Tibor Fischer

Tortured youths: how childhood misery often makes for genius

Matthew Parris’s roll call of celebs who overcame early trauma includes Edward Lear, Rudyard Kipling, Abraham Lincoln, Lenin and Wittgenstein

Edward Lear’s childhood was so grim even Dickens might have baulked at fictionalising it. Drawing by W.N. Marstrand. Credit: Getty Images
  • Comments

  • Fracture: Stories of How Great Lives Take Root in Trauma

    Matthew Parris

    Profile, pp. 304, £16

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Subscribe today to get 3 months' delivery of the magazine, as well as online and app access, for only £3.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

  • Weekly delivery of the magazine
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Lloyd Evans

My (surprisingly) decent proposal

Lloyd Evans
From the magazine
‘Like being chained to a lunatic.’ That’s how a man feels in relation to his libido. And the lunatic latches on to anything, irrationally, and without warning. In Cambridge recently I dropped into a lecture given by a beautiful historian, Lea Ypi, from Albania, whose discourse included this observation about revolutionaries: ‘Once they attain power

Because you read about edward lear

Also by Tibor Fischer

Latest

Comments

A blooming good offer

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting the next 3 months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in