The Savage and Beautiful Country: The Secret Life of the Mind
(In this work, Alan McGlashan presents a sensitive view of...)
In this work, Alan McGlashan presents a sensitive view of the modern world and of time, of our memories and forgetfulness, joys and sorrows. He takes the reader on a safari into regions, that are strange and yet familiar — into the savage and beautiful country of the mind.
(As the title suggests, this book addresses its subjects w...)
As the title suggests, this book addresses its subjects with wit and with weight, as the author brings the latest insights of contemporary physics into the perspective of an everyday life, that is shown to be full of paradox.
Alan McGlashan was a British physician, psychiatrist, pilot, poet and author. Moreover, he was a dramatic critic. McGlashan's greatest fascination was with the phenomenon of time. The subject was addressed at length in his last books and it continued to be at the center of his interest to the end of his life.
Background
Alan McGlashan was born on October 20, 1898, in Bedworth, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. He was a son of a general practitioner, who was drowned during the Second World War, when the Domala, a cargo liner, on which he was serving as ship's surgeon, was bombed.
Education
Before World War I, Alan studied at Epsom College. Later, he attended Clare College, Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921.
Then, McGlashan followed his father into the medicine, training for the medical profession at St. George's Hospital in London and taking his psychiatric and analytic training at the Maudsley Hospital and the Tavistock Clinic (present-day Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust) respectively.
In 1940, he qualified as a consultant psychiatrist and received a Doctor of Psychological Medicine degree.
In 1916, Alan joined the Royal Flying Corps (now Royal Air Force) as an officer and pilot. After military service, in the early 1920's, he worked as a drama critic at the London Observer and the News Chronicle newspapers. Later, he decided to seek adventure on board of a tramp steamer, headed for the Far East, serving as its ship surgeon.
Upon his return from the Far East, he practiced general medicine from 1925 to 1937, before turning to psychiatry as a profession. During World War II, McGlashan was a consultant to England’s War Office Selection Board. Then, he was a consultant for the National Health Service in psychiatry.
During his lifetime, Alan also served as the staff of such establishments, as Maudseley Hospital, St. George’s Hospital and West End Hospital. Alan was still seeing patients shortly before his death at the age of ninety-eight. His patients included HRH The Prince of Wales and, as she would become, Diana, Princess of Wales.
A love of literature kept him busy as well. He wrote several books, including "St. George and the Dragon", "The Savage and Beautiful Country: The Secret Life of the Mind" and "Gravity and Levity". Moreover, Alan was a contributor to Arthur Koestler’s "Suicide of a Nation" and wrote for different periodicals, such as "Encounter", "London Magazine" and "Lancet". He also authored five Take-Home-Books for Hulton Press.
Alan saw the usual understanding of time as being either linear, cyclical or eternal, the latter being what he referred to as the "pure present".
Quotations:
"Ruefully admitting we can neither remain children nor all become artists still less saints and mystics, we turn back, regretfully, but massively, to the time-ridden world."
"There is strong archaeological evidence to show, that with the birth of human consciousness there was born, like a twin, the impulse to transcend it."
"Linear time has one claim to grandeur: it is the tragic aspect of Time."
"There will always be those who must look into the dark in order to see."
"To endow clock time with numinous meaning is hardly a fit occupation for an intelligent person."
Personality
Alan McGlashan was a serious philosopher and exchanged ideas and friendships with some of the leading thinkers of his day, among them Arthur Koestler and J. B. Priestley.
Interests
Flying gliders, ballooning, bridge
Sport & Clubs
Tennis
Connections
In 1934, Alan married Hilda Cameron-Smith, who died in 1975. In 1979, he married his second wife — Sasha Baldi.