10 Books For Depressed People
And it's not just that the characters find themselves in depressing situation after depressing situation (well, they kind of do), it's the fact that the scope of the novel makes every depressing instance so much more tragic because you're highly familiar with what lead each character to the sad place they're in currently.
1. Freedom (2010), Jonathan Franzen
I know Freedom went super mainstream when it initially came out and I know there are reasonable arguments why this book is not for depressed people but… the bulk of this book is seriously depressing. And it’s not just that the characters find themselves in depressing situation after depressing situation (well, they kind of do), it’s the fact that the scope of the novel makes every depressing instance so much more tragic because you’re highly familiar with what lead each character to the sad place they’re in currently. What makes Freedom even more heart-wrenching is Franzen’s masterful narration, which somehow pretends to be neutral but in fact balances a chord of hope for an okay future and despair with the present throughout the entire novel. Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom is definitely a book for depressed people.