burton is contemporary with Spenser and Shakespeare (roughly) and his ideas reflect an opinion on the thoughts of the day. Well organized and with a pretty good index.
read-elsewhere
May 11, 2016
June 14, 2017
Çok farklı bir kitap,belki size yardımcı olabilir?!
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