171 To Sleep Perchance to Dream - On Writers and Death

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

Arts, History, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2018

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"To die, to sleep - to sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come..." In these immortal lines, Shakespeare's Hamlet gives voice to one of the greatest of all human questions. What happens when we die? Should we be excited by the mystery? Or afraid? How do we puny humans endure the knowledge that we are not immortal? In this episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at writers on the verge of death. What did they see? And what did they say? Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to jackewilsonauthor@gmail.com. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:10.0	Hello. To die to sleep, to sleep per chance to dream.
0:15.9	Aye, there's the rub, for in this sleep of death what dreams may come,
0:22.0	says Amlet.
0:23.0	What does he mean by that?
0:24.8	What exactly is the rub?
0:27.4	It's the very human fear of the unknown.
0:31.0	If we were guaranteed heaven and we believed in it, then why not end our lives now?
0:37.0	Why suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune down here on the earth?
0:42.0	Why not just make our way to the Celestial Paradise?
0:47.0	That's not how we view life or most of us anyway, and yet for some of us circumstances drive us closer and closer to taking our own life and for
0:56.8	those of us left behind we struggle to understand what pushed someone over that edge.
1:04.6	Even for those of us who don't commit suicide, the clock is ticking.
1:08.9	Death approaches.
1:10.2	Maybe to invite us to play a game of chess, or maybe just to put his arm around our shoulders and escort us to something unknown.
1:20.0	Writers know both kinds of death, natural, and suicide.
1:24.0	They talk about death a lot.
1:25.6	They tell us what they think they understand.
1:28.8	They themselves, many of them have left this earth before us. What lessons have they passed along? What can we learn? What do we know?
1:39.4	And can we find inspiration in any of this? Are there any positive messages?
1:45.0	spoiler alert? We can and there are. Mike Pallandrome is here to talk about
1:51.1	great literary deaths and famous author last words today on
	...

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