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I HAVE BECOME EXCITED to the point of being thrilled as I have engaged myself in the discussion of this paper, an extraordinary and beautiful piece of work.
Strindberg has reported in exquisite detail the process of consciousness that he was experiencing at the time of Inferno. Even more, he was able to report it with startling emphasis on the sequence of events and thoughts, the things that were happening to him at the time (in fact, as well as in his consciousness), and within limits, some of the feelings and "almost" emotions that he was having at the time they were occurring. Add to this the obvious literary talent in expressing this clearly and understandably, and in a form that invites one to "participate in the experience."
Dr. Burnham, in turn (in addition to his obvious literary talent), shows a precise and profound understanding of what Strindberg is talking about, beyond what Strindberg is saying. Dr. Burnham seems to have a very sure "feel" of the relative importance of things, of what goes into the making of what Strindberg relates of his thoughts and feelings.
One comes away with a feeling of Strindberg as a person, not, as I had previously thought of him (without much knowledge to go on), as a "black hole of depression, bitterness, and anger."
Thus we have a description in depth of what some might call a paranoid schizophrenic experience, in such detail, that we may