By Liian Varus
There are many who live fragile lives and are at the deep end filled with complete darkness and despair. Then there is society that treats them like outcasts. Even as the discourse surrounding mental health and depression has improved over the years, there remains a larger lack of understanding about it.
People remain in denial and are oblivious, choosing to ignore symptoms out of the sheer lack of understanding of how such a disorder could be manifesting in their daily lives but Liian Varus bares all in this incredible book Good Night, Titan Arum, And Farewell.
This is a beautiful, heart-wrenching book filled with topics involving love, loss, hurt, self-perception, humour, and life. Included is stunning illustrations and poetry that will provoke intense emotion: joy, sorrow, anger, catharsis, love and heartbreak.
While the poetry may not resonate in some people and it may be hard to understand you will get a sense of the struggle and the fight that people with mental health endure and you will sit and think how we connect with people on all different levels.
In this book nature remains one of very few ongoing sources of certainty. It is the promise of new life and pockets of shadows and the author takes you on a journey of appreciation but also the struggle with self-worth. I feel as though Varus has given us his soul that has been ripped to shreds but it is also a wonderful reminder of what is around us all if we just take the time to look.
A simple and beautifully written book that is honest and straight-forward yet heartbreaking. I highly recommend it.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Liian Varus for the chance to read and review.
ISBN: 9798552136544
A selection of our members are reading this book. You can check out their reviews below, or add your own!
My love of books started at a very young age. My mum has always been a reader and encouraged me to read, buying me endless book from classic fairy tales advancing to the world of Enid Blyton, CS Lewis, Louisa May Alcott, Kathryn Kenny, Carolyn Keene, Francine Pascal. In my adult years the list of authors is endless and every room in my house is filled with books.
One of my favourite novels is Narnia which has always has a special place in my heart. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 1978 and when I was given this book to read it let me escape to another world where I felt like I was in the book with all the characters, it wasfun and exciting to escape from reality and eased the ups and downs of the disease at such a young age.
In books nothing is impossible and there is endless potential and hundreds of places to explore or being taken to places that are only made up from the authors’ great minds, the past and future to navigate, characters lives you step into taking you on an emotional rollercoaster ride or being scared out of your wits. I can experience things that I can’t in real life because they’re not possible or real. It challenges my perspective and mindset expanding my worldview.
I find joy, comfort and peace with books, many people may not get it, but I know bookworms like me truly understand. Reading makes my heart happy.