Before there was doom-scrolling, there were sad books. For me, it was Chapter 18 in Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. The chapter is a fictional portrayal of Mr. Grossman imagining his mother’s last words. The protagonist—modeled on the author—and their two mothers have the same fate at the hands of the Nazis. I tried several times to get through that chapter, through that letter, and through the book. I can’t do it. There are never enough tissues or enough courage to finish. But, there are moments that the words don’t reach.
Cue the pandemic.
Click to read the full article written by Dr. Yuliya Malayev for KevinMD.com