The Answer Is No

by Fredrik Backman

about. Because the woman in purple has been readying herself for the cruelest form of interpersonal terrorism: small talk.

Lucas opens the door with the defeated manner of a sausage that dressed itself up as a carrot to avoid being eaten by a bear, only to be found by a rabbit.

Being consistent is the opposite of being wrong.”

Lucas is happy. It’s not as hard as one might think to become, the hard part is just to keep being it. It’s hard because it’s so easy to get in your head that if you are to be happy, you have to be happy exactly all of the time. And who in the world has the energy for that? Happiness can be exhausting. Honestly, it’s most often enough to just not be the opposite.

But if anyone should ask the doctors and nurses who work at the hospital, they will of course tell you that he’s in a coma and can’t be disturbed. Because the doctors and nurses understand very well that all the modern pills and treatments are surely great, but sometimes what people really need most of all is a prescription for a break.