Literature as a lifeline in an era of change

During a general storm, it is easy to lose your balance, and it happens in the literal sense of the word: some recent news affects our psyche so much that especially sensitive people, including myself, feel stress on a physical level. What to do to help yourself? The options can be different, and everyone can choose the right one for themselves. But here I would like to dwell on the one that helped me in my childhood, youth and now: literature.

A year ago, while still living in Belarus and feeling permanent stress, which was like an ocean: it ebbed and flowed, leaving a short gap of life between these two actions. And then I opened my old notebook, in which I wrote down the books that I needed to read.

The choice fell on a special case that has been waiting for me for a long time - "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo.

It immediately became clear that this book was waiting in the wings, and he came. I remember that "Les Miserables" was often on the shelves in post-Soviet interiors, but, unfortunately, not everyone was honored to read it. But in vain. Therefore, if your grandmother has an old library, it's time to use it, at least because the book, although it was written 2 centuries ago, has not lost its universal morality and is generally more relevant than ever. And besides, while reading your grandmother's book, you can also hold a real family artifact in your hands.

The book describes the events of the Great French Revolution and the mood in society that led to it. The book is literally built on historical facts, literally explaining the essence of events to the smallest detail. And from the point of view of a person living in the 21st century, we can conclude that little has changed, except, perhaps, the location, scenery and names.

The book itself captivates and distracts from the information noise, does not let go, makes you think about yourself, reflect and analyze. Hugo talentedly inscribed personality in the historical context and showed how much one particular person means, contrary to the popular belief that "one man in the field is not a warrior." And at the same time, he reminded that sometimes a person is nothing without a person. That everything in a person is harmonious, it's just that sometimes we forget about it.

The book is very emotional, because in addition to the correctly patriotic, there is a lot of love, friendship, kinship, human in it - what is so lacking now, what has now gone into the background, since to survive and preserve yourself is now in the first place.

This book made me laugh, rejoice, and at the end cry, which I am very grateful to. It did not leave me even after reading. A year has passed, and I remember the emotions in detail.

I don't want to describe in detail everything that happened there, but I want someone who needs support, understanding or distraction, and who has read this text, to take this book, and possibly another, which has been waiting for its hour for a long time, and experience the feeling that good books give us: you are not alone, it is normal to experience the full range of emotions, you are a person who is tired, But you have a book, and maybe a living person, who is ready to help you. The main thing is to understand them. And with a book as with a living person. Like with an intelligent interlocutor, only he does not speak, but gives you the opportunity to find out everything yourself. The main thing is to find a resource. And the desire to understand. Without understanding, there can be no acceptance, and without acceptance, there can be no assimilation of the important lessons that life with all its options teaches us.