Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Three and a half stars, really. There’s a lot to commend here; a very fluent writer, grappling with finding words to describe the indescribable, his own personal experience of depression and anxiety. It has a lot of very short chapters – most are only a page or two – and the narrative slowly emerges. It’s good in many ways, and clearly well regarded by those who have suffered in this way.
I have to say that personally, I struggled at times with it. It was too choppy, too all over the place in narrative thread. And it never really lived up to the title – the reason to stay alive is that this episode would pass, and you might learn from it. True for acute anxiety and depression, but not for an overall existential angst.
I’m not a particular sufferer, but I know some who are, and I fear this would not be a useful book for them. I feel bad about this, as the book is so heartfelt, but this is what I felt. Sorry mate.