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Won’t even pretend to have read the article, but I’ll recommend the last book to really make me existentially happy and which helped me out of a bout of depression: The Cyberiad by Stanisław Lem. If you liked Gödel, Escher, Bach then I suspect you’ll enjoy it. It’s whimsical but quite deep.

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Interesting, I loved the cyberiad, but it made me sad and angsty while still being fun. I believe this is true for a lot of SF, the same thing can be read as disheartening or encouraging.

I find this curious. Were you able to identify the cause of your anger and angst?

not anger, just, let's say, emotional discomfort?

I felt perhaps some of the stories "hit too close" on topics like the meaning (or rather, the lack of meaning) of life and civilization.

Glad to hear you are happier :)

Out of curiosity why do you think it helped? Creating a sense of wonder and fun about the world?

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