Why read 'Depressing' Books?

[Mohan]

Laurie Uttich has an interesting column “In Defense of 'Depressing' Books” in Huffington Post today, that made me reflect on a couple of 'Depressing' books I read recently. One is Marina Mander’s "The First True Lie" and another is "Family Life" by Akhil Sharma. Both are critically acclaimed, and Akhil Sharma’s book is even a “NYT bestseller.”

I didn’t go looking for a “depressing” book when I picked these up. And to be fair, a scan of the blurb warned me. So, why did I read them? I can relate to Laurie Uttich’s comment “I want a book that has the potential to change my life in a series of small, important ways.” I am always seeking books that give a ‘glimpse’ of life; and sometimes the glimpses are gloomy, morbid or depressing.

My two cents in my blog post on the topic

[Samir]

Orwell's 1984 is a severely depressing book. I'd not read it a second time for that one reason alone. But I'd recommend everyone to read it once. Why? Because it shows what happens if a government amasses too much power, strips people of their rights and brainwashes their population. It is something that every citizen must be aware of and fight against.

While Marx's theoretical Communist Manifesto imagines a communist utopia, 1984 demonstrates what the world would be like if it were actually implemented. That has been demonstrated time and again by countries like USSR, North Korea and Mao's China.

[Ahtims]

Sometimes I am in the mood for depressing books as these are an eye opener towards my relatively comfortable or cushy situation.
Sometimes when I become too sated with life, and feel like a change, I read depressing books, which paradoxically gladden me.

[Veena]

PSmith wrote:
"Sometimes when I become too sated with life, and feel like a change, I read depressing books, which paradoxically gladden me."

Intriguing! Which books had that effect on you?

[Ambady]

Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things is the most amazing book I've read. For most, it is not exactly a tear-jerker. The sadness it creates in the reader is subtle, gentle even. Even from the very beginning, one gets the message, stark and unmistakable. There are sentences that are so chilling that it will remain with you even long after you put down the book, written with clinical cynicism and vicious nonchalance, told in a voice of innocence.

It is always the tragic endings that remain a little more in one's memory, touch one's heart a little deeper. As Oscar Wilde said, 'Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.'

[Ahtims]

Veena wrote: "PSmith wrote:
"Sometimes when I become too sated with life, and feel like a change, I read depressing books, which paradoxically gladden me."

Intriguing! Which books had that effect on you?"

Offhand, books by Upamanyu Chatterjee, Rohinton Mistry, dystopian fiction, etc.
Recently, it was The Invention of Wings,The Color Purple