![]() The book is brutal and brutally written, with little narrative artifice. Within layers of economic development is nestled comfortable prejudice against women – and Korea is no exception. The woman Kim Jiyoung came out of South Korea and is very deeply Korean, but she could have come out of any country. Soumashree Sarkar: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo and translated by Jamie Chang Maybe the book worked for me because I was dealing with a hard time. ![]() We not only hear about the experiences of the author as a therapist and her exchanges with her patients, but also about her own journey with her therapist. (Voyeurism? Gottlieb, in an author’s note, says that she took all the clients’ consent and went to extreme lengths to disguise their identities.) Throughout the book, we learn about a young newlywed who is diagnosed with terminal cancer, an old woman with a sad life story who is determined to kill herself on her next birthday, a narcissistic film producer and a young girl addicted to alcohol and stuck in a cycle of toxic relationships. The presenting problem was COVID-19, but of course as I realised over a period of time, there was a lot, lot more underneath. This is exactly what had happened with me, I thought. ![]() Gottlieb’s personal experiences as well as her client’s experiences described in the book all point to one very significant fact – the “presenting problem” after which someone joins therapy is often just the tip of the iceberg, only the shell of the coconut. I opened a page and was instantly hooked because of the subject and writing style. I picked it up for the pretty blue on the cover and the catchy title. I was still dealing with some leftover anxiety, depression and trauma. After the second wave, the SOS messages for oxygen and hospital beds, condolence messages doing the rounds and closely seeing the destruction it caused, my anxiety went through the roof.Ī few months later, I came across this book neatly kept in a friend’s bookshelf. Almost desperately, I started therapy to deal with it. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, I suffered the worst kind of anxiety. Ismat Ara: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb We hope you all have a safe and warm end of year, perhaps in the company of a book that brings you similar happiness.ġ. As another year draws to a close – one that brought with it more uncertainty, loss and fear – The Wire‘s staff brings you a list of books – some old and some new – that gave us some peace, joy and insight in the midst of everything else.
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