Friday, 30 November 2018

On the True Basis of Relationships

"On the True Basis of Relationships" by Dr. Ossian Guldhavn Kieran Sørensen, in Danish, 1922, Gephardt Absom Forlag, Rosekilde, Denmark, Softcover, 348 pages, no illustrations. This book should have never seen the light of print, it consists of edited case notes on depression caused by relationships. Dr. Sørensen, a clinical psychiatrist who had over eight hundred registered patients, was a relative unknown until Monday, August 14th 1920 when soldiers of The Royal Danish Halberdiers Guard hacked him to death as he was running towards the Royal Princess Maria Frederika Carlotta with a shotgun. The doctor's heirs intended to cash in on the sudden fame and published the book. I found it interesting but frustrating as it consists of a thorough analysis that tries to determine the actual true basis of relationships. Boredom, frustration, love, hate, lust, curiosity, loneliness, hunger, thirst, greed, love of dogs, love of cats, odd mental state, consciousnesses, weltschmerz, experimentation, depravity, lack of self-control, herpetophobia, ophidiophobia, herpetophilia, partial or total loss of vision and/or sense of smell, melomania, alcoholism, fear of anything, fear of nothing, being in the army, playing cards, having strange passions, having curious collections, singing off key, kissing well, restlessness, catatonia, whistling in the dark, solving puzzles,  building model ships, shapely thighs, round shoulders, cooking Asian foods, driving too fast, eating spicy Italian, growing vegetables, picking flowers at night, Yoga, coloring between the lines, boxing, Thai Chi, planting rumors, grating horseradish, treasure hunting, praying, painting, polluting, voting, braying, peeling onions, protesting, trampling on dreams, somnambulism, listening to Bach's Chaconne, smelling flowers, pampering, trespassing, littering, loitering, breaking and entering, grabbing, catching and releasing, pleasing others, pulling pranks, bending rules, creating chaos out of order, keeping bees, superstition, ignorance, creepiness, poking fun, keeping track, having dreams, egomania, narcissism, mythomania, kleptomania, nymphomania, satyriasis and so on ... are all examined as possible or probable but none is eventually proven beyond robust scientific doubt to be it (thus causing me frustration).  
  

1 comment:

  1. Holly, funcking shit ... that is some list, eh?

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