The 5 Stages of Grief (as Experienced by a Book-lover)

By Atiyeh Taghiei.

Many of us are aware of the five stages of grief as outlined in the Kübler-Ross model. These stages are applicable to most losses — and especially so for the avid book enthusiast. For readers who get so wholly encompassed in books that turning the last page emulates departing a meaningful relationship, a similar grieving process occurs.

Here’s an overview of our emotions after completing a well-written novel.

1. Denial.

There’s no way the author didn’t write a sequel to that.

2. Anger.

This is the stage in which it is most common to vent on social media. If ever an angry tweet or post that only vaguely makes sense (save for a recognizable book title) comes across your news feed, it’s okay to sympathize. We’ve all been there.

3. Bargaining.

“Please God, I’ve never dog-eared a book in my life, let there at least be a sequel for my sake. I’ll even settle for just one more chapter!”

4. Depression.

It’s cool, I guess the author just never wanted me to find happiness anyway. The emotional attachment to their characters? I always knew deep down it would never last. It wasn’t even that great of a book, anyway; that one reviewer only gave it four stars on Goodreads.

5. Acceptance.

Congratulations on reaching this stage, which typically occurs shortly after your next trip to the bookstore, realizing there are plenty of fish in the sea. (Yes, even if they aren’t in the same genre.)

If all else fails, as Edmund Wilson once said, “No two persons ever read the same book.” Fortunately, this same logic applies to reading the same book you’ve already read, but it won’t be too long before you find another match made in literary heaven.

Atiyeh is a contributor to the Bookselves Blog.

Originally published at bookselves.wordpress.com on November 7, 2015.