MODULE: Critical writing and reading
Student : Sattorova Madina
Group : 2123
Book Title: I want to die but I want to eat Teokbokki.
Author: Baek Sehee
“To our readers, who are perhaps down and out from having experienced much devastation or are
living day-to-day in barely contained anxiety: I hope you will listen to a certain overlooked and different voice
within you.”
Summary
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.
Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a twelve-week period, and expanding on each session with
her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions, and harmful
behaviors that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want
to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness. It will appeal to anyone who has
ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair.
Critical part
This book might be too much, and might be too triggering at some points. These are in depth thoughts of the
author going through a spiral, digging into the deepest parts of herself, and you might see yourself reflected in
these conversations, and therefore, please read and heed this book with caution. Take breaks if you need as I did
cause it can be too much at times.
This book is depressing at the very best, but it comforted me in every sense too. Some might hate it, because
it reflects their emotions too much and others find solace in it. What I can say, this is a book that opens up doors
to conversations of mental health and the pressure especially to the youths of our time have to face.
Conclusion
All in all, the book is packed with emotions and also the deep thoughts of a person that wants to be better
and wants to see the best outcome in life. No one asked to be depressed. Everyone wants to be normal. Quoting
from my fav author Sayaka Murata, "What is normal anyway? Normal is a type of madness, isn't it? All my life I
have struggled with that word , and I feel that others felt the same too. We are pressured with being confined to
society's standards of "normal" that it puts an unnecessary pressure on ourselves, and this book helped me in a
way to clarify what I already believe in, which is, everyone's normal is different, and at the end of the day, its up
to us as an individual with colours of our own to live and shape our lives as we see fit.
This book opens doors to opportunities to seek professional help and see mental health in a different light, and
for whats worth, I'm thankful that the author had put out her work to the world.
I definitely recommend everyone to read this book. I was able to relate to a lot of it, and I hope others will
find comfort from it as well. I hope that even when you feel like dying, there is something that you still want to
do to stay alive, no matter how small the matter is, even if it's only craving for some spicy rice cakes.