Summary: A restless young woman goes to extremes in order to rest for one calendar year.
Rating & Recommendation: 4/5; recommend for introverts and anyone who has experienced depression
Review: I went into this with low expectations and knowing only a few facts - I had been warned that the main character was unlikable, and that not much happens. Long story short: both of those things are true, but I liked this book anyway. No one spoiled the ending for me, but I knew where it was headed pretty early on [Spoiler Alert: It's pre-9/11]. I figured that was the only reason to set the book in that particular place at that particular time.
I found the protagonist relatable, which maybe means I am equally unlikable, and equally a terrible friend. I have to wonder if the sour taste she leaves in everyone’s mouth has to do with jealousy. If you could take a year off of your life, wouldn’t you? Maybe you have to understand her misery on a personal level. Having privilege doesn’t equate having happiness. And then, you’re desperate to get happy. That kind of desperation has a taste; it’s almost tangible. I love how every description of sleep and the need to detach was different but explicit. Moshfegh somehow captures restlessness so well.
This book was a quick read, with some quirky choices (e.g. a main character without a name), but it really solidified my belief that sometimes bad things happen to good people for no reason, and sometimes it seems like bad people are literally kept alive by the poison of their pettiness and their hate and spite.
Note: Her therapist is a horrible human being, and I just want to state that that kind of person is the kind of person who gives mental health professionals a bad name.
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