Chaotic Minds discussion

Ever see familiarity within the pages of a book? Do you ever recognize yourself in a fictional character?

Sometimes, I see pieces of myself that I didn't think anyone else could ever understand or relate to reflected in the pages of a book. I reach a moment of clarity, a small moment where I realize that my thoughts, actions and experiences, no matter how obscure or odd they seem, are maybe not that odd at all. Someone else has felt what I feel or has done as I have done. Someone else gets it. Anyone else ever get that feeling?

What is something you've learned about yourself through a book or character?

I know the feeling! I've read a book where the author explains a feeling or a physical sensation exactly but in such an obscure way that makes complete sense.

I'm sorry for my lack of group participation so far :(

I have definitely experienced this before. Most recently, it was while reading A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

It's a terribly tragic story about the lives of four friends after they graduate from college. I found that I saw pieces of myself in each of those characters and in their very human struggles. All of the characters, in their own time and in their own way, struggle with feelings of insecurity. They struggle with figuring out who they are and where they belong. They often find themselves caught up in pleasing people, in placing their worth in their jobs or performance. You see them trying to find their identities in what they do and you see them feeling overwhelmed when they endlessly fail to meet the expectations of others. And really, who can't identify with those things? We all long for our lives to mean something to someone. We all want to know that we have worth and value as we are and in spite of our messiness. So, even though this book revolves almost entirely around one specific person in the group, the author does an great job of revealing things about the other characters and you definitely walk away with that sense of familiarity.