SLEEPING IT OFF? LET'S SLEEP ON IT FIRST

Cover of the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018) by the American writer Ottessa Moshfegh. The painting on the cover is Portrait of a Young Woman in White (circa 1798) by Jacques-Louis David.

Can you sleep through your trauma? Should you be doing something like that at all? At first sight, taking a year just to rest and relax seems like a wonderful decision as far as your mental health is concerned. The healthy woman in white and the calming title immediately attract those who have always been admirers of the gap year concept. If sanity is your priority, then sleep should be a significant part of your life. The only problem here is that our unnamed protagonist of the novel takes it to a completely different level. Her gap year is all about drug-induced, delirious, and consistent sleep. Well, half of our problems spring from our overthinking talents. If you are always sleeping, there is no time to think at all. How ingenious?

Ottessa Moshfegh is an American author who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her very first book itself. I am throwing this fact at you simply because I think I need backup to convince you that she is, in fact, a good writer. The above book is not proof enough. But let us not judge her so quickly. The premise of the book is exceptionally brilliant, so much so that at one point, I actually thought about taking a break year to sleep off my non-existent trauma.

What bugs me about this book is perhaps not a fault of the book at all. In pure practical terms, the novel is about an experiment, one that tries to understand the potential of sleep as a coping mechanism. And in pure fictional terms, the book ends open-ended. Now, as a reader, I can step back and applaud the dark comedy and spot-on cynicism of the protagonist or throw a temper tantrum for spoiling my sleep-year plans by leaving me stranded without a proper closure. I am emotional, childish, and silly when it comes to my reading list, so a tantrum is my only possible option. If it's not the same for you, then go for it.

And lastly, in an attempt to settle our differences, I would like to wave the white flag with a quote by Amy Plum:

"Sleep is the only freedom that is truly free, the only escape from the prison of waking life."

Um... Freud and his little abyss of dream interpretations might disagree, but let's go with this for the time being, shall we?