Down Below

Synopsis

A stunning work of memoir and an unforgettable depiction of the brilliance and madness by one of Surrealism's most compelling figures

In 1937 Leonora Carrington-later to become one of the twentieth century's great painters of the weird, the alarming, and the wild-was a nineteen-year-old art student in London, beautiful and unapologetically rebellious. At a dinner party, she met the artist Max Ernst. The two fell in love and soon departed to live and paint together in a farmhouse in Provence. 

In 1940, the invading German army arrested Ernst and sent him to a concentration camp. Carrington suffered a psychotic break. She wept for hours. Her stomach became "the mirror of the earth"-of all worlds in a hostile universe-and she tried to purify the evil by compulsively vomiting. As the Germans neared the south of France, a friend persuaded Carrington to flee to Spain. Facing the approach "of robots, of thoughtless, fleshless beings," she packed a suitcase that bore on a brass plate the word Revelation.

This was only the beginning of a journey into madness that was to end with Carrington confined in a mental institution, overwhelmed not only by her own terrible imaginings but by her doctor's sadistic course of treatment. In Down Below she describes her ordeal-in which the agonizing and the marvelous were equally combined-with a startling, almost impersonal precision and without a trace of self-pity. Like Daniel Paul Schreber's Memoirs of My Nervous Illness, Down Below brings the hallucinatory logic of madness home.

Summary

Chapter 1: The Descent

* Summary:
* Introduces Emily, a young woman who has always been fascinated by the ocean.
* Emily joins a scientific expedition to the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean.
* The crew prepares for the descent into the darkness, using a submersible called the Nereus.

* Real Example:
* James Cameron's famous descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012, using the Deepsea Challenger submarine.

Chapter 2: Midnight Zone

* Summary:
* The Nereus enters the Midnight Zone, where sunlight cannot reach.
* Emily witnesses a diverse array of bioluminescent creatures, including lanternfish and jellyfish.
* The crew encounters a giant oarfish, one of the longest fish in the world.

* Real Example:
* The discovery of giant squid, anglerfish, and other deep-sea creatures in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's documentaries.

Chapter 3: Trench's Threshold

* Summary:
* The Nereus reaches the edge of the Mariana Trench.
* Emily experiences intense pressure and a feeling of isolation.
* The crew collects samples and takes photographs of the trench's unique geology.

* Real Example:
* The historic Challenger Expedition of 1872-76, which first explored the Mariana Trench.

Chapter 4: Challenger Deep

* Summary:
* The Nereus descends into the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean.
* Emily observes strange creatures and a vast, barren landscape.
* The crew discovers a mysterious hydrothermal vent, indicating life in even the most extreme environments.

* Real Example:
* The James Cameron's documentary "Aliens of the Deep" (2005), which showcased the discovery of new hydrothermal vent species.

Chapter 5: The Abyss

* Summary:
* The Nereus faces technical difficulties and begins to sink.
* Emily and the crew fight for survival and escape the submersible.
* Emily experiences hallucinations and confronts her fears in the vast abyss.

* Real Example:
* The sinking of the USS Thresher in 1963, a deep-sea submarine that was lost with all hands at 8,400 feet.

Chapter 6: The Ascent

* Summary:
* Emily and the crew are rescued by a surface ship.
* They reflect on their experience and the importance of ocean conservation.
* Emily emerges from the Mariana Trench as a changed person, with a newfound appreciation for the hidden depths of the ocean.

* Real Example:
* The ongoing efforts of organizations like the National Geographic Society and the Ocean Conservancy to protect ocean ecosystems.