my year of rest and relaxation - a book review

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hiya guys 🌟
Over the summer I read Ottessa Moshfegh's 2018 novel 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' ... and boy oh boy was it something. You guys requested a review on it and haha yeah... I totally see why.
Load of people have very divided opinions on this book so I would absolutely love to hear what you guys thought about this
and yes i photoshopped myself into the book cover painting
and yes it was the absolute best use of my time
if you've been wondering where I've been worry not, I'm working on my grad film atm. it's my baby
This video is FULL or spoilers, and flagging up a trigger warning for any of you who struggle with eating disorders, this is a video and a book to skip
some just in case's
NHA Eating Disorders: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feel...
U.K. Eating Disorder Organisations & Charities: www.eatingdisorderhope.com/tr...
all the love,
EA x
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
05:23 Divided Opinions
12:24 Portrayal of Depression
15:20 Privilege - What Money Buys You
18:58 American Pharmaceutical Culture
24:54 00s Eating Disorders
31:57 Identifying with ‘Bad’ Characters
36:56 Outro
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hi creeper xo

Опубликовано:

2 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 57

@jack_edwards Год назад

omg the thumbnail is so iconic

@EllaCharlotteJones Год назад

ITS SOOO GOOD

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

im wheezing this is the highest of compliments

@rosary6521 Год назад

I do wanna add as someone who has and continue to struggle with severe mental issues, as someone who was put on a cocktail of meds many times in the past, i totally get and understand that calculated thought process around various drugs. I, for one, knew all of the drugs mentioned in the books and been on quite a few of them (except for the made up one obviously). I, like her, often found myself mechanically and meticulously calculating what drug i should take and with what. I knew what everything did, including potential side effects. I found this aspect very VERY realistic. The people who complian about the listing of drugs as monotonous...simply never have been on drugs like some of us. Often when she was talking about the combination of meds, i sat there like "yeah that should knock you out good". It just made sense to me because THAT is how someone who is obsessive about and dependent on medication thinks like. It seemed way too organic to me to the point i felt like i wrote it. So yeah, it's not at all unrealistic or exaggerated or boring, on the contrary it's actually too realistic. Once you've been on too many drugs and have a "collection" on you, you start to become a sort of crazy pharmacist on the verge of or with just straight up drug abuse

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

thank you for sharing this! this has completely shifted my perspective on this part of the book. and I am so so sorry, I hope you're doing well 💕💕💕

@elizabetta00 7 месяцев назад

this book saved me in a sense 3 yrs ago when i was 20 and my first major depressive episode hit. it was the thing that made me feel connected when i felt alien, the thing that gave me a place to vent through someone who understood exactly every strange way my brain was feeling about being conscious and alive. she's definitely an amazing author.

@emmabosman3716 Год назад

In my opinion, this is a perfect book. I'm looking forward to rereading it in a year or so. I also felt called out by certain things... It's actually encouraged me to make some changes to my life. I find it interesting how people can identify with different parts of the main character. She's such an honest introspection into the ugliness of the coping mechanisms we turn to when we're in pain and don't want to be. I also I don't know how I felt about the end, but I think I'm starting to understand it a bit more. When I was coming out of my last depressive episode, I also turned to sleep to try and "heal". It's not the answer, but it did help, and I did need it. I need other things, too, but I had this mentality of "if I can just rest, I'll have the strength to try again", which is a half-truth. Moshfegh created a brilliant portrayal of the disinterest, dissatisfaction and deep sadness that can happen regardless of your circumstances.

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

yes you're so so right, the whole hiding from the world to 'recover' does nothing, all you do is atrophy, physically but also mentally. the super hard bit is becoming part of the world again, but it's also the only place you can actually start to look for happiness again. "She's such an honest introspection into the ugliness of the coping mechanisms we turn to when we're in pain and don't want to be." uuuurgh yes yes yes, you's so bang on that. yeah she's a horrible character in so many ways but i guess the value of that ugliness is the moments we see ourselves and it's a dreadful wakeup call, but then in that sense a super necessary one. never read a character like her before and now i reeeeally wanna read Moshfegh's other books

@loverrlee 5 месяцев назад

I haven’t read the book (yet, though I now want to) but the whole “the dividing line seems to be weather or not you’ve experienced depression or other mental illness like the main character.” Yeah. That’s so sad. Nobody understands or likes people who struggle. Also, when discussing privilege, why do we never talk about the privilege of having caring parents who actually love you? Yeah, I can relate to her about how she feels about her parents too. I had parents who didn’t actually want me and who no longer speak to me because my whole childhood they just looked at me like some kind of burden. What even is the point of living if the two people who brought you into this world don’t love you enough to even talk to you? Although my parents are alive, I’m no contact with them but it still hurts and so yeah, I can relate to the main character of this book for that reason too (except they didn’t leave me a house). You’re so right that she has all her *material* needs met, but she has become so isolated because she has never had her *emotional* needs met. It’s just sad that people who read this book can’t see the irony in hating on a character who so clearly just needs a hug and some genuine love. 💔 Also your hair looks lovely and I love your green top. There was something so comforting about the way you read the quotes, I wish you were the one reading the audiobook. You’ve got a new sub. ❤

@tanyaroberts919 Год назад

I thought this book had such potential and the premise sounded so good, but damn...I hated it. I just really annoyed by the main character. I am sure I would need to give it another read. I loved the mental health aspect, but her attitude was gross.

@zsofiabagi2477 Год назад

we truly need an updated "my favorite books", really enjoyed this review

@Marmitemoster Год назад

babe i'm loving the page references, also so happy to see this vid! a great convo!

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

my god i never referenced the edition

@TommyRogic18 Год назад

Emma I loved this, a properly deep dive into a book, so good. Please review books like this whenever you can. This was beautifully put together, best review of an individual book I’ve seen in a while. As a rec for an anxious thinker: Ducks Newberryport by Lucy Ellmann.

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

thank you! been thinking about doing more essay type vids so this one just made sense. really glad you enjoyed it, must do more for sure!

@gracebrb 8 дней назад

just finished this book- i started it in april of 2023 but dnf'ed it around page 130 because i couldn't stand the fact that all she did was sleep all day and treat her friend so shitty when she had so much privilege and potential and opportunities for happiness. i decided to pick it up a few days ago and read the rest of it and I have to say i enjoyed the second part of the book better and it gave me a better perspective of her mental illness and why she is the way she is. i appreciated this video and other ones i watched because it sincerely didn't dawn on me the reason why she was acting that way was because of how serious her mental illness is, (the first 130 pages i mean) combined with the fact how shitty she was raised and the fact that both of her parents are dead. i picked up on many of the notes you put in here and some were new perspectives i havent thought of. thank you for this video!

@oliviapilgrim9258 Год назад

I watched this video bc i was struggling to find the humor and the brilliance in the book, but after watching it I feel so so much more intrigued and understanding of the way Moshfegh writes the way she does and what the book is truly about.

@mila3432 5 месяцев назад

Yeah, I read it and didn’t really see the depth and appeal on it. It feels like I’m reading the diary of the main character, but not in any powerful way. Cleopatra and Frankenstein did it so much better

@MusicalTveit Год назад

Thank you for your honest and real discussion on mental illness - it was rather relatable and seeing this kind of thing reflected upon is nice. Also, love your in depth and critical review of this book! Can't wait to read it myself.

@Kenough_in_Wonderland Год назад

What I love so much about this book is that there is just no point to it, it's fascinating. It highlights some societal problems but it doesn't criticise them and it doesn't mean for you to either, it puts you in this haze that is induced by the narrator and you're just there following her along and there is just no point, I just love it so much!! I've read it about a year ago and I still think about it so often, one of my favourite books of all time. By no point, I mean she doesn't give a single shit about anyone or anything, least of all herself and the unhingedness and apathy of it all is just 🤌🏼

@seangurevich5077 Год назад

So glad to see your videos again! rewatched some of your videos because you are my comfort youtuber and I missed these videos :((

@Giovanni-lw2mg Год назад

YOU UPLOADED!!! YEAH FINALLY!!😢

@Giovanni-lw2mg Год назад

I absolutely LOVED this video! Great job!👏💕

@nadineebada6557 6 месяцев назад

i loved this review so so SO much, this is exactly what i thought about this book, as a person who has struggled with mental illness before i couldnt put this book down i gave it 4.5 stars

@ellenlouise7279 Год назад

I’m pumped

@davidsweeney111 Год назад

Awesome Emma!

@bookslover4ever811 Год назад

Its an amazing book.. Very accurate about the mental health condition discussed in it..

@fmarginalia Год назад

Loved the book and love your analysis!

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

thank you that's v kind!

@corinarose_ Год назад

thumbnail ate

@lauw901 Год назад

loved this! i also loved this book and read Lapvona and Eileen afterwards which were also great. Moshfegh has such a talent for writing very disturbing and unhinged characters, that are also nuanced - which i love! lol

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

ahh I literally just ordered Lapvona and Eileen, v excited tbh, and yes yes yes more messed up stuff from well written characters how fun

@srebrooo Месяц назад

Amazing book!

@Clubsandwichchav Год назад

The only thing I enjoyed of the book was the writing but what was the theme? I hated the fact that the sleep actually seemed to work in the end.

@loverrlee 5 месяцев назад

Why does that upset you? What does that mean if rest really was the solution she needed? Does that shatter your world view?

@Clubsandwichchav 5 месяцев назад

@@loverrlee because it’s a bad message to women. That a person like her friend dies who worked much harder than her to get a good life. But she stayed a deplorable person and it’s fine in the end. No tragedy, nothing.

@loverrlee 5 месяцев назад

@@Clubsandwichchav That’s a weird moral ideal to impose on two random humans, even if they are characters in a book. Everyone dies. Nobody earns more life simply by being a good person. You are asking a book to set a weird and unrealistic portrayal of reality. It just sounds like you’re used to reading books with flawed moral superiority lessons. Real life doesn’t care how good or bad of a person you are. Nobody makes it out alive…

@Clubsandwichchav 5 месяцев назад

Yes, but the im more concerned with the MC. She made bad choices and somehow she gets away with it. That truly unrealistic. All these meds, lack of connection, and shes just fine? I don't buy it, it felt like the author didn't know how to end the novel.@@loverrlee

@loverrlee 5 месяцев назад

@@Clubsandwichchav yes I'd argue she probably needed therapy so in that way I'll give you it's probably an unrealistic ending, but stranger things have happened. I think it's not impossible but that's just my opinion.

@neonoires Год назад

You're back! Yayyyyyyy. I am currently reading a lot of Ottessa Moshfegh. I just read Lapvona and gave it five stars it was sick (all meanings of the word lol). I'm going back to read Death In Her Hands and My Year of Rest and Relxation. LOL so unfortunately I can't watch this review yey but I'll give it a preemptive thumbs up since I trust your taste.

@sarcastic_fish Год назад

my gosh trust in my taste, the highest of compliments

@emmarose7738 Год назад

I loved this review!! I struggle w mental illness but I still didn’t fuck w this book :/. But lately I’ve been looking at it as a pre/post 9/11 america metaphor and it hits a little better !

@emmarose7738 Год назад

Also I’m sure you’ve read it already but animal by lisa taddeo is another good addition to this genre 😌

@emmarose7738 Год назад

Oh oh also!! I’m on seroquel and I’ve been on lithium! Seroquel produces a serious drowsy state it knocks me tf out

@paigeroy7629 7 месяцев назад

Yes, is all I have to say. Yes.

@Lidya-hx8rp 9 месяцев назад

Wait did I completely miss the suicide attempt?! Can someone tell me where in the book I can find it??

@NatureHeadSupreme 7 месяцев назад

The WHOLE book lol

@davelewis8270 4 месяца назад

I read this yesterday. Excellent book. Strangely relatable in many senses except that i could never afford to behave like this. I see the appeal though. I reckon this'll be the best book i read this year.

@davelewis8270 4 месяца назад

SPOILERS Also I was so invested in the story that by the time I got to the part where her shrink says that she's a shaman and all they stuff her face is 10 percent off it absolutely filled me with dread. Like we already knew she was a bad doctor and the MC knew she was a bad doctor but it became so much more clear how fucked up things were at that point.

@holly205 3 месяца назад

ive wanted 2 read this so bad since i heard of it since i really liked catcher in the rye and these books seem to have the same vibe (unlikable and severely mentally ill main character) so THANK YOU for the warning about eating disorders im fresh in recovery and that wouldve fucked me up bad LMAO looks like we'll be holding off on this book for a while i suppose!

@sarcastic_fish 3 месяца назад

i could not have made this video in good conscience without mentioning it!! like it's ALL OVER L OV