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.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book and for the wonderful review. It really means a lot. I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it that much. Shucks. Again, thank you so much, Melissa. Sincerely.
How to describe how I felt about this book Good Night, Titan Arum, and Farewell? Well the analogy I will give is cheese. I absolutely love cheese and eat it most days. This book is like a deliciously smelly blue vein cheese. I love it but not everyday and only in small doses. So too it was with this book
Generally I devour books and often stay up until the wee hours, bleary eyed to finish one. Not so with Good Night, Titan Arum and Farewell. It is too raw. It leaves your guts churning and emotions whirling and quite frankly it often made me want to shake the author or hug him
I was expecting it to.get dark at times. We are warned of this. Early on though, and I can’t recall the exact words but Liian Varus says something along the lines of.” Maybe I should go back on my medication”. I wanted to scream ” hell yes” and drag him to the GP
I nearly stopped reading then as there was a lot of despair. I was worried it.would.get darker. I am trying not.to be.
condescending but as someone who has clinical depression I have experienced the spiralling downwards, the oh too real thoughts of suicide. To me my meds are as vital to.me as insulin is to a diabetic
I am so grateful for hat I persevered. Yes there was darkness but there also was beauty. The poetry I liked but I absolutely loved the sketches (well most of them)
. It is a unique format having the three different forms of expression. It works: In small doses
Yes I recommend this book but only to a certain audience. I really don’t know who the audience is but it won’t be to everyone’s taste. But hey not everyone appreciates the bliss of a good blue vein cheese
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and especially Liian Varus for the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, I really enjoyed the format and content of this book and think down the track it is one I will revisit, just scrolling down randomly to see what meets me
Thank you, Jacqui for giving my book a chance. You are right about the complexity of who the audience would be for. And if I were to guess I’d imagine it would be for anyone who just enjoys something a little dark and quirky. A demographic that may be hard to track down. But it was something I had to write and glad I’m did. Thank you again so much for the beautiful review, but more importantly your time.
Liian
I was lucky enough to be selected to read Good Night, Titan Arum, and Farewell and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Liian Varus on the release of such a deep, thought provoking book.
I must admit I did struggle with reading some parts but only due to my own experiences.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Liian Varus for the opportunity and I wish you the very best
Thank you for the chance to review Good Night, Titan Arum, And Farewell.
I feel like I am better off for having read this title.
As someone who suffers depression and mental health issues and has done for years I felt like I really connected with this book.
I felt like the theme of nature worked really well because there’s always that chance of rebirth when it comes to nature. I also felt like the pictures and poetry along with other text worked well for the same reason and made it an absolutely beautiful book.
It was a simple premise that really did work.
The entire body of work helped make the reader go through a myriad of emotions and may even help some understand how hard it can be to live with depression and mental health issues.
Thank you again for the opportunity to review this piece of literature.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Liian Varus for the opportunity to read and review this book. It was a beautifully written piece of work with a concept about depression and the healing properties of escaping to nature. As the book progresses, the mood darkens and the theme of depression is felt in its pages. Not for the faint hearted but well worth the time to spend in getting lost there.