We now live in a time of comfort, convenience and opportunity such as mankind has never known. With all the great things we are provided, we also get many side effects that some thrive on and others do not welcome. Some of these are expectations, added or unwanted responsibility, inconvenience, or extreme supervision to name a few. We all deal with these pressures in a different manner. Then we add another factor, our personal lives. Most people have the ultimate goal to make their personal lives better. We want a happy, normal life at home, no matter what our status is in the community. Some choose suicide as an option to get relief. These are true stories of those final thoughts. Could they have been helped? We will never know. Can we help others in desperate need? Maybe, if we provide a little kindness and understanding. At least we can try.
Professional Reviews
Lori Paris
I'm In The Tub, Gone by Richard James Carlson is a collection of authentic suicide letters. Mr. Carlson, a former police officer, offers us a rather macabre look into the very private world of those who have chosen to end their lives. Their final words are put on paper (errors and all) exactly as they were written. These suicide letters are undeniably chilling, sad, heartfelt, and terrifying. To read them is akin to driving by a car wreck, you can't turn away from it. You can't help but wonder what might have led these poor souls to take their own lives.
I'm In The Tub, Gone is a difficult book to catagorize. It is unique, and it is powerful. It is simple and it is moving. It is a stark reminder of how lives can be wasted, of how some people become so desperate, they can see no other way out. Make no mistake, this book is depressing, but it sends a message that no one should miss. Nothing is worth taking your life over. The act of suicide is so devastating to those left behind, and often, those who commit the act, have no idea of the long lasting and far reaching consequences of their actions. I recommend this book, not because it will make you feel good, for surely it won't, but rather for its message. It will help you realize how futile and selfish an act of suicide truly is, and how hard we must work not to ever let this happen to anyone we know or love.
Hello Richard,
I am still looking for your book here in my country but even without reading it yet, somehow I can relate to the people you've written about, and of the people they left behind. My youngest brother was a victim of suicide and even now his death still brings many questions to mind. I have not yet recovered from the pain and the loss, because there seems to be no closure to the "why". Suicide is not really a choice for the victim, he is not in his right state of mind to make the choice, as events in his life may have led him to. My brother suffered emotionally days before his death, and tragically, the members of our family to whom he turned to at that time, were not more
keenly aware of what he was going through. Your words, we can provide
a little more kindness and understanding could help them - it really could have helped my brother. Thanks for your writing on this subject.
Richard:years ago I heard of a book or maybe it was a movie call "don't say suicide" it was well done but yet it leaves one to think how bad it is when some one choose to end there life. since I have choosen The Lord Jesus Christ I never have to think of ending my life by suicide I don't think that it would be good to have people think of my last thoughts of me in this way or meeting my reedmer wondering why I had taken my own life to soon... what a sad sight that would be and not a very good one on one soul...
Reviewed by ~ Holly Harbridge
7/10/2007
Dear Richard, this book sounds interesting to say the least. I have known many that have taken their own lives, mostly it was because of divorce. It is so very hard to work with individuals that are determined to take thier own lives...but it's not impossible.
Richard
You have written about a subject that has fascinated many down through the years, not the act of suicide but the mindset fuelling the determination or desire to take one's life. I worked with men with mild to severe social and behavioural problems, and not a few pondered or committed suicide. One guy outwardly gave the impression that what it was that troubled him was merely an iritant. Two days later he was found floating face down in the river. Transpires that his divorce had robbed him of everything that he ever cherished: his wife, children, home, social status etc (a not uncommon experience for divorced men), and he could not cope anymore. Nearer to home, my Father attempted suicide. He simply never let anyone near enough for them to detect the signs. Even after the event, he kept us out of this cerebral part of his life right to the day he died naturally (but still troubled inside).
My university work finishes for this year in October. I usually set myself a reading list. This book will be added.
Slaves who fled their masters were classified as insane. This term came from Dr. Samuel Cartwright who was an apologist for slavery in the pre-Civil War era. This release of my Anoka Time file is a look at slavery in the modern context of Minnesota N
