I’m currently reading the second book of the Neopolitan Novels, and I haven’t been able to pick it up for a while because it just makes me too sad. The challenges the two main characters face as little girls and young women in the 1950s are different to mine, but somehow still similar at the core. The pain of being a girl is just so realistically portrayed that it’s too close to my heart. Some pages just make my stomach turn because it resonates with me so strongly. Have you ever had a similar experience? Did you end up continuing the book?
by LSD-Chemist
4 Comments
Only when it feels like trauma porn.
Yup. Life is short and right now we live in interesting times. I’m exhausted and reading is my escapism. If it’s eliciting a negative emotion too frequently, I am putting it down.
I’m a teacher, and honestly reading through the first battle scene of blood meridian made me so sad I had to put it down to be a happy teacher for my kids
A few weeks ago I had to stop reading There, There by Tommy Orange because it was getting too bleak for me. I don’t really believe in pushing yourself to read books that aren’t making you feel good.