City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

The tree of ecstasy and unbearable sadness, Matt Ottley

eng

illustrations

no index present

15+ years old

fiction

The tree of ecstasy and unbearable sadness

Matt Ottley

The Tree of Ecstasy & Unbearable Sadness is an allegorical story of a boy's experience of psychosis, with mental illness represented as a fantastical tree whose flowers are ecstasy and whose fruit is unbearable sadness. Stunning drawings and paintings lead the reader through the boy's early discovery of his strangeness, his surrender to the disease (an all-consuming tree), the ensuing psychotic journey, and eventual self-acceptance. The recording of a full orchestral score composed by the author-illustrator will accompany the book, and an international tour is planned

adolescent