Lipton’s Journal/Introduction: Difference between revisions

(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)

Line 27:

===2===

[[w:Robert M. Lindner|Robert Lindner]]’s ''Prescription for Rebellion: A Reinterpretation of Psychoanalysis'', his impassioned 1952 attack on the profession for encouraging patients to adjust rather than rebel.{{efn|Dr. Lindner’s fourth book was published by Rinehart and Co., on May 27, 1952. His first book, ''Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath'' (1944) was sold to Warner Brothers and made into a 1955 film of the same title starring James Dean, although the title is the only connection to the book. Lindner wrote of edited a total of seven books. His last, posthumous book, ''Must You Conform?'' came out on May 1, 1956.}} Mailer felt a shock of recognition when he read Lindner’s contention that rebellion was humanity’s instinctive response to societal repression. While honoring Freud and his followers, Lindner believed that psychoanalysts had misused and blunted the tools of analysis. Skepticism, unfocused anger, and a quiver of neuroses were assets, not liabilities, and should be celebrated, not discouraged. Rinehart published Lindner’s book, and Mailer was sent a copy. He read it right after it appeared, and wrote Lindner [[Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer/November 18, 1952|a long letter a few weeks later]], praising the book’s thesis, but complaining that Lindner failed to identify with any precision what was wrong with society, what actions and inactions were inciting resistance. Both Mailer and Lindner were disheartened by the dull fog of conformity that was rolling over the nation during the Eisenhower era, but they didn’t see eye to eye on what acts of intransigence might help to dissipate it. For example, Lindner did not recognize marijuana as a tool of liberation, while Mailer believed it was a magical drug that purged docility and opened up possibilities for movement and growth. Nevertheless, their correspondence burgeoned into a warm friendship, and for several years they corresponded, talked regularly on the phone, and exchanged visits until early 1956, when Lindner died of congestive heart disease. Mailer sent Lindner chunks of the journal and Lindner sent back responses that further stimulated Mailer, who called their dialogue “inter-fecundation.”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/January 31, 1955/359|#359]]}} On some matters, Lindner felt that Mailer was on to something important, while on others, he was more concerned about what the drugs were doing to his friend’s mind and his behavior. He was aware that Mailer was a gifted thinker, but he knew enough to see the signs of a man on the edge of paranoia. After their initial letters and meetings, and because of their mutual respect and admiration, Lindner and Mailer became steadfast friends, and with time, Lindner became an internal other for Mailer.

[[w:Robert M. Lindner|Robert Lindner]]’s ''Prescription for Rebellion: A Reinterpretation of Psychoanalysis'', his impassioned 1952 attack on the profession for encouraging patients to adjust rather than rebel.{{efn|Dr. Lindner’s fourth book was published by Rinehart and Co., on May 27, 1952. His first book, ''Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath'' (1944) was sold to Warner Brothers and made into a 1955 film of the same title starring James Dean, although the title is the only connection to the book. Lindner wrote or edited a total of seven books. His last, posthumous book, ''Must You Conform?'' came out on May 1, 1956.}} Mailer felt a shock of recognition when he read Lindner’s contention that rebellion was humanity’s instinctive response to societal repression. While honoring Freud and his followers, Lindner believed that psychoanalysts had misused and blunted the tools of analysis. Skepticism, unfocused anger, and a quiver of neuroses were assets, not liabilities, and should be celebrated, not discouraged. Rinehart published Lindner’s book, and Mailer was sent a copy. He read it right after it appeared, and wrote Lindner [[Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer/November 18, 1952|a long letter a few weeks later]], praising the book’s thesis, but complaining that Lindner failed to identify with any precision what was wrong with society, what actions and inactions were inciting resistance. Both Mailer and Lindner were disheartened by the dull fog of conformity that was rolling over the nation during the Eisenhower era, but they didn’t see eye to eye on what acts of intransigence might help to dissipate it. For example, Lindner did not recognize marijuana as a tool of liberation, while Mailer believed it was a magical drug that purged docility and opened up possibilities for movement and growth. Nevertheless, their correspondence burgeoned into a warm friendship, and for several years they corresponded, talked regularly on the phone, and exchanged visits until early 1956, when Lindner died of congestive heart disease. Mailer sent Lindner chunks of the journal and Lindner sent back responses that further stimulated Mailer, who called their dialogue “inter-fecundation.”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/January 31, 1955/359|#359]]}} On some matters, Lindner felt that Mailer was on to something important, while on others, he was more concerned about what the drugs were doing to his friend’s mind and his behavior. He was aware that Mailer was a gifted thinker, but he knew enough to see the signs of a man on the edge of paranoia. After their initial letters and meetings, and because of their mutual respect and admiration, Lindner and Mailer became steadfast friends, and with time, Lindner became an internal other for Mailer.

===3===

Line 50:

The man who came out of that experience wrote a few years later in ''Advertisements for Myself'': “I was finally open to my anger, I turned within my psyche, I can almost believe, for I felt something shift to murder in me . . . All I felt was that I was an outlaw, a psychic outlaw and I liked it, I liked it a good night better than trying to be a gentleman.”{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=234}} Mailer saw ''Lipton’s'' as the prelude to a thousand-page “fuck novel”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/December 31, 1954/160|#160]]}} that would take years to write, a preparation for his attempt to become a daring Dostoyevskian novelist who would “make a revolution in the consciousness of our time.”{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=17}}

~~{{* * *}}~~

When Mailer made the final entry to ''Lipton’s'', the journal topped 104,000 words divided into 708 numbered entries. Mailer numbered each entry consecutively over the twenty-one days he wrote in his journal, from December 1, 1954 to

March 4, 1955. Occasionally he would skip a number and likewise repeat one. Sometimes entries were repetitive, redundant, or ridiculous. The archival manuscript is rough, like a first-draft that an editor might be privy to. It should not be published in its current form, but needed to undergo careful editing to present a cohesive, readable, and logical volume. We decided to approach editing the journal with two platforms in mind, the Web and the book, each with its own intended users, (re)searchers and readers, respectively.

In this digital project, the main users of the journal will be researchers looking for quick information, likely via Google or through keyword searches of this site. The journal, then, has been remediated to make search the most likely avenue of access. Mailer’s original entries have been renumbered, eliminating errors in the original manuscript. Each journal entry has its own page, often with linked cross-references to other entries. Blocks of text in the original have been logically paragraphed for readability, and a navigational box appears at the bottom of every entry for browsing.

Since the entries occupy their individual pages, annotations are repeated throughout. These annotations explain important people and events that might not be inferred from the text and often provide a greater intellectual and philosophical context for Mailer’s thought, especially to users who may be unfamiliar with or new to Mailer’s work. While readers would find this application of footnotes redundant, the nature of the digital presentation makes their repetition logical. To expand these notes for those who are interested, we have linked many names to Wikipedia articles. We have tried to keep these links in the footnotes to avoid unnecessary interruption in the text of the entries.

We also employ hover notes: these clarify terms or ideas that Mailer discusses in earlier entries but continues to refer to or develop in subsequent ones. These glossed terms are often abbreviations or neologisms that would make little sense without knowledge of previous entries. Hover notes are indicated by a {{H:title|This is an example of a hover note.|dotted-underline}} and can be accessed by hovering over them with the mouse pointer.

~~. . .~~

====Notes====

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 ===2===
-[[w:Robert M. Lindner|Robert Lindner]]’s ''Prescription for Rebellion: A Reinterpretation of Psychoanalysis'', his impassioned 1952 attack on the profession for encouraging patients to adjust rather than rebel.{{efn|Dr. Lindner’s fourth book was published by Rinehart and Co., on May 27, 1952. His first book, ''Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath'' (1944) was sold to Warner Brothers and made into a 1955 film of the same title starring James Dean, although the title is the only connection to the book. Lindner wrote of edited a total of seven books. His last, posthumous book, ''Must You Conform?'' came out on May 1, 1956.}} Mailer felt a shock of recognition when he read Lindner’s contention that rebellion was humanity’s instinctive response to societal repression. While honoring Freud and his followers, Lindner believed that psychoanalysts had misused and blunted the tools of analysis. Skepticism, unfocused anger, and a quiver of neuroses were assets, not liabilities, and should be celebrated, not discouraged. Rinehart published Lindner’s book, and Mailer was sent a copy. He read it right after it appeared, and wrote Lindner [[Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer/November 18, 1952|a long letter a few weeks later]], praising the book’s thesis, but complaining that Lindner failed to identify with any precision what was wrong with society, what actions and inactions were inciting resistance. Both Mailer and Lindner were disheartened by the dull fog of conformity that was rolling over the nation during the Eisenhower era, but they didn’t see eye to eye on what acts of intransigence might help to dissipate it. For example, Lindner did not recognize marijuana as a tool of liberation, while Mailer believed it was a magical drug that purged docility and opened up possibilities for movement and growth. Nevertheless, their correspondence burgeoned into a warm friendship, and for several years they corresponded, talked regularly on the phone, and exchanged visits until early 1956, when Lindner died of congestive heart disease. Mailer sent Lindner chunks of the journal and Lindner sent back responses that further stimulated Mailer, who called their dialogue “inter-fecundation.”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/January 31, 1955/359|#359]]}} On some matters, Lindner felt that Mailer was on to something important, while on others, he was more concerned about what the drugs were doing to his friend’s mind and his behavior. He was aware that Mailer was a gifted thinker, but he knew enough to see the signs of a man on the edge of paranoia. After their initial letters and meetings, and because of their mutual respect and admiration, Lindner and Mailer became steadfast friends, and with time, Lindner became an internal other for Mailer.
+[[w:Robert M. Lindner|Robert Lindner]]’s ''Prescription for Rebellion: A Reinterpretation of Psychoanalysis'', his impassioned 1952 attack on the profession for encouraging patients to adjust rather than rebel.{{efn|Dr. Lindner’s fourth book was published by Rinehart and Co., on May 27, 1952. His first book, ''Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath'' (1944) was sold to Warner Brothers and made into a 1955 film of the same title starring James Dean, although the title is the only connection to the book. Lindner wrote or edited a total of seven books. His last, posthumous book, ''Must You Conform?'' came out on May 1, 1956.}} Mailer felt a shock of recognition when he read Lindner’s contention that rebellion was humanity’s instinctive response to societal repression. While honoring Freud and his followers, Lindner believed that psychoanalysts had misused and blunted the tools of analysis. Skepticism, unfocused anger, and a quiver of neuroses were assets, not liabilities, and should be celebrated, not discouraged. Rinehart published Lindner’s book, and Mailer was sent a copy. He read it right after it appeared, and wrote Lindner [[Lipton’s Journal/Correspondence of Robert Lindner and Norman Mailer/November 18, 1952|a long letter a few weeks later]], praising the book’s thesis, but complaining that Lindner failed to identify with any precision what was wrong with society, what actions and inactions were inciting resistance. Both Mailer and Lindner were disheartened by the dull fog of conformity that was rolling over the nation during the Eisenhower era, but they didn’t see eye to eye on what acts of intransigence might help to dissipate it. For example, Lindner did not recognize marijuana as a tool of liberation, while Mailer believed it was a magical drug that purged docility and opened up possibilities for movement and growth. Nevertheless, their correspondence burgeoned into a warm friendship, and for several years they corresponded, talked regularly on the phone, and exchanged visits until early 1956, when Lindner died of congestive heart disease. Mailer sent Lindner chunks of the journal and Lindner sent back responses that further stimulated Mailer, who called their dialogue “inter-fecundation.”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/January 31, 1955/359|#359]]}} On some matters, Lindner felt that Mailer was on to something important, while on others, he was more concerned about what the drugs were doing to his friend’s mind and his behavior. He was aware that Mailer was a gifted thinker, but he knew enough to see the signs of a man on the edge of paranoia. After their initial letters and meetings, and because of their mutual respect and admiration, Lindner and Mailer became steadfast friends, and with time, Lindner became an internal other for Mailer.
 ===3===
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 The man who came out of that experience wrote a few years later in ''Advertisements for Myself'': “I was finally open to my anger, I turned within my psyche, I can almost believe, for I felt something shift to murder in me . . . All I felt was that I was an outlaw, a psychic outlaw and I liked it, I liked it a good night better than trying to be a gentleman.”{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=234}} Mailer saw ''Lipton’s'' as the prelude to a thousand-page “fuck novel”{{sfn|Mailer|2021|loc=[[Lipton’s Journal/December 31, 1954/160|#160]]}} that would take years to write, a preparation for his attempt to become a daring Dostoyevskian novelist who would “make a revolution in the consciousness of our time.”{{sfn|Mailer|1959|p=17}}
-{{* * *}}
-When Mailer made the final entry to ''Lipton’s'', the journal topped 104,000 words divided into 708 numbered entries. Mailer numbered each entry consecutively over the twenty-one days he wrote in his journal, from December 1, 1954 to
-March 4, 1955. Occasionally he would skip a number and likewise repeat one. Sometimes entries were repetitive, redundant, or ridiculous. The archival manuscript is rough, like a first-draft that an editor might be privy to. It should not be published in its current form, but needed to undergo careful editing to present a cohesive, readable, and logical volume. We decided to approach editing the journal with two platforms in mind, the Web and the book, each with its own intended users, (re)searchers and readers, respectively.
-In this digital project, the main users of the journal will be researchers looking for quick information, likely via Google or through keyword searches of this site. The journal, then, has been remediated to make search the most likely avenue of access. Mailer’s original entries have been renumbered, eliminating errors in the original manuscript. Each journal entry has its own page, often with linked cross-references to other entries. Blocks of text in the original have been logically paragraphed for readability, and a navigational box appears at the bottom of every entry for browsing.
-Since the entries occupy their individual pages, annotations are repeated throughout. These annotations explain important people and events that might not be inferred from the text and often provide a greater intellectual and philosophical context for Mailer’s thought, especially to users who may be unfamiliar with or new to Mailer’s work. While readers would find this application of footnotes redundant, the nature of the digital presentation makes their repetition logical. To expand these notes for those who are interested, we have linked many names to Wikipedia articles. We have tried to keep these links in the footnotes to avoid unnecessary interruption in the text of the entries.
-We also employ hover notes: these clarify terms or ideas that Mailer discusses in earlier entries but continues to refer to or develop in subsequent ones. These glossed terms are often abbreviations or neologisms that would make little sense without knowledge of previous entries. Hover notes are indicated by a {{H:title|This is an example of a hover note.|dotted-underline}} and can be accessed by hovering over them with the mouse pointer.
-. . .
 ====Notes====