My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

4 stars

I took a nice, non-aided nap between finishing the book and writing this review. Seemed appropriate.

What an indulgent hate letter. An incredible exhibition of a vapid, privileged life made up of little else than shallow media consumption and disdain. This is a main character that really has no redeemable qualities beyond bouts of some pretty hilarious, hypocritical wit (fueled by pure hatefulness and a tasteful amount of vanity.) I enjoyed her a lot. Whom among us hasn't wished they could sleep for an entire year? Granted, this main character does so out of an attempt to reset her empty life marred by boredom and a grim lack of emotional connection to literally anyone instead of more normal issues like overwork and burnout... but still, there were several points where she was quite relatable, if your childhood was fucked up enough.

I'm very intrigued by the rumor that Yorgos Lanthimos is in talks to direct the film adaptation. I think he could do something very interesting with this story, he's excellent at portraying flat, emotionally wrecked characters to their full, wild-eyed extent. For some reason I want to cast Tilda Swinton as the incompetent psychiatrist Dr. Tuttle. I think the studios might make the mistake to think that she should be played by a comedienne, but that would be wrong. Her character is more batty and woo-woo than funny, and Tilda could get weird enough for it. I hope they go with unknowns for the main character and her friend Reva - they too should not get played by anyone too funny or loveable. This is just not that kind of story.

I read on the wikipedia page that this book was originally going to be more about 9/11 before the author changed tracks. In a way, it is heavily defined by pre-9/11 culture and the American sentiment of the time. The several eerie allusions to what is about to happen to the twin towers were chilling. It could be read as a skewering of the unengaged politics and angry yet apathetic culture of 90s and the leftover years of 2000-01 before the terrorist attack "woke America up." Despite having this thought myself, I think that reading is kinda "high school AP english" but it's certainly there and an important angle that helped fuel the authors intent, in a good way. I think when a larger metaphor like this is done from a distance with multiple other angles also supporting the book, it help brings important structure that most authors benefit from.

This book is one of my rare satisfying reads, for one big reason that I'm not sure everyone else will agree with - I believe the deranged, untethered peace she finds in the end is due to giving herself, impressively, just the right amount of brain damage. The happy ending she deserves.