Are You Happy Now: 'One of the best novels of 2023' Sara Collins
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Are You Happy Now: 'One of the best novels of 2023' Sara Collins
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He didn’t want to die, he just wanted to stop, to cease, sit down. Maybe just sleep, for a year or maybe forever.” Does he regret it? Does he change is man-whore ways? Or does he continue on with Briella? How is Jake, Cassidy's brother, handling her departure? How about her mom and cheating father? How is she? Yes!" I squealed. "I was hoping this would happen! I mean I thought about it happening when I first met Logan and he basically adopted me as his daughter. I just thought that you two would make such a good couple. But then I realized that my sperm donator still stood in the way and then just pushed the thought away. But then he was out of the picture and I thought about the pair of you again, but then I also thought Logan was dead but -" Logan covered my rambling mouth so I'd shut up. I gave him a sheepish smile, well I tried with his hand still covering my mouth. Comparisons to Emily St. John Mandel should be ignored, imvho, but otherwise it's a solid dystopian take on the anger and sense of injustice that permeates throughout contemporary twentysomething culture. He wondered if a love not properly expressed mutated into something jagged and unwieldy like metal, something that could kill you.”
We later return to the wedding scene, except that this time we follow two different guests, Andrew and Fin. Both are there with their soon-to-be exes. They properly meet later on, in a gallery. Despite his best efforts, Andrew, a 31-year-old professor who has recently gone through a fairly amicable separation from his wife, finds himself falling for Fin. Not only does Andrew slowly come to terms with the desires and knowledge that he had so long suppressed, but he is wary of falling for Fin, a 20-year-old ballet student hailing from London. Fin too is filled with doubt, and seems always braced for the worst-case scenario, of Andrew’s inevitably disinterest, of failing at what he loves, of not being good enough. Yet, despite their worries, the two have fallen fast and hard for each other. As their relationship becomes more serious, Andrew and Yun’s friendship seems to come undone.
Featured Reviews
Have people finally given up? Are they choosing to die? After a wedding in New York when a woman sits down in the middle of the dance floor and refuses to move, all over the country people start doing the same. Soon it’s a pandemic, with “catatonic events” happening worldwide.
Fin is probably the character I like the most, but damn, this book made me deal with some flawed (and in some cases unlikeable) characters. Which I don’t mind, but there was just not enough about Yun to let me like him or feel very sorry for him. And I feel like that should have been the case? I found Andrew and Fin’s relationship to be more interesting. Although their dynamic is in some ways more straightforward (but not entirely), I found myself wanting to delve more into their interactions than any others. One thing that I especially like about this novel is the characters never fall into a stereotype; the plot, too, takes detours just when you think it might take the predictable road. As John Lennon said, Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. And it’s the other things that happen which may end up making you happy, not what you thought (or planned). As far as she could tell, what Yun wanted from his parents was impossible. He wanted them to have made him happy.The author asks us to question, if death is dangerous and if life is dangerous, in the last chapter. She wants us to examine these concepts for what they are. Is there proof death is dangerous? Could we liberate ourselves from fear of life if we did not fear death? A very valid point and one which is intrinsically examined here with preciseness and reasoning. The book ends with a Happy Life worksheet based on each chapter, where key points are presented and you are encouraged to write down and investigate the various parts of your life and examine for yourself things that are working and things that are not. This helps you see struggles more clearly and find the true path to your own unique happiness. “Are You Happy Now?” delivers fully with great depth, insight and invigoration. There is an tremendous amount of knowledge and information presented in this book. The language and concepts fit together with fluidity, efficiency and relevance. This book can not only help enhance your life and open your mind to seeing far beneath the surface – it can change your life as well! Phenomenal writing Barbara Berger! You have written a book of value, exploration and taken the concept of Happiness and fully helped people to understand what it is and how to be happy! After reading this book you WILL be asking yourself “ Are You Happy Now?” Some of the story at times almost feels too clean, as though some plot points are at times too convenient, and it’s certainly an imperfect novel. In Chapter 1 Accept What Is the author writes “ Just think how you would feel if you didn’t resist what is, just for a few minutes. “ I had never really pondered upon this before. What if I did not resist what is, and allowed it to be, how would I feel? What if I simply accepted how things were. Barbara then writes, “If we could just for a moment allow things to be exactly the way they are, without fighting them. If you play around with this idea or mind shift, you will discover that it can be quite liberating”. So I played around with it, I found a sort of silence and peace and acceptance that I found interesting, enlightening and refreshing. To an extent it felt like freedom. What a thought to just allow things to be as they are! Another section of chapter one I really loved speaks about the nature of pain. Barbara tells us “ I found that when I think about pain I am mostly resisting the pain, and that when I resist pain it definitely gets worse . “ How true is that! It goes along with the whole vantage point of what we resist often persists. Or when we focus on something in resistance, which is giving our attention to it and amplifying it, generally it does get worse and become bigger. In this section the author explains that pain can often be amplified or lessened in its degree. She writes “ I try to be with the sensation in the present moment and allow it, without going into a panic. When I am able to do this, I find the nature of the discomfort changes.” I think the concept presented here is a very relevant one, for where we focus our mind and how we feel are huge components to living a happy life. I'm aware this review is somewhat vague but I think this is a read best served without prior knowledge. Emory on the other hand attempts to help him but as the world around her becomes more and more weighed by bad news, she also struggles to make sense of everything that is going on and the gnawing guilt she feels towards her article. For all her attempts to make things work and his longing to be happy, content even, their relationship continues to fray.
Firstly, I just want to say that I do not read pandemic books, it's too early for me but this isn't like anything we experienced in recent years, apart from how humans behave. Most people will feel safe reading this in my opinion. I'm not going to spoil the events this book is built around, but suffice it to say, it's a clever concept.
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It is my sixteenth birthday: where everything went wrong. The day I was finally able to find my mate. Another section I truly enjoyed was “Fearing your Emotions” in chapter 8. This line made me really think about my emotions “ So when powerful emotions arise, we are afraid because we think we’ll be swept away and lose control. “ we read here how to be mindful of our emotions and not so much fear them like an ugly monster. I think a lot of times we do run from our emotions and as such we let fear or panic control us and our circumstances. The author clearly explains here many techniques to use to overcome these so called “scary emotions” and how to remain present and “intend” to be mindful, even doing the simplest chores like the dishes. By being mindful we can experience more peace and actually “be” in our now. I like that idea a lot, being in our now without clouding it with worry, judgment, or fear. There is a beautiful parable in Chapter 9 – Know what is what called “In the Land with no Mirrors – A Parable “ The mental cages we build that keep us from seeing. Outside the cages is life. Free Life. And Love. Vast and unimaginable. “ I thought that was such a relevant and heart warming statement ,within one of the lines of the parable. So many times we build cages, around ourselves and our emotions but we are naturally free and loving. Just as a bird in a cage, we long to spread our wings and fly and experience and express. What a question! Are you happy now? We want to put a nice face on ... smile ... and say yes. But so many times that is a mask that we put on to cover the fact that we are not happy … that we are perhaps even unhappy. “Are You Happy Now?” is a book of wisdom to be worked with, to be placed in our lives, to be made part of ourselves. Each of the ten ways is part of the path to a happy life. This book delves into the “truth” of things. Examining our own thoughts, and how we can turn our thoughts around to see the truth and bring resolution. A brilliant statement from Chapter 4- Investigate your stories “ In my experience, there’s only one way to deal with worrying – and that’s to shine the light of truth on the things we are worrying about”. This chapter helps us understand what worrying is and how to change our thoughts. By telling new stories and understanding what kind of stories we are telling, we gain more control over our own thoughts and feelings. Chapter 5 – Mind your own business gives us ideas about boundaries, and how to “ be at home with yourself” Barbara explains how to be “at home” with yourself or that is- in sync with yourself and not into invading other people’s business. “ Call it being your own best friend. Call it being there for you. Call it minding your own business. Call it peace. But whatever you call it, when you do this, everyone becomes your friend, including you.” Is that not a profound statement? Does it not send a little shiver up your spine? What if everyone was at peace with themselves and what if we did mind our own business ? How would that feel. The book gives us many brilliant ideas to consider. When Cassidy's world comes crashing down she finally leaves and becomes a female rogue, a rarity of its own. Cassidy will find herself in the year she is a rogue.She will make a new family and discover herself.But what happens when her past catches up with her?
Are You Happy Now?" is a middle of the road book by a middle of the road author. I have never been one to scream "midlist" at something while I was reading it until now. It is not that it is horrible or has poor writing or is incredibly boring in any way. It is like the slew of really bad tattoos the people are getting. There are two things that can make a tattoo bad, it can be poorly executed or the idea for the tattoo can be a bad one from the start. If someone says, "I want Peyton Manning riding a unicorn on my left shoulder blade," it's going to be a bad tattoo, even if Picasso is doing it. (Or Dali. I bet Dali would make a better football player/unicorn tattoo.) The point is that you can't polish a turd, and regardless of the execution, you can't made a bad idea into a good one. This is what "Are You Happy Now?" suffers from. The main character, John Lincoln, is somewhat of a bad guy. I like those narrators that you can't really stand, those real assholes that are only looking out for themselves, even at the expense of others. Those difficult people that you can't believe has the audacity to do what they are doing because honestly I know more of these people in real life than the do-gooder characters that you love. Lincoln is an opportunist at best, a user and abuser at worst. This makes it to where you root against him, hope that he fails, and that he ends up unhappy. Quite honestly there are a lot of people in real life that you feel the same way about. All the characters are flawed and act out on their individual insecurities and anxieties. There were moments where I empathised with them but many times where I got quite frustrated with them too. What started out as a meet cute between Emory and Yun becomes a lot more complicated. I particularly loved the intimacy and complex dynamics between Yun and Andrew’s friendship.He couldn’t forgive them, for being human, for not getting parenthood right the first time, for not raising him better able to deal with this. This book was full of quirk and weirdness while being rather engrossing. The characters were completely eclectic and apart from Andrew who I liked, the rest I just observed with popcorn. Yun who I initally liked, didn't cope with what the world was offering and that ending was strangely surprising. Emory I liked more early on but her characterisation lost a bit of shading as it went on. Fin was an interesting addition later on. Andrew waited at the bottom of the steps, wondering whether friendships burned out in the same way epidemics, hysterias and protestors do, then went up. As the characters contend with old and new hurts, hidden feelings, loneliness and longing, psychogenic catatonia continues to threaten their horizon. Jameson seamlessly switches points of view, often adopting a nonlinear narrative and or using foreshadowing to build and maintain tension. Her prose brought to mind Hanya Yanagihara, Donna Tartt, and Scott Spencer. Jameson’s prose effortlessly moves between registers: from presenting us with clear-cut and incisive descriptions (of the character’s feelings, thoughts, actions, and surroundings), to using her language to evoke with striking intimacy and poignancy the mood and nuances of a certain moment/scene. Jameson’s style maintains a balance between crisp yet opaque, at times eliciting in dazzling detail the state of mind of a character, at times allowing room for the ambiguous nature of her character’s fears and desires to shine. Her dialogues rang true to life, not only in their rhythms but in how they often revolved around or hinted at unspoken feelings. The setting, mostly ‘post’-covid NY, is brought to life. Jameson captures just how easy it is to feel lost and alone in such a city, while also incorporating discussions on current politics and on America’s healthcare service.
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