Click the book cover for an excerpt
"Intelligence makes you unhappy, lonely, and poor, whereas disguising it offers the possibility of immortality in newsprint and the admiration of those who believe what they read."
Antoine has decided that he is literally too smart for his own good. He can't seem to enjoy life because he can't make himself stop thinking and analyzing and questioning everything he does. His solution is to become stupid.
Antoine's initial attempts to turn off his brain are wickedly funny. In order to keep Antoine from following through with his plan to get a lobotomy, Antoine's doctor finally prescribes the drug Happyzac.
Suddenly, the book becomes a portrait of the modern Prozac Nation. Antoine gives up his job lecturing on Aramaic at the university to become a stock broker. He loses his friends, his melancholia, and his entire sense of self. He accomplishes his goal to fit in with society, but he is still not happy.
I adore this book.
I'm not saying I'm anywhere near as intelligent as this character is, but I have felt the same overwhelming desire to stop thinking and just enjoy life. The problem is that when I try to do that, I don't feel like myself.
People spout all kinds of ideas about diversity and acceptance and individuality, but very few truly value the things that make a person unique. The plethora of antidepressant medication out there proves that what people want most is to be just like everybody else, blissful and unaware.
Except no one actually is happy all the time. The idea of a whole world filled with happily drugged, unthinking people is a bleak one.
Fortunately, Antoine's journey ends on a happy note. His friends stage a rather amusing intervention to get him away from his new life and to remind him of all the great things he had before he started taking pills.
"Over the next few days Antoine spent his time with his friends, having fun and rediscovering the pleasure of their interdependence."
I hope that everyone reads this book and that everyone knows the happiness of having unique people to love.
 Kachan36 · Thu Feb 21, 2008 @ 10:39pm · 0 Comments |
