Ferndale Library Recommends: 'Depressing ... Yet Humorous' Selections

Here's another round of picks from the staff at the Ferndale Public Library.

"The unintentional theme here is that everything is overall pretty depressing (whoops, maybe it's the weather)," Circulation Specialist Kerrie Patterson says.

I dig Kerrie's style. Total professional, quite amicable and cheery in dealing with the public (despite her often black-centric wardrobe), yet charmed with a good sense of dry, dark humor. She's also opened up a lot of doors for me into the realms of awesome anime (Japanese manga/animation). 

This week, she shows off her anime sensibilities while also paying homage to new-wave/post-punk pioneers Joy Division (as this week marks the passing of their iconic front man/songwriter Ian Curtis). 

Who loves the sun? Let's get dark ...

Kerrie's Picks

1. We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver

FIC Shriver

This one has been popping up on recommendation lists for me for a while, so I finally gave it a shot. The main character, Eva, is a woman who didn’t want to have children but eventually agreed to have one anyway for her husband. As someone who doesn’t want children myself, I sympathized with Eva and all her reasons against the idea, and she truly did end up with a monster of a child (whether it because she never wanted him or just dumb luck is debatable, and I’d personally blame a lot on the pushover father). The book starts off a bit slow, and the excessive use of 10-cent words is annoying, as it’s in the format of Eva writing letters to her husband, and nobody writes letters like that! I’m glad I stuck with it, though, as it gets better as it goes along.

2. No Longer Human – Osamu Dazai

FIC Dazai

My best friend and I once watched a hilarious anime series called Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei about a profoundly depressed teacher with an eccentric class that is constantly trying (and failing) to commit suicide. That probably sounds disturbing rather than hilarious to most of you, but you’d have to see it to understand. Anyway, my friend discovered that the teacher’s character was based off of the main character in this book and promptly bought it. When it was my turn to read it, I did so in one sitting (which is VERY rare for me). Depressing yet humorous, and very relatable to anyone that’s felt alienated at some point in life. I’m a fan of anything that can make me laugh and cry within a period of 5 minutes.

3. Elfen Lied

DVD Anime E (Currently new)

A quick glance at the cover will show you doe-eyed, half-naked anime girls and one would assume this is a happy series. I blame the American marketing. While it has its happy and humorous moments, it’s very dark overall. Don’t let the cheesy excess blood and cartoon nudity turn you off in the beginning, either, as the story is surprisingly deep. This is another one that deals with alienation, as well as parental rejection and abuse. Yet ultimately, there’s a lot of love, and the last episode makes me cry every damn time. It’s a short series, too, so easy to get through quickly. Also, this should be obvious by now, but this is not suitable for children.

4. Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division – Peter Hook

782.421 H (Currently new)

Those of you that come in on our casual days may have seen me in my Unknown Pleasures T-shirt, though you may not have seen this book floating around because it’s either been on hold or ripped off the shelf immediately ever since I requested that we order it. The book is both informative and funny, and I appreciated the sections where Hook went track by track for both Unknown Pleasures and Closer, recommending that the reader listens to the albums as they go. I would highly recommend this to any Joy Division and/or New Order fan.

5. Control

DVD Drama C

Another Joy Division related one ... I have Jeff to thank for this recommendation a long time ago, though I honestly didn’t sit down to watch it until weeks after reading Unknown Pleasures. Part of me wishes I hadn’t waited so long because it was excellent, and the other part of me was glad to have known a lot more of the back story behind the band first, else many parts in the movie wouldn’t have made as much sense to me. This is more about Ian Curtis’ life than the band itself, and most of you know how that ends, so it’s quite a tear-jerker. The fact that it’s in black and white sets the tone really well, too. Keep that box of tissues close.

RIP Ian Curtis; July 15, 1956 - May 18, 1980.