My Year of Rest and Relaxation: Nominiert: Wellcome Book Prize 2019 (Vintage Heroines)

If "Im glad my mom died" and "the queensgambit" had a depressed baby.

Dieses Buch hat meiner Meinung nach nicht viel Handlung oder Spannung. Jedoch denke ich dass die Botschaft dahinter oft missverstanden wird. Dieses Buch (finde ich persönlich) ist wahrscheinlich eher zum Nachdenken und selbst reflektieren als zur reinen Unterhaltung. Ich fand dieses Buch dennoch sehr gut, weil auch wenn die Prota, die in dem gesamten Buch ohne Namen auftritt, eine vermeintlich sehr schlechte und grausame Art hat man ihre Probleme und Gedankengänge irgendwie versteht. Ich denke, dass hier eine Protagonistin ohne Namen gewählt wurde um zu symbolisieren, dass sie in Kern mit ihren Problemen und unterbewussten Gedanken wie jeder Mensch ist und es deshalb egal sei wie ihr Name lautet da er zum Verständnis des Buches nicht von Belang ist. Jedoch würde ich jedem der vorhat dieses Buch zu lesen empfehlen, erst einmal in die TW reinzuschauen und sich bewusst zu machen, dass dies ein sehr melancholisches Buch ist.

Fiebertraum

Good writing was the only thing that dragged me through this book.

The plot is okay, the ending is flat and all the time while reading I was waiting for something, anything really. But it nothing happened. The good writing and my hopes kept me reading till the disappointing ending. Weirdly I still somewhat enjoyed reading this book?? But would not recommend to anyone.

fand ich blöde. Die Protagonistin ist mehr als unsympathisch (Bruder die ist rassistisch, homophob, ableistisch, antisemitisch, derbe egoistisch, etc.). Außerdem war das Buch triggernd sf. It's a no for me.

Loved it, although it wasn't as engaging as Lapvona. I loved that the characters were so grey, they were such assholes, but you didn't hate them because they were so complex and not badly written at all. Also loved the writing style, quite a bit different than the last read, but just as interesting and skilled. Very satisfying to be inside the head of someone who's, on the surface, so full of themself. Loved that everything the protagonist says and does is a cry for help and that she notices Reeva's desperation as well, but never acknowledges her own for real. It's about everything that's wrong with the world and I'm here for it. The ending was something tho lmao

I think I never truly hated and at the same time admired a person so much. She was rotting on her couch and trying to sleep away all of her problems for ~300 pages and I still loved every single one. Idk why but I was so captivated by the very unlikable main characters thoughts and the extent she went to just to sleep for a bit.

Es war unfassbar langweilig und grandios gleichermaßen.

At first I thought “how can a book about a young woman sleeping all day possibly be interesting?”. But I really enjoyed this read. I think the main character is not really likeable, but maybe that’s the whole point. All in all it was quite entertaining and kept getting even more interesting towards the end.

On the surface ,our narrator has everything you could want in life. She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate and lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like everything else, by her inheritance. But there is a vacuum in her life and she's got the perfect solution. She's going to take a year under sedation to relax and hide away from the world. What could possibly go wrong?

„Oh, sleep. Nothing else could ever bring me such pleasure, such freedom, the power to feel and move and think and imagine, safe from the miseries of my waking consciousness.“ Welche Autoren / Autorinnen kauft ihr automatisch, ohne zu schauen worum das Buch eigentlich geht? Who is an auto buy author for you? Review: „My year of rest and relaxation“ by Ottessa Moshfegh Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Pages: 304 Weiterempfehlung / rec: 100% (🔞) German title: „Mein Jahr der Ruhe und Entspannung“ (erschienen im btb Verlag) (English below) 🇩🇪 Die Geschichte wird aus der Ich - Perspektive einer Erzählerin ohne Namen erzählt. Sie hat im Leben ausgesorgt, nachdem ihre Eltern gestorben sind und sie viel Geld geerbt hat. Also beschließt sie ihrem Leben neuen Sinn zu geben und sich erst mal ein Jahr lang auszuruhen, was so wie sie es vorhat nur mit heftigen Medikamentencocktails geht…. Weitere Charaktere sind ihre beste Freundin Reva, ihre Therapeutin und ihr schrecklicher on off boyfriend Trevor. Die Handlung schwenkt regelmäßig in die Vergangenheit zu einzelnen Events im Leben unserer Protagonistin, so dass wir als Leser permanent entscheiden müssen: Ist sie das Produkt ihrer Vergangenheit / haben wir Mitleid mit ihr oder aber ist sie bloß verwöhnt und egozentrisch… Es ist so schwer dieses Buch zu bewerten, denn es passiert eigentlich nicht viel darin. Ich hab das Buch so gut bewertet, weil das Ende mich in 1000 Stücke zerrissen hat. Und weil ich es liebe Bücher zu lesen, die gewohntes Terrain verlassen und ich Seite für Seite denke WTFFFF….. Wir haben ja alle unsere eigenen Kriterien, was ein Buch zu einem Highlight macht oder einen Autor zu einem Must buy Autor / auto buy Autor. Ich werde definitiv mehr Bücher von Ottessa Moshfegh lesen, aber seid gewarnt, die Sprache ist sehr roh, sexuell anzüglich ist noch milde ausgedrückt. Es werden Bilder mit Sperma gemalt und und und. Also nicht jugendfrei… (meiner Meinung nach). Über die deutsche Übersetzung kann ich leider keine Angaben machen. Von mir eine Leseempfehlung, wenn ihr mal was ganz anderes lesen wollt ❤️. 🇬🇧 This book is crazy because nothing much happens and yet so much happens that when you reach the end you will keep thinking about it. It made me want to read all of Moshfegh‘s works. The unnamed main character is a young woman who lives in NYC, we follow her life just when she decides to take a break from life for a year. She can afford it because she is heiress to her dead parents‘ estate. We meet her best friend Reva, her therapist and her on off boyfriend Trevor who is a narcissistic as🦇h🦇le to say the least…. Did you read it? Did you like it? ❤️

I have no idea what this was but apparently it was exactly what I needed right now to get out of my reading slump. Exquisitely entertaining and deeply human. Love it although the plot was so simple. The only thing that bothered me is that some things were really predictable… Edit The more I think about it the more brilliant it gets

this was ugly, dark, disgusting, weird, sickening, stressful, scary. funny in a way that makes you choke on your laughter. i enjoyed it immensely but it also annoyed me. there's a privileged young woman with a twisted mind and severe mental problems. a crazy therapist. there's a lot of hate for everyone. toxic relationships. funerals. crazy modern art. suicidal thoughts. and drugs. lots of drugs. (to the point where i was wondering if it was even physically possible to take all of this medication and not die from an overdose). the things i didn't like, i can't really put into words, because obviously, while this is a weird and difficult book, it fascinated me a lot and i liked reading it - because ottessa moshfegh succeeds in shocking her readers. compared to her first novel (eileen) i found the plot to be a bit weaker and repetitive. and i just didn't know what the "best friend plot" is supposed to tell me. the way things were ended here felt so abrupt! maybe it went over my head but i just don't know how to feel about it. all in all, it was good. and something else. which is always good! i knew it was going to be weird, but there's no way you can possibly prepare for this book.

weird girl book

Dies war mein erstes Buch dieser Autorin und es wird nicht das Letzte gewesen sein. Die Geschichte ist ungewöhnlich, weird girl trifft es ganz gut. Der Schreibstil ist gut verständlich. Eventuell sollte man hier „Triggerwarnings“ beachten.

Strange, sad, mean and funny

A book about depression and despair. This weird story somehow touched me and though the protagonist isn’t a particularly good person, I could sympathize with her. You shouldn’t expect too much from this book plot wise. Just sit tight and watch the mess of it all and laugh about how awful all of it is.

Wished I could go into hibernation too

I really enjoyed this book. It was so well written.

Das war ein absoluter Fiebertraum. Ich war fasziniert und entgeistert (auf ne gute Art), das Ende hat meiner Meinung aber nicht gepasst.

Wahrscheinlich habe ich das Buch zu sehr gefühlt- denn ich empfand Neid

Ich habe das Buch in drei Tagen verschlungen, obwohl nicht viel passiert ist, war es dennoch spanned und hat mich nicht losgelassen. Das Bedürfnis nur zu schlafen und so seine Probleme zu entkommen, verstehe ich zu gut um die Protagonistin deswegen zu verurteilen oder ihr handeln als übertrieben darzustellen. Das Ende kam dann recht abrupt und hat einen sauren Beigeschmack hinterlassen, denn es was klar das es so enden wird.

Das Lesen fühlt sich an wie gestresst meditieren

maybe i’m too much of an over analyzer but the satirically cynical description of everything wrong with modern society, from asshole boyfriends to best friends and basically everybody with a culturally manufactured eating disorder and the struggle to navigate grief, trauma, rejection and one’s own incapability of dealing with these things just got me.

This book is about a young women living in New York. It seems like she should have the most perfect life. She’s rich, skinny, beautiful, and an Ivy League graduate. But she is so unhappy with her life and with herself. The book follows her life as she struggles with her mental health, and tries to escape it.

I truly don’t know how I feel about this book. There were some parts I DREADED reading. The plot was sooo slow if there even was one and I found the main character (MC) to be sooo annoying. This book took me forever to finish. I constantly found myself picking up other books then returning back to this one because it bored be. However, I got to a point in the book we’re I was like “you know what, the main character isnt that crazy”. Life sucks sometimes and I’ve been there. Where its hard to want to live your life. It’s so much easier to try and escape it. And that’s exactly what she did. Ottessa is such a good writer and left the ending completely up for the reader’s interpretation. In my opinion I think the MC will never truly be awake. She is in awe of her “best friend” committing suicide and that is not normal! I think she will never be “fixed” not the way she wants to be. BUT THAT IS OKAYYY. She will keep living now because she’s okay with that. And we all should be okay with our past because it made us who we are. It was definitely an interesting point of you to read from . I also felt so bad for her friend Reva, she deserve so much more than the MC could give her. We’ve all have that one person in our life that deserved more than we could give them. As someone who has dealt with their mental health this book described depression perfect. The MC wanted to escape that and when she couldn’t she wallowed in it. I rated this book at 3/5 because it’s one I wouldn’t recommend to anyone, but it was one I NEEDED to read for myself.

Unique style but interesting to read

Not my favourite to discuss in school but still a good book. Think the second read is gona be much better then the first time.

It's a girly vibe for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book is just a vibe. If you need excitement and thrill in a book; it's the wrong book for you! This book just felt like one ongoing vibe. No thrill, no life-changing plottwist and no climax. Just one big, for me kinda girly, vibe. At first I was questioning the book when I did find out that the book really is about sleeping a lot and the weird background and situation of the protagonist, but I flew over the pages without realizing it! By all means; it's not boring just because there is no real climax. The characters were interesting and I found myself expressing different feelings, especially by scrunching my eyebrows together because of some bizarre moments, and I found some sentences inspiring and questioned a few things regarding our everyday life. I do recommend this book, but only if you know that you are more open about the atmosphere of books and do not need excitement and a lot of thrill.

comfort.

Weirdest book I‘ve ever read but kept me interested to finish.

fight club (gender swap version)

Ich habe das Buch sehr gerne gelesen obwohl die Protagonistin eher unrelatable ist. Ich verstehe zwar wahrscheinlich nicht zu hundertprozent den tieferen Sinn aber trotzdem war es interessant zu lesen.

This book is a total vibe. I loved the tone, the narrative style, the aesthetics. I‘m a sucker for hibernation.

*2,75 My 'summer down' was probably not the best time to read this. It's interesting, it's not bad, but it is constantly tiptoeing around the protagonist's actual problems which is frustrating. The idea of just taking a year to sleep through with the help of lots of drugs seems like a good idea to depressed people but I don't think it would 'clear the plate' as she is hoping to, I think it would leave you just where you were and probably addicted to the stuff you were taking without any resolved issues.

Einfach wow

Absurd, sarkastisch und unkonventionell!

Wow, was für ein Buch. Ich glaube das ist wieder eins von den Büchern, entweder man hasst sie oder man liebt sie! Bei mir war zweiteres der Fall. Passieren tut hier tatsächlich nicht viel, aber die Gedankenwelt der Protagonistin ist einfach so interessant, düster und ironisch, dass man unbedingt weiterlesen will. Ich musste das ein oder andere mal ordentlich schmunzeln. Otessa Moshfegh schafft es einmal wieder, eine absurde und trotzdem intelligente Geschichte aufzubauen. So viel mehr möchte ich auch gar nicht dazu sagen, man muss es einfach selber gelesen haben! Definitiv eines meiner Jahres Highlights.

I didnt hate it like everyone else hated it but I did not like it

Nicht mein fav Buch aber es ist interessant geschrieben

Five Stars simply because I FEEL HER. I can identify with nearly every thought, her situation, her way of dealing or not so much dealing with stuff. And this precise portrayal is magnificent. Chapeau, Lady Moshfegh!

3.5/5 ☆ It was weird and interesting but at some points it got kinda boring and I think that there r just better books out there but I wouldn’t call this one a bad book. Also if I would finish it the same day as I started I might liked it more cause then it probably didn’t felt boring or I’m just thinking too much

Different

Never read a book like that. I don’t know how to feel about it but I think I liked it. It’s just different

I need therapy now

.

I’m sorry to say this, but I just didn’t enjoy anything about this book. In my opinion it was badly written and the characters were unlikable. All that happened was her taking drugs, going to sleep and talking to Reva. It may be just me, but I did not need this and I’m kinda disappointed, because I was hoping for it to get better.

What the fuck

Is it really this bad or am I just dumb? A novel by me

i love to hate this book

3,5 ⭐️

light 3. insufferable characters, didn't do anything for me personally. the title and the last page were the highlights of this book

.

Too pretentious

On one hand I enjoyed reading this novel, on the other I just rolled my eyes a lot because it felt too presumptuous. Obviously the character is highly unlikeable and insane, but it was fun to follow her story. It at parts just lacked certain depth. Where the first half was too detailed the last third was too rushed. And (spoiler warning!!) the 9/11 plot just was too obvious from the first twin tower mention. Minus one star for that alone lmfao

it was just so exhaustingly boring.

Dieses Buch war für mich pure Unterhaltung. Es geht um eine Frau, die mit Trauma und der modernen Welt umgeht, indem sie sie komplett ignoriert – und ich hatte beim Lesen so viel Spaß! Manchmal saß ich einfach nur mit offenem Mund da. Es war schräg, düster, vulgär, absurd und unvorhersehbar – genau das, was ich an Büchern liebe! Die Protagonistin ist tiefgründig und komplex gezeichnet, und ich schwanke bis heute zwischen völliger Sympathie und totaler Abneigung – herrlich! Auch die Dramaturgie war großartig, ich liebe einfach alles an diesem Buch. Ein neues Lieblingsbuch für mich!

1.5 - this simply wasn't for me. Not my style, not what I enjoy reading.

geht fast durchgehend um die selbe sache und ende war komplett zu erwarten

I’m mad at the book, in a way. It didn’t give me anything, I haven’t learned anything. I hated the main character, which is Moshfegh’s thing, I think, simply because she has the same bad qualities I do. I enjoyed reading the book. Moshfegh’s writing is good. But the book is kind of empty. There’s nothing to gain. It’s good to kill time and it’s good if you want to read well-written book that might be a bit challenging and might give you headaches but not because of the deepness of the content but because of the main character. I’m not really a fan of first perspective because I don’t like thoughts being conveyed in a “first person is annoying”, I thought, way. But that barely happens in this book. If there’s one thing I want to praise about this book it’s the truly great use of first person. I also think the last line is the most beautiful line of the whole book. “There she is, a human being, diving into the unknown, and she is wide awake.” The line kind of sums up the whole book by using a juxtaposition. The book does have minimal plot, it’s mainly character driven but without the character actually developing much.