My Year of Rest and Relaxation discussion

Was it supposed to be deep? Was it supposed to be satire? Was it supposed to be camp? I didn't get it.
I got all the way through till the end of the book, waiting for something interesting to happen and... Nothing! Other than an annoying mean girl for protagonist, this book left me empty-handed.
But apparently people loved it??? Can someone convince me that this was actually good and I misinterpreted everything?

I think it was satire . But you are right the main character was awful

I can understand why the main character is not well-liked. Keep in mind that she came from an abusive family. She was neglected by both parents, and she grew up watching the toxic dynamic of her their marriage. When you consider all this, she doesn't really seem a manipulative bitch for the sake of it. All her horrible choices in life are like symptoms of unresolved issues that stem from her childhood. Her isolation was meant to help her break through all the crap in her life. But did this truly work? I think the ending leaves it open to interpretation.

What do you all think?

I was eager to see how her year of isolation would change her life but it didn’t seem to do much and that’s a shame because I would have loved if the author went deeper into her thoughts during that period and illustrate some kind of shift instead of it being the same redundant thoughts from start to finish.

I really liked the concept and was excited to see her develop (for good or bad) as the book went on but it left me disinterested. The only major change you can witness is at the very end, which is consequently my favourite part of the book.

I think the book is just aimed at people who can empathize/relate to difficult characters. It's understandable that a lot people don't enjoy reading a book where nothing happens, but I personally liked it as it was just relaxing to go into her life, where her problems that seem so large to her are laughable to someone going through more intense hardships. I think this is the entire point of the book, perspective.

Orla wrote: "I think it was satire . But you are right the main character was awful"

The boyfriend/fxxk buddy was worse!

It's a typical portrayal of what's happening with today's generation, depressed, trying to be more depressed mostly out of stupidity. The author might have tried to reveal so, and warned, I believe! :)

Arghaya wrote: "It's a typical portrayal of what's happening with today's generation, depressed, trying to be more depressed mostly out of stupidity. The author might have tried to reveal so, and warned, I believe..."

I definitely see this point of view. When I read it, I felt like it lacked depth and seemed so one dimensional and boring almost. However, considering this kind of depression is something a young adult would face in this generation, Moshfegh was trying to highlight the ridiculousness of it all

I do think it was satire, but I actually thought it was a fantastic book due to the fact that the protagonist was a bad person. I think the main girl (Who I refer to as Evelyn) is unlikable in a way that people hate relating to but there's a little bit of her in everyone.

She's selfish and mean spirited and gets her kicks out of being better and deeper than everyone with no actual understanding of their lives or struggles. It's everyone's internal monologue kicked up to its extreme imo, but you still found ways to sympathize with her just because her issues are so minimal and so personal.

I said this in my own review of the book, but it reminded me a lot of American Psycho from the perspective of the female characters. I found a lot of value in it.

yea am I missing something? it was a quick read but I have no idea what the theme was supposed to be