Book: My year of rest and relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Justification
Reading English-language literature, in my opinion, greatly expands vocabulary and improves understanding of syntax and sentence structure. The stories and their surroundings also give us a glimpse into life in other places—in this example, New York.
Reflection
The works of Ottessa Moshfegh have gained significant popularity in recent months, mainly due to the phenomenon known as 'BookTok.' BookTok (a combination of the words book and TikTok) is a virtual space on the social media platform TikTok where people share their reviews and impressions of books. Like any today's modern space, BookTok follows certain fads and places great emphasis on visual appeal (even though there's a well-known saying: 'Don't judge book by its cover'). For BookTokers (people who create TikTok content about books), it's often sufficient for a book to look good on video and fit into the desired 'aesthetic' with its cover. Moshfegh's books meet this need perfectly, as she always chooses visually interesting book covers. I had to see for myself if the cover matched the quality of the content. My verdict is - yes! The book's content reflects the inner state of people in their twenties just as well as the cover, which aims to capture their attention.
The story takes place over several months, during which the main character (who will remain unnamed throughout the whole book so I will refer to her as MC – main character) navigates life after college. Her social circle consists of only one classmate, who isn't wealthy but tries to appear so by all means, which our snobbish main character finds funny. MC refers to her friend as a social climber. During MC's final year of studies, both of her parents passed away. Shortly after starting her job in art gallery, she gets fired and decides to make a radical lifestyle change. She lives off benefits and the substantial inheritance left by her deceased parents on the Upper East Side of New York, with a plan to sleep for an entire year. To achieve her plan, she enlists the help of a psychiatrist who recklessly prescribes her antipsychotics and sleeping pills without question. Throughout the year MC describes only watching feel-good 80s movies on repeat, buying more pills, and occasionally embarking on unplanned night adventures that she can't remember due to the effects of the medication.
Her year-long lethargy is interrupted by the events of September 11, 2001, when her friend, whom she once despised, dies in the World Trade Center attack. The book might seem monotonous, as it isn't particularly plot-driven, but that is precisely the author's intention. It aims to convey the depressive states that are often monotonous, gray, and lonely. I appreciate that the author's goal was not to portray the main character in the best light or make her a favorite character for readers. At times, I resonated with the main character, as her feelings were familiar to me; other times, her apathy, emotional flatness, and snobbery got on my nerves. I don't recommend this book to everyone, only to those with a great deal of patience and understanding.
I gained some benefits from reading this book. To begin with, it has increased my vocabulary and understanding of sentence construction. Second, I learned what it's like to live in New York. I learned about a few areas of this "city that never sleeps" and how locals manage to live there.