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A review by pascalthehoff
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
dark
funny
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
On the surface, My Year of Rest and Relaxation satisfies a self-destructive streak in the reader without actually destroying oneself. Beneath the surface, it criticizes the hedonistic, senseless life of modern capitalist society. It does this by cranking the depravity all the way up to eleven. Falling asleep on the sofa with a cocktail of alcohol and pills, while porn blares from the TV speakers, just to numb all feelings.
Actually, in its moodiness and disinterest, the novel doesn't criticize modern life so much as it is deeply disappointed in it. The protagonist gives life the cold shoulder to an extent that comes as close to suicide as one can get without actually committing the act. The fact that she is as privileged as you can get (educated, beautiful, with a reliable passive income) is not a knock against her, but it is exactly the point. It only serves to show that even with all that privilege, modern life can absolutely suck, which makes for an even stronger impression.
Tonally, the author either wrote this in a drunken stupor or really nailed this unhinged state of mind 100% of the time. Yes, the protagonist talks to her "best friend" Reva in a rather heartless way. But she is also absolutely ruthless to her trash bag ex-boyfriend, for example. (At least when he is not busy abusing her himself, which is sufficiently painful to read in its effective bluntness). The reader, too, is the target of the protagonist's uncompromising straightforwardness - which is often quite funny, frankly, if you don't take everything at face value.
This is a novel that feels and flows as if the first-person narrator says what's on her mind 100% of the time, without ever second-guessing. At the same time, you can tell that the author must have carefully crafted that level of cutting carelessness with laser focus.
Is the tone a little too edgy at times? Maybe. But overshooting from time to time is part of the deal when you are that committed to this kind of style.
Actually, in its moodiness and disinterest, the novel doesn't criticize modern life so much as it is deeply disappointed in it. The protagonist gives life the cold shoulder to an extent that comes as close to suicide as one can get without actually committing the act. The fact that she is as privileged as you can get (educated, beautiful, with a reliable passive income) is not a knock against her, but it is exactly the point. It only serves to show that even with all that privilege, modern life can absolutely suck, which makes for an even stronger impression.
Tonally, the author either wrote this in a drunken stupor or really nailed this unhinged state of mind 100% of the time. Yes, the protagonist talks to her "best friend" Reva in a rather heartless way. But she is also absolutely ruthless to her trash bag ex-boyfriend, for example. (At least when he is not busy abusing her himself, which is sufficiently painful to read in its effective bluntness). The reader, too, is the target of the protagonist's uncompromising straightforwardness - which is often quite funny, frankly, if you don't take everything at face value.
This is a novel that feels and flows as if the first-person narrator says what's on her mind 100% of the time, without ever second-guessing. At the same time, you can tell that the author must have carefully crafted that level of cutting carelessness with laser focus.
Is the tone a little too edgy at times? Maybe. But overshooting from time to time is part of the deal when you are that committed to this kind of style.