Anastasiia’s answer to “Is this a suitable 'teen read', or is it aimed at an adult audience? Thanks” > Likes and Comments
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Whoa, could you explain that? I was thinking of getting this for my nieces and nephews (teens) but your words of caution stopped me. By "triggering" do you mean if they experienced trauma it might 'trigger' harmful feelings?
Yes, that’s what I thought. The first few chapters can be really depressing for someone. I personally suffer from depression and anxiety (and take SSRI’s), and although I’m a grown-up psychologist and can rationally understand and interpret things, it depressed me even more. It’s a beautiful book, no doubt. But the parts where the main character thinks about suicide and her self-worth... I found them quite controversial. I hope it helps!
I have read several books meant for adults... but usually they are about memories or helpful advice, im almost 18 if that helps, but I would like to know if its worth the depressive thoughts?
I'd think the "danger" was that the book shows death as pretty cool--don't worry about it if you commit suicide--you get a do-over!
That is not true. Death is a 1 or a 0, like computer language, and I don't even believe the NDE (near death experiences) people talk about. You hear people say, "I died six times" and I saw the light, but I decided not to go into the light, as I had work to do here on earth, so I chose not to go, yet.
That's bullshit, Warda. I'm glad you choose which books to read, as I did when I was 17 and 18, but I must say, death is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Period. I worried when my daughter loved Sylvia Plath as a teen, since I also had read Plath ("The Bell Jar" is most popular, I believe) and I knew she had committed suicide. No! Don't like her! I thought. Good news, my daughter now has a PhD in Creative Writing & Poetry and she teaches at a university. About Sylvia Plath--just the Wiki article is long and depressing, if you'd like to skip it, please do:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_...
Actually, I think The Midnight Library brings up quite a few optimistic thoughtful themes about alternate universes and quantum wave theory in Physics, and perhaps for these reasons, I did like it. It took me a minute to get past the Psy-Fi aspect of it. I wasn't feeling it, but after a chapter or so, I decided, this is what it is about. Read it, and find out whether you like it, and I did.
Both. I liked it. Somebody here in the comments said it was "predictable guff" rather than good novel. I can imagine his technical points. Did the author decide to only imagine this number of lives, and end it there on a predictable note? Etc. But the themes interest me, Physics, Regret, [Spoiler Alert talking about the books themes!] Depression and suicidal ideation. It was a little bit Disneyland thinking about going back and getting a do-over to erase regrets, and all that.
All in all, I think Midnight Library writes a story that has never been written before, with some original ideas written in British rather than American English (that's always interesting, right?)
You take care of yourself, young reader, and ask people for help, to talk about concerns and ideas that trouble you, during this life. There are many.
I hope you read thousands of novels, and are endlessly entertained. Life is way more exciting than you can even imagine now. Never die due to lack of imagination--that's how I think about suicide sometimes--if the person is SO depressed, can't they go swim in the cold Pacific Ocean (usually only 68 degrees in L.A.! You need a wetsuit if you're not used to it!) and watch the sunset over the Pacific? That always cheers me up!
Once my wife and I lived in hangzhou, China, for three years. I had enough time to take Chinese, Speaking, Listening, and Writing for one semester, 8:30 am until 11:30 am with three hours of homework each day if you wanted to pass the Friday test of reading and writing characters! And I was 46 then, not the best at all that homework. But it made our visit so much better, being able to get a good deal on a Great Wall Tour, haggling price with drivers. We saw Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. We vacationed in 15 different countries. We are not even rich! We do not own a home, and I don't think we can afford to retire, but we are still happy because we love some people, and they love us. (Each other, some parents who have not died of old age, yet. Our daughter, and son-in-law, and 3 year old granddaughter, and some friends.) We are very lucky. And we are not in debt. I hope you get a chance to live in another country for at least a year--you find out people are 99% the same, whether in communist China, Europe, England, Malaysia, Thailand, The Maldives, Philippines, Mexico (my favorite because they are our neighbors, and we have so many friends from there)!
Best luck to you. You are equal to the rich and famous, the president, the homeless guy down the street in your value as a fellow human being, and I wish you all love and happiness.
The first chapters were an excellent portrayal of suicidal ideation, and I thought I would be unable to continue reading because of personal family history. Then it changed, but it was simplistic in its solutions - depression is a REAL THING. And this book made it seem so easy to overcome.
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Joanie
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Dec 13, 2020 07:04AM
Whoa, could you explain that? I was thinking of getting this for my nieces and nephews (teens) but your words of caution stopped me. By "triggering" do you mean if they experienced trauma it might 'trigger' harmful feelings?
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Yes, that’s what I thought. The first few chapters can be really depressing for someone. I personally suffer from depression and anxiety (and take SSRI’s), and although I’m a grown-up psychologist and can rationally understand and interpret things, it depressed me even more. It’s a beautiful book, no doubt. But the parts where the main character thinks about suicide and her self-worth... I found them quite controversial. I hope it helps!
I have read several books meant for adults... but usually they are about memories or helpful advice, im almost 18 if that helps, but I would like to know if its worth the depressive thoughts?
I'd think the "danger" was that the book shows death as pretty cool--don't worry about it if you commit suicide--you get a do-over!That is not true. Death is a 1 or a 0, like computer language, and I don't even believe the NDE (near death experiences) people talk about. You hear people say, "I died six times" and I saw the light, but I decided not to go into the light, as I had work to do here on earth, so I chose not to go, yet.
That's bullshit, Warda. I'm glad you choose which books to read, as I did when I was 17 and 18, but I must say, death is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Period. I worried when my daughter loved Sylvia Plath as a teen, since I also had read Plath ("The Bell Jar" is most popular, I believe) and I knew she had committed suicide. No! Don't like her! I thought. Good news, my daughter now has a PhD in Creative Writing & Poetry and she teaches at a university. About Sylvia Plath--just the Wiki article is long and depressing, if you'd like to skip it, please do:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_...
Actually, I think The Midnight Library brings up quite a few optimistic thoughtful themes about alternate universes and quantum wave theory in Physics, and perhaps for these reasons, I did like it. It took me a minute to get past the Psy-Fi aspect of it. I wasn't feeling it, but after a chapter or so, I decided, this is what it is about. Read it, and find out whether you like it, and I did.
Both. I liked it. Somebody here in the comments said it was "predictable guff" rather than good novel. I can imagine his technical points. Did the author decide to only imagine this number of lives, and end it there on a predictable note? Etc. But the themes interest me, Physics, Regret, [Spoiler Alert talking about the books themes!] Depression and suicidal ideation. It was a little bit Disneyland thinking about going back and getting a do-over to erase regrets, and all that.
All in all, I think Midnight Library writes a story that has never been written before, with some original ideas written in British rather than American English (that's always interesting, right?)
You take care of yourself, young reader, and ask people for help, to talk about concerns and ideas that trouble you, during this life. There are many.
I hope you read thousands of novels, and are endlessly entertained. Life is way more exciting than you can even imagine now. Never die due to lack of imagination--that's how I think about suicide sometimes--if the person is SO depressed, can't they go swim in the cold Pacific Ocean (usually only 68 degrees in L.A.! You need a wetsuit if you're not used to it!) and watch the sunset over the Pacific? That always cheers me up!
Once my wife and I lived in hangzhou, China, for three years. I had enough time to take Chinese, Speaking, Listening, and Writing for one semester, 8:30 am until 11:30 am with three hours of homework each day if you wanted to pass the Friday test of reading and writing characters! And I was 46 then, not the best at all that homework. But it made our visit so much better, being able to get a good deal on a Great Wall Tour, haggling price with drivers. We saw Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. We vacationed in 15 different countries. We are not even rich! We do not own a home, and I don't think we can afford to retire, but we are still happy because we love some people, and they love us. (Each other, some parents who have not died of old age, yet. Our daughter, and son-in-law, and 3 year old granddaughter, and some friends.) We are very lucky. And we are not in debt. I hope you get a chance to live in another country for at least a year--you find out people are 99% the same, whether in communist China, Europe, England, Malaysia, Thailand, The Maldives, Philippines, Mexico (my favorite because they are our neighbors, and we have so many friends from there)!
Best luck to you. You are equal to the rich and famous, the president, the homeless guy down the street in your value as a fellow human being, and I wish you all love and happiness.
The first chapters were an excellent portrayal of suicidal ideation, and I thought I would be unable to continue reading because of personal family history. Then it changed, but it was simplistic in its solutions - depression is a REAL THING. And this book made it seem so easy to overcome.
