I was going to get the book, A Little Life, after a lot of people recommended it to me. My favorite genre of books are dark fiction and non-fiction books that go into the psychological plagues trauma brings upon a persons mind. I read them too to examine how an author dissects a traumatic event or events and brings the characters into those situations and how the characters progress. What always shocks me is seeing how other people react to these books. I suffered severe childhood trauma in various different ways. So reading these books is sometimes comforting, sometimes I read them with the intent to relate to a character, in the thoughts of the character towards an event that others might not have thought one would even experience. But watching some peoples reactions to books like A Little Life, and becoming nauseous or being in disbelief, I find it shocking. What are the experiences of people who read books who did not read it with intent to relate to the character. Why did you pick the book up? Im interested to see the other side of the coin. Does the emotional experiences of the characters resonate with you? Do you see any parallels within your our own life and the characters?
The reaction I have to it is revulsion and anger like you would get for a friend who’s telling you this. You’re approaching it from a place of empathy, but you just can’t quite understand it like someone who’s been in their shoes can. But the response is still an empathetic one, it’s just one of anger, grief and dismay. Those are very uncomfortable. These sorts of books make me pace with anguish because even if you can’t help the character, you feel that desperate need to help the many people who are experiencing similar things.