Last fall I read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. This novel is about a depressed and alienated rich young woman. Her parents have died, she is just out of college, and she has a large inheritance. Unable to find a way to engage in life, disgusted by everything around her, she embarks on a project of trying to sleep for a year. She does this with large amounts of medication that is procured through a hilarious and bizarre psychiatrist (this was my favorite part of the book). The protagonist has a friend from college, a kind of adrift girl, endlessly and obsessively and unhappily striving for improvement and control over her own life. They are mismatched and the protagonist has nothing but disdain for her. Although there are many moments of glimmering insight and strong writing, what is most memorable, especially because of the ending, is her treatment of her friend.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Last fall I read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. This novel is about a depressed and alienated rich young woman. Her parents have died, she is just out of college, and she has a large inheritance. Unable to find a way to engage in life, disgusted by everything around her, she embarks on a project of trying to sleep for a year. She does this with large amounts of medication that is procured through a hilarious and bizarre psychiatrist (this was my favorite part of the book). The protagonist has a friend from college, a kind of adrift girl, endlessly and obsessively and unhappily striving for improvement and control over her own life. They are mismatched and the protagonist has nothing but disdain for her. Although there are many moments of glimmering insight and strong writing, what is most memorable, especially because of the ending, is her treatment of her friend.
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