there's a scene here, where a mother, evicted from her apartment, sets all her furniture outside on fire, and when she disappears back into the apartment complex, her daughter settles onto a smouldering mattress, to be engulfed by the flames completely

—but then a fireman extinguishes the flames

i don't think i've read a book that captures the lethargic, ecstatic and idiotic feeling of desolation, so sincerely and ironically, at the same time

one time, during a depressive spell, my gp asked me whether i had suicidal ideations, and i replied 'isn't that normal?' she slowly shook her head, with an expression half bemused, half pitying

i dedicate this book to her