Title: My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Author: Ottessa Moshfegh
Type: Fiction
Published: 2018
Pages: 289
TW: Substance Abuse, Alcohol Abuse, Suicide, Death
“Sleep felt productive. Something was getting sorted out. I knew in my heart—this was, perhaps, the only thing my heart knew back then—that when I’d slept enough, I’d be okay. I’d be renewed, reborn. I would be a whole new person, every one of my cells regenerated enough times that the old cells were just distant, foggy memories. My past life would be but a dream, and I could start over without regrets, bolstered by the bliss and serenity that I would have accumulated in my year of rest and relaxation.”
In 2000, the unnamed protagonist of My Year of Rest and Relaxation lives in Manhattan, in an apartment paid for by her inheritance. She doesn’t want for much, and yet she is painfully unhappy so she decides to spend the year doing nothing. With one friend coming to check on her every so often, but otherwise spending the time in a drug-induced state and leaving the house only to pick up food from the bodega round the corner, the year should prove a cleansing experience.
This is one of the most talked about books on Instagram and TikTok so I just HAD to see what the hype was about. Having previously read other “depression girl” books such as Sorrow and Bliss and Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead, and having enjoyed them, I was intrigued by this.
Now having finished this book however, it’s obvious what sets it apart: the protagonist is the most self-indulgent, narcissistic, unapologetic character I’ve ever had the misfortune to read about. It didn’t take me long to get thoroughly fed up with her behaviour and if I’m honest, I had no idea what kept me reading.
There were brief moments – and I mean BRIEF – where it felt like the book had an insightful nugget for its reader, but other than that, I couldn’t see what the book was supposed to achieve other than being an exploration of overindulgence. With whispers of potential. for me, this book couldn’t have fallen more flat.
Perhaps there was just something about this book I didn’t ‘get’, after all you can’t deny its popularity. But ultimately I don’t understand how I’m supposed to like a book where I can’t feel an ounce of compassion for the protagonist!
Review overview
Summary
4.5Boring, Unnecessary, Underwhelming