Are You Happy Now: 'One of the best novels of 2023' Sara Collins

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We follow four main characters. First Yun and Andrew, old friends, followed by journalist Emory and dancer Fin. If I’ve unlearned anything about ingesting stories over the past number of years, it’s that I don’t have to love a character to love their story. Which was a necessary perspective when it came to this novel, because our first protagonist is Yun, a jaded musician who is just almost likeable, but somehow never quite made it there for me. His relationship with Emory is interesting, in that it’s imperfect, and sometimes bland and often confusing, and reflects how sometimes we feel most lonely beside the person we’re supposed to be closest to. The writing is very easy to get into. It flowed nicely and wasn’t too high-brow. It still had some beautiful nuggets of prose, but it still read really well and kept me hooked throughout. And she thought, Oh shit, I really like him. Oh shit, because it was never a good time to realize you really liked someone. Realizing you really liked someone meant knowing on some level it was going to hurt. Ok..so this was a totally different read for me...totally not what I expected but walked away with the sheer satisfaction that this book came into my life.

The narrative’s self-awareness adds to the story. Not only does Jameson touch upon the notion of ‘main character syndrome’ but she reflects on the concept of a narrative arc, examining stories' tendency to provide some sort of closure for their characters. Jameson resists doing this, which will inevitably annoy readers and I have to say that the what-ifs scenarios presented by the ending were the only thing that I did not love about this novel. This book delves into the “truth” of things. Examining our own thoughts, and how we can turn our thoughts around to see the truth and bring resolution. A brilliant statement from Chapter 4- Investigate your stories “ In my experience, there’s only one way to deal with worrying – and that’s to shine the light of truth on the things we are worrying about”. This chapter helps us understand what worrying is and how to change our thoughts. By telling new stories and understanding what kind of stories we are telling, we gain more control over our own thoughts and feelings. Chapter 5 – Mind your own business gives us ideas about boundaries, and how to “ be at home with yourself” Barbara explains how to be “at home” with yourself or that is- in sync with yourself and not into invading other people’s business. “ Call it being your own best friend. Call it being there for you. Call it minding your own business. Call it peace. But whatever you call it, when you do this, everyone becomes your friend, including you.” Is that not a profound statement? Does it not send a little shiver up your spine? What if everyone was at peace with themselves and what if we did mind our own business ? How would that feel. The book gives us many brilliant ideas to consider. Este, para mi gusto, buen punto de partida se sume en el más absoluto aburrimiento durante la novela. Ni los cuatro protagonistas son interesantes ni su desarrollo atractivo. Sus idas y venidas no son más que un slice of life que, aunque por momentos parece despegar, termina siempre dejando una sensación agridulce. Para añadir más problemas, el ritmo de la historia es sumamente lento. Y, aunque sea un ligero spoiler, el final de la trama “pandémica” es totalmente decepcionante. Set in my home town of Chicago, this author knew his shit for sure, as I took the journey with him as he took me through every facet, nook and cranny of the city I love with all my heart.

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That’s my problem. Everyone feels like the right person, I can’t even tell the difference any more. I ride the subway and see someone reading a book I was just reading and think, Wow, maybe it’s you. It happens all the time. Someone looks at me and it’s just them. You know what I mean? When Cassidy's world comes crashing down she finally leaves and becomes a female rogue, a rarity of its own. Cassidy will find herself in the year she is a rogue.She will make a new family and discover herself.But what happens when her past catches up with her? We later return to the wedding scene, except that this time we follow two different guests, Andrew and Fin. Both are there with their soon-to-be exes. They properly meet later on, in a gallery. Despite his best efforts, Andrew, a 31-year-old professor who has recently gone through a fairly amicable separation from his wife, finds himself falling for Fin. Not only does Andrew slowly come to terms with the desires and knowledge that he had so long suppressed, but he is wary of falling for Fin, a 20-year-old ballet student hailing from London. Fin too is filled with doubt, and seems always braced for the worst-case scenario, of Andrew’s inevitably disinterest, of failing at what he loves, of not being good enough. Yet, despite their worries, the two have fallen fast and hard for each other. As their relationship becomes more serious, Andrew and Yun’s friendship seems to come undone. That night they see something none of them can explain. Someone sits down, and simply gives up. Soon it's happening all around them. Is it an illness, or a decision? The reader views the world collapsing around 4 main characters (Yun, Emory, Andrew and Fin) that are each trying to navigate this new normal. The dialogue and narrative is deeply personal, in some ways introspective and made me think a lot about what happiness means, and what defines it. Is there such a thing as feeling too much? What if you don’t feel anything?

The main problem with his life-as-a-movie theory was that it wasn’t easy to apply to other people who weren’t the protagonists of his reality. What happened to everyone else?

Customer reviews

A quietly crushing yet devastatingly tender work scintillating with insight and emotional intelligence. With acuity and empathy Hanna Jameson presents her readers with a captivating narrative chronicling four people’s attempts at happiness despite a looming health crisis: more and more people are literally sitting down and seemingly giving up on life. The book focuses on four ‘millennials’ who are all linked to each other through new relationships. This is the generation like myself who feel pressured to be achieving everything in life. The expectations to have the best career, be settled down with a partner, have a mortgage and children and have enough money to lead a comfortable life. If you don’t achieve all this, you feel lost. That is exactly how these characters feel, trying to find the meaning to their lives as well as surviving a new health crisis. He didn’t want to die, he just wanted to stop, to cease, sit down. Maybe just sleep, for a year or maybe forever.”

En ‘Are you happy now’ seguimos la historia de cuatro personajes principales (junto a un buen puñado de secundarios) que se enfrentan a un mundo donde se origina una pandemia. Parece la historia típica que podría surgir de estos últimos años. La pandemia consiste en personas que de un momento para otro se sientan y no hacen nada hasta que pasadas un par de semanas mueren. Another section I truly enjoyed was “Fearing your Emotions” in chapter 8. This line made me really think about my emotions “ So when powerful emotions arise, we are afraid because we think we’ll be swept away and lose control. “ we read here how to be mindful of our emotions and not so much fear them like an ugly monster. I think a lot of times we do run from our emotions and as such we let fear or panic control us and our circumstances. The author clearly explains here many techniques to use to overcome these so called “scary emotions” and how to remain present and “intend” to be mindful, even doing the simplest chores like the dishes. By being mindful we can experience more peace and actually “be” in our now. I like that idea a lot, being in our now without clouding it with worry, judgment, or fear. There is a beautiful parable in Chapter 9 – Know what is what called “In the Land with no Mirrors – A Parable “ The mental cages we build that keep us from seeing. Outside the cages is life. Free Life. And Love. Vast and unimaginable. “ I thought that was such a relevant and heart warming statement ,within one of the lines of the parable. So many times we build cages, around ourselves and our emotions but we are naturally free and loving. Just as a bird in a cage, we long to spread our wings and fly and experience and express. One thing that I especially like about this novel is the characters never fall into a stereotype; the plot, too, takes detours just when you think it might take the predictable road. As John Lennon said, Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. And it’s the other things that happen which may end up making you happy, not what you thought (or planned). it's good! i've been meaning to read this for so long and i was not disappointed, even if it was not what i had expected at all.I love the epilogue – “Don’t believe what you think.” We suffer because we believe what we think … and what we think is our own perception of what is. Let go of that perception, and we see the “what is’ for what it really is. The author asks us to question, if death is dangerous and if life is dangerous, in the last chapter. She wants us to examine these concepts for what they are. Is there proof death is dangerous? Could we liberate ourselves from fear of life if we did not fear death? A very valid point and one which is intrinsically examined here with preciseness and reasoning. The book ends with a Happy Life worksheet based on each chapter, where key points are presented and you are encouraged to write down and investigate the various parts of your life and examine for yourself things that are working and things that are not. This helps you see struggles more clearly and find the true path to your own unique happiness. “Are You Happy Now?” delivers fully with great depth, insight and invigoration. There is an tremendous amount of knowledge and information presented in this book. The language and concepts fit together with fluidity, efficiency and relevance. This book can not only help enhance your life and open your mind to seeing far beneath the surface – it can change your life as well! Phenomenal writing Barbara Berger! You have written a book of value, exploration and taken the concept of Happiness and fully helped people to understand what it is and how to be happy! After reading this book you WILL be asking yourself “ Are You Happy Now?”

I then shifted and ran over to the house. It felt really good to let my wolf out for a run. She had been so angry last time she shifted and now she was filled with nothing but contentment because we were finally fully mates - she was basically purring in delight. Wolves only purr when they are completely content and at ease. Even more so than in her previous novel, The Last, Jameson bypasses the usual apocalyptic storylines, as she grounds her quietly dystopic concept firmly into reality. There is a minimalism to Jameson’s alternate/what if reality that brought to mind the subdued yet ominous world-building of authors such Kazuo Ishiguro, Emily St. John Mandel, Ling Ma, whose works are often characterized by a faintly ominous atmosphere. The premise is interesting, but this is entirely a novel which is centred around its characters. It’s a coming of age story in many ways, as much as a story about twenty and thirty somethings can be a coming of age story. Jameson utiliza esta pandemia como reflexión de la vida de estrés y las presiones que todos ponemos a otros y a nosotros mismos por tener que hacer ciertas cosas vitales como parte fundamental de nuestra vida.John Lincoln is comparing Chicago to New York, the place he sees as his future. "He wants to attach himself to a great publishing house, edit profound writers, maybe even write a book or two himself. Bask in the pride of his parents. Wave those credentials in front of his rivals. Be somebody." This book was full of quirk and weirdness while being rather engrossing. The characters were completely eclectic and apart from Andrew who I liked, the rest I just observed with popcorn. Yun who I initally liked, didn't cope with what the world was offering and that ending was strangely surprising. Emory I liked more early on but her characterisation lost a bit of shading as it went on. Fin was an interesting addition later on.