This is the third Matt Haig book I read this year, so his writing prowess has got to count for something. He wrote this - a delightfully eclectic mish-mash of lists and reflections - to help himself cope when he was depressed. It’s an easy book to read; I sometimes read several pages in the middle of the school day, to the chagrin of one boy who called me a nerd. But his protests were ignored as I absorbed myself in his philosophical thoughts that were sometimes astutely analytical and other times whimsical.
This was an especially satisfying read because I now understand how his interest in philosophy enriched his depiction of the main character, Nora, in his “The Midnight Library”. As an author, you have to take an intimate interest in a subject in order to make your character sound convincing. And it seems that Matt had an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things quirky, including animals and historical figures. It’s darn cool reading how he made connections to his own state of mind from such seemingly disparate topics.
The photo is unrelated to The Comfort Book but nonetheless brings about a common thread. So it was taken after my first venture in a trivia quiz event organised by PLONK. Despite my intelligent facade, I contributed next to nothing for the quiz because they were about British bands and sports and famous faces - all topics that I don’t know much about. Anyway, both book and quiz made me motivated to branch out of my usual specialities (Japan + crypto) so that I can become a more learned person. This would mean acquiring more random experiences. In fact, the one question that I was very confident about was on Dingbats, something I had learnt from another Assistant Language Teacher during the Japan Exchange Teaching program. I think it’s only by switching up my usual routine and continually doing stuff outside my comfort zone that I will expose myself to new domains of knowledge.
In any case, I hope that my enthusiasm doesn’t wane with the pressures of parenting piling up.
Does anyone out there have a Matt Haig book to lend me?
