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A review by lucybbookstuff
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Really not sure how I feel. 😅 I'll try to process here.
I liked this. It is a great work of satire and definitely got me thinking about multiple things. The hellscape of the "art world," the standards of the early 2000s, the nondiscrimination of mental illness, codependency, etc.
I just feel that perhaps it was a bit too long? I sense that the repetitiveness was kind of the point, but it still felt somewhat unnecessary. I think this could have made a perfect novella. While I did like the themes of this book, I was kind of dragging myself through it by the end and didn't feel like contemplating the ending much.
On another note, I had no issues with following an unlikeable narrator (and largely unlikeable side characters). To me, it was very clear that she is a character invented to get the themes across. I didn't even once get the sense that the author condones any of the rancid behavior going on in this book.
One random thought I had is that this book reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. It's one of my favorite classics, but so many people seem to hate it for similar reasons that this book is hated. Both follow privileged but tragic main characters having mental breakdowns in NYC... The books get criticized for having unlikeable MCs when that is actually the point. I can understand not enjoying books with unlikeable narrators, but to call them objectively bad for it? Hard no.
I'm rambling now 💀
In summary: kind of a boring reading experience, but still a great satire.
I liked this. It is a great work of satire and definitely got me thinking about multiple things. The hellscape of the "art world," the standards of the early 2000s, the nondiscrimination of mental illness, codependency, etc.
I just feel that perhaps it was a bit too long? I sense that the repetitiveness was kind of the point, but it still felt somewhat unnecessary. I think this could have made a perfect novella. While I did like the themes of this book, I was kind of dragging myself through it by the end and didn't feel like contemplating the ending much.
On another note, I had no issues with following an unlikeable narrator (and largely unlikeable side characters). To me, it was very clear that she is a character invented to get the themes across. I didn't even once get the sense that the author condones any of the rancid behavior going on in this book.
One random thought I had is that this book reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. It's one of my favorite classics, but so many people seem to hate it for similar reasons that this book is hated. Both follow privileged but tragic main characters having mental breakdowns in NYC... The books get criticized for having unlikeable MCs when that is actually the point. I can understand not enjoying books with unlikeable narrators, but to call them objectively bad for it? Hard no.
I'm rambling now 💀
In summary: kind of a boring reading experience, but still a great satire.