'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh is a novel which is full of fear, anger, anguish and pain but is also very funny. The unnamed protagonist is not particularly likeable but I had no trouble relating to her and understanding why th…  | By Martin Raybould on September 19, 2024 | 'My Year of Rest and Relaxation' by Ottessa Moshfegh is a novel which is full of fear, anger, anguish and pain but is also very funny. The unnamed protagonist is not particularly likeable but I had no trouble relating to her and understanding why the idea of a year of drugged-up hibernation so appealed to her. I loved her caustic wit. In some ways hers is like a modern day version of Bartleby's passive-aggressive "I would prefer not to" in Herman Melville's short story but Moshfegh's story is much more extreme and could only have been written in the 21st century. Making the protagonist young, pretty, thin and financially secure is a smart touch. It ensures that her opting out cannot he dismissed as her not fitting in. The fact that she ticks all the boxes of what is taken to be 'successful' means that we have to look for other explanations to her behaviour. | | |
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