You definitely have to have an interest in the topic to get something out of it (as you do with most non-fiction) but with it's engaging storytelling, short examples and visual aides I think it's one that everyone could and probably should dip into. That's all the unnamed narrator of Ottessa Moshfegh's strange, exhilarating My Year of Rest and Relaxation wants... Even the title of the book is a lie! The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication.
There are plenty of negative words to describe the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation—she's detached and depressed, she's cruel and unfeeling—but Moshfegh writes her with such care and specificity I felt like I could live in her head forever. At the start the narrative voice is so confident you feel sure it's heading somewhere worthwhile. She does this with the help of powerful sleeping drugs. A book Moshfegh recommends herself is Amie Barrodale's You Are Having a Good Time. This book is a brilliant character study and felt so apt for its time. The ex-boyfriend is a douchebag. Instead, her self-medication―which she herself treated with veiled suspicion―turns out to be effective... Fuelled by an unscrupulous psychiatrist - a wonderfully grotesque figure - she begins a regimented programme of hibernation; induced and sustained by a cocktail of narcotics and aided by an avant-garde artist chronicling her descent into self-created somnolence. Katherine Parr – A book published after the death of the author. She is also the author of the short story collection Homesick for Another World. She's totally alone. This novel by Sara Baume had been on my reading wish list for a long time, but strangely I only got a copy through a mystery package from Mr B's Emporium. While it wasn't filled with a twisting plot, I found myself just wanting to read more and more to hear her voice. Yet by giving her narrator's myopic vision pride of place, Moshfegh extends that myopia and deprives readers of an outside vantage point, without which the irony is extinguished.
It plays on the power of stories over truth and unconscious biases well, and certainly pulls you in by the end. Author: Ottessa Moshfegh. The author does a great job of keeping you engaged for the entire read. This information about My Year of Rest and Relaxation was first featured. The writing grabbed me and pulled me under, to join the main character in her trance and I am so happy I let myself be taken to that place. New Sincerity prevents us from dismissing or mocking the narrator outright...
The material may be heavy, but Moshfegh's treatment of these many themes is deft and ironic enough that they never feel didactic or obvious... The climate anxiety felt very real. Though this novel is set nearly 20 years ago, it feels current. In Persona the two at first seemingly opposite women begin to milarly, as Moshfegh's novel progresses, Reva and the narrator, at first strikingly different, increasingly resemble each other...
Moshfegh's prose is spectacular, and she captures her narrator's specific, unique voice perfectly—the voice of a jaded woman with no attachments who hates most people and puts up every wall and barrier in an attempt to feel nothing... A lesser writer would not be able to pull off this lack of back-story or motivation, but Moshfegh has us accepting and believing the idea that the narrator simply wants to sleep... Cumming's mother's (and grandmother's) story is one that is filled with secrets and silence. I read this book back in November 2018 and I remember having so many feelings towards the main character and how she approached life. In short, she leads an incredibly enviable life. I Skyped with Moshfegh about how readers have responded to her novel, which parts she underestimated how much would resonate with people, and what she's reading now. It's quietly profound and "literary" without being heavy handed, by which I mean it's a great story well told. Ottessa Moshfegh: I think I was interested in the character.
Other than apple cider vinegar and honey a try, Knox gelatin is said to be good for arthritis also. Hesitant sound: HEM. French postcard word: AVION. Redistricting eponym: GERRY. Narrow inlets: RIAs. Theme: "Bull Session" - BLE is added to each theme answer. But this one looks quite fancy.
What the god Mars' symbol represents: MALE SEX. Needed crosses for both of the 9's. 1924 co-defendant: LOEB. Don't think I saw any of her movies. Language of southern Africa: BANTU. Sashimi on the lower right.
Chicken-king link: A LA. See the black beans on the red lacquer plate? Makes fuzzy, as one's vision: BLEARS. One in a wallet: BILL. I was thinking of "ONCE upon a time... ". He said "I string them on pine needles from my garden and dust them with gold flakes. " Studied here at the Macalester College. Sudden death cause: TIE.
Minnesota is a caucus state. Blue-and-yellow megastore: IKEA. Out of control: AMOK. Political pundit Marvin: KALB. Blood amounts: UNITS. Ended a flight: ALIT.
Proofing mark: STET. Cookie man Wally: AMOS. Grand on stage: PIANO. "The Circus of __": 1935 novel adapted into a 1964 Tony Randall film: DR LAO. Not basketball court.
Plumbing fixture uncommon in North America: BIDET. Reeded instrument: OBOE. Lens cover for a low Earth orbiter? Service station offering: AIR.
Command to a boxer: SIT. On most other courses as well. She also founded The Honest Company. Part of a foot: TOE. Orthodontic appliance: RETAINER. Bit of information: DETAIL. Biblical spy: CALEB. Court defense: ALIBI. New, to Dante: NUOVA. Site of the world's longest railway: SIBERIA. No one calls it BAO alone. Reform Party candidate Perot: H. ROSS. 4 x 4, briefly: UTE.
Thing to fight for: CAUSE. Kazie has one in her home. Crow's-nest support: MAST. This grid has quite a few names. Actress Gardner: AVA. "Worthy Fights" co-author Panetta: LEON. Turkey's affectionate peck? Halite extraction worker: SALT MINER. Sweden's national colors. Three times due: SEI. Sound engineer's device: FADER. Adds a soundtrack to: DUBS.
My *BLE pronunciation is different from the "bull" sound. Bedroom community: EXURB. Flaky mineral: MICA. Not my college dorm. News anchor Burnett et al. Mr. Ed, who has plenty of themeless experiences, took a bold approach.
Tree-hugging greenery: MOSS. Soprano Lear: EVELYN. Iris locations: UVEAs. "For Hire" detective: SPENSER. "Pearly Shells" singer: DON HO.