My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation was
incredible! I went on a kind of Moshfegh kick—reading Eileen and then Lapvona.
Both books were kind of gross, but really great. They explored this kind of
unspoken aspect of society, and while My Year of Rest and Relaxation was
different, it also followed some similar themes and had a similar cynical tone. I really loved the absurdity of
this book. The unnamed narrator is a woman who works in an art gallery, but has
become disillusioned with so much—her job, her relationships, her friends and
their seemingly meaningless complaints and accomplishments. She gradually
decides to up her medication to the point where she will eventually hibernate
or become so medicated that she will grow indifferent to everything. It’s a
different kind of escape, and to me, it kind of seemed like the more relatable
Patrick Bateman, someone who just wants to get away from the phoniness and
pretension of society. Yet, instead of violently attacking women while still
maintaining the façade, this narrator decides to just enter a cocoon. Although
it may seem morbid or kind of desperate, I found this book to be hilarious. Dr.
Tuttle was one of the greatest doctors in literature. I also loved the way that
Moshfegh discussed art in the gallery and talked about the art project that the
narrator took part in. Reading the narrator’s progression (or regression) was
amazing too. I really love Moshfegh’s writing and the way she explores these
kinds of issues in society, whether it is the kind of materialism that pervades
our lives today or the inequality that women experience in relationships and
society. Moshfegh explores these issues in absurd and humorous ways that made
me question them more.
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