In 2016, I suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD) a form of depression(抑郁症) that is found to make people feel low in the UK between September and April. During that cold and wet period, I got comfort in books.
Books have been used by many to reduce depression. I lose myself into them as thirstily as usually get my morning coffee. Each Christmas, I have a habit of returning to the old favorite books that make up for my emptiness, such as Jane Eyre. Sometimes, to escape from the cold, I run back to the heat that I am used to, so I will read a lot of books set in Africa.
It became important for me to find a way to escape my sadness in the world of books. And isn't that what art and literature is for? According to JJ Bola, the author of No Place to Call Home, "The world can get you so down that you think you're the only person going through what you're going through. But then you read and you realize that you are not alone that if someone else has gone through it and survived, then maybe you can, too." It is this survival that the reader looks for, that is, the understanding that the winter is not so long after all.
