I don't mean life-affirming or inspiring but something that really cuts through the noise and shows there's still some meaning and good in it all without false promises or toxic positivity (if that makes sense). Would love some fiction options but open to anything.
I've been really sick and bedbound for the past year (almost always alone and often in pain and discomfort) and have been dealing with so much bullshit on interpersonal, medical, societal levels re: my illness that I've started feeling like everyone and everything is bullshit and everything everyone says is bullshit. I'm angry and I really hate the world and people right now, and that's never been me before. I can't remember a time before this when I didn't want to believe the best in people.
by ElectronicAd5847
10 Comments
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
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I liked Humankind by Rutger Bregman. It’s about how people are better than we think we are. And I know it gets recommended a lot, but The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow is a great reminder of how humans are fundamentally creative political beings, and how we can live however we want if we choose to. There’s something really hopeful there.
Do you like cats and manga? “A Man and His Cat” is sweet and heartwarming.
“Night of the Living Cat” is cute and silly. It’s about a virus that turns people into cats
I don’t have any recommendations but ugh I just really resonate with this and am sending you love and letting you know I get it!
Plainsong by Kent Haruf. Simple and quiet and beautiful writing and story. Two older farmer brothers take in a young pregnant girl/woman in the Midwest. Nothing is easy but people try to be good.
I just (like, earlier today just) finished this, so I hope it’s not merely… proximity bias that makes me think it’d be a good fit, but The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Definitely not false promises or toxic positivity – the main character doesn’t shy away from her own shortcomings – but I found it to be a really resonating story of someone finding connection (and reconnection) after a fairly extended period of loneliness.
Maybe this is stupid since I haven’t actually finished the book yet, but I’m really enjoying Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. I think the vibe of it might suit you. It conveys a sort of “people are bullshitting” vibe, but in a weird fun way with a weird fictional religion (not preachy). Kind of the message that bullshit has some sort of meaning in the end.
A Man Without a Country, by Kurt Vonnegut.
I think this is the perfect book for your situation.
Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson