Mental health is being talked about more and more, but rarely in the right way. It is assumed that depression is something that we somehow allow ourselves to do, something that some people are strong enough to overcome and others are not. But it didn’t. It is not chosen, because if it were, no one would choose. In the recovery process, which sometimes lasts a short time and sometimes comes in stages, it means a lot to have the opportunity to hear about someone else’s experience, to feel like you are not completely crazy and to have someone who understands take you by the hand through the darkness.
CRYING IN H MARCH – MICHELLE ZAUNER
The debut novel from musician Michelle Zauner, frontwoman of the band Japanese Breakfast, explores her relationship with her mother who is suffering from cancer. Through stories from her childhood, re-examination of her own emotions and memories of traditional Korean recipes, the writer goes through all the stages of coping and grief while dealing with the discovery that her mother is terminally ill. In this period, he reexamines their dynamics for the first time, from tenderness in childhood, sharpness in puberty, misunderstanding and rebellion, and again to tenderness, care and unconditional love. Crying In H Mart will expose you in the best possible way and prove that even the hardest moments make life.
MY YEAR OF TIREDNESS AND RELAXATION – OTESA MOŠFEG
The narrator, who is extremely privileged, chooses to consciously spend a year in a state of “rest and relaxation” with the help of a cocktail of drugs according to her recipe. Desperate to escape her problems, she is forced to confront addiction and mental health in a semi-conscious state. This novel will seriously shake you up (and it won’t be pleasant).
THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE – BESSEL VAN DER KOLK
Unlike the previous ones on the list, The Body Keeps the Score is a psychological book that explores how trauma affects the brain and body, and all the ways we can heal. It is really refreshing to read a book that breaks down in a rational and empathetic way something that is otherwise almost impossible to describe and explain. Drawing on thirty years of work, the author suggests that relationships with others are the key to growth and healing.
GOOD NIGHT PUNPUNE – INIO ASANO
Manga Good night full is a cult comic in Japan, where the author is from. Interestingly, the main character Punpun is one of the only ones in the comic that is illustrated as a bird, while the others are drawn as “regular” people. Through thirteen issues, his life is followed – family relationships, love problems, discovery of sexuality, career and above all, the search for meaning during a lifelong battle with depression.
ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT – MIEKO KAWAKAMI
Using metaphors about light, Kawakami builds a story in which nothing seems to happen on the outside, while great changes take place in the narrator’s inner world. Frozen in time and space, the main character Fuyuko Irie lives from day to day as a straight line, without joy or questioning. However, the set of circumstances made her think about what led to this passive state and why it is increasingly difficult to stop this vicious circle. Also, Kontrast publishing house has translated Breasts and eggs by Kawakami, if you want to start from something of hers in Serbian.
SILENCE – MEŠA SELIMOVIĆ
Meša Selimović’s first novel was published in 1961 and looks back on the experience after the war and the return to “normal” life. That return is anything but simple, and the motif of silence permeates the entire story, as something that cannot be escaped, and to which the narrator ultimately surrenders. This is a book that I return to often, I turn the page to any side and each time I get something out of it that is deeply meaningful (and necessary) to me at that moment.
