I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: the bestselling South Korean therapy memoir

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The literal Ctrl+C of the discussions you have with your psychiatrist do not hold any literary merit, which surprises me and puts into question the validity of creative writing courses in Korea. Did 언니 learn nothing? the title grabbed me instantly and when i heard namjoon read it, i added it to my tbr immediately. i've never felt more seen reading a book. Having personally suffered from mental health issues myself, I was hopeful for this book. However, I found the writing disappointing, and the author immature, infuriating and insufferable. Some examples:

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: A Memoir

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone and would instead plug Stephanie Foo's What My Bones Know as a self-help-memoir written by an East Asian woman that has therapy transcripts and says something new. Baek and I are clearly very different people with very different views. And I suppose I’m just the wrong reader for the book. I was defeated by my own high-ass expectations, and only have myself to blame. If you like Baek's book more than Kane's play, that's actually super good news for you. Korean author Baek-Sehee has her whole life ahead of her. She works as a successful young social media director at a publishing house where her boss seems to genuinely care about her. Yet, despite her loving friends and doting family, she finds herself at a loss. She feels depressed, constantly running low, feeling anxious, and self-conscious. On the outside, she cultivates a perfect porcelain mask for her loved ones, who are not at all aware of the agony she endures. To find answers, she decides to consult a psychiatrist. What’s wrong with her? Such turmoil can’t be normal, right? What a banger of a title. Holding out on suicidal ideation because of a small joy in life and holding that dialectic. I wanted to read this based on the title alone. Se-hee is blunt yet charming, I couldn't help but respect her throughout this book. The best parts of the text are her essays, which come at the beginning of each chapter, and at the end of the book.

But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like?

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki: A Memoir: Baek

Will strike a chord with anyone who feels that their public life is at odds with how they really feel inside.' - Red it wasn't hard at all to realize that maybe not all therapy sessions in this book were successful, i would have liked some problems to be discussed more, not just followed by other questions, but i enjoyed learning about the author's family, her way of thinking and her view of relationships with other people Alas, the book has a major problem: It is unbelievably boring. The educational impulse is overwhelming, protagonist Baek remains a chiffre, and the (highly professional) dynamic between her and her therapist doesn't allow for enough immersion. Also, you would expect more complexity from a novel that focuses on the guidance of a mental health professional - but then again, I suppose the author wanted to connect to younger people who are afraid to reach out for help, and for this demographic, this highly accessible approach might be justified. The book is a write up of Baek’s time in therapy discussing this, as well as how she tends to use food for comfort. Usually the psychologist in me means that I have issues over confidentially, but as this is specifically Baek’s own stuff, I think I’m okay.

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Buatku pribadi, buku "sulit" dituntaskan. Bukan karena nggak bagus, tapi sesi tanya-jawab penulis dan psikiater ini bikin perasaan nggak nyaman. Esai yang ditulis penulis ini mungkin sebenarnya dekat banget sama keseharian aku pribadi. Dan perasaan penulis yang dituangkan dalam buku ini mungkin merupakan pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang selalu ada di benakku. I wonder about others like me, who seem totally fine on the outside but are rotting on the inside, where the rot is this vague state of being not-fine and not-devastated at the same time. The world tends to focus too much on the very bright or the very dark; many of my own friends find my type of depression baffling. But what’s an ‘acceptable’ form of depression? Is depression itself something that can ever be fully understood? In the end, my hope is for people to read this book and think, I wasn’t the only person who felt like this; or, I see now that people live with this.’ Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her - what to call it? - depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgmental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can't be normal. But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favorite street food: the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like?

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki - Apple Books

In any case, reading this book made me find out that I'm a hedgehog. So I'm awarding a bonus half star just for that.I had prayed for 2020 to start of well for me, but alas, January did not end as the best time for me. However, the presence of this book, the words and dialogues written by Baek Se-hee were able to help me cope with my own dark overwhelming thoughts. I didn't finish the book in one seating, it took a whole deal lot of times, but I am utterly grateful for it. I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokpokki is the kind of book that I will keep very close to me, and will reach out to it again whenever I'm at my lowest. I wonder about others like me, who seem totally fine on the outside but are rotting on the inside, where the rot is this vague state of being not-fine and not-devastated at the same time.” i really enjoyed the first half of this book. the writing style is very blunt and straightforward which i found myself appreciating (for this topic) but i lost interest over halfway, for the same reason. it felt very repetitive and lost direction. it covered many topics such as depression, self-esteem, friendships/partners, etc. Nonetheless, I am grateful to the author for so bravely, generously and candidly sharing her experiences through this book. May she, and everyone else, find their light within the darkness, their own reasons for living and happiness, even if it's as simple as a plate of tteokbokki.) I don't read a lot of self-help books–I can't remember any apart from Loveability by Robert Holden, but I didn't even finish reading the book completely–so I was quite unsure what to expect from reading this. I had wanted to love this book, and that is exactly how it ended to be—and perhaps I love it more than I had hoped.