The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing (Picador, 2016).
“When you have no-one, no-one can hurt you”. The bleak lyrics by Will Oldham from ‘You Will Miss Me When I Burn’ by Palace Brothers are hardly life affirming. Olivia Laing takes a more positive line from Dennis Wilson’s ‘Thoughts of You’ in which the Beach Boy sings how “Loneliness is a very special place”.
However, I doubt that many people equate loneliness with specialness. Most of the time it’s a condition that generates feelings of shame, self loathing and depression. The invisible cloak we wear is a burden rather than a protection.
The ‘adventures’ of Olivia Laing’s compassionate and insightful book nevertheless show how being alone can be, and has been, the stimulus to greater self knowledge and the impetus towards personal creativity. Continue reading
