A book hangover

Author: Swati Mohandas

‘Hangover’, this term is not only associated with alcohol but also with books. Yes, you read it right! 

A ‘book hangover’ is defined as the feeling when a reader finishes a fictional book and they continue to think about the fictional world mentioned in the book. Source: the internet. 

Book hangovers are very much real and is no joke. Hangovers related with alcohol can take around ten hours to leave the system, but a good book can take much longer. Sometimes we fall in love with the characters in the book and connect with them so strongly that we get immersed in the book and forget our reality. 

Even if the story is over, the reader misses the characters or the atmosphere of the novel. I have realised that my book hangover is pretty much bad when I have trouble even looking at another book. 

To quote Maja Djikic who has studied the effects of reading has stated that, ‘the persistent hangover could mean that the central issues raised by the book are still very active inside one’s psyche and therefore the reader wishes for more time to reflect and unravel whatever complexities still plague them.’

Most of the times, a book hangover can be easily tackled by finding another engrossing read. A novel can change the way we see the world. A lingering book hangover can extend our sense of empathy for others and cause us to challenge our own ideas about ourselves. 

A book hangover like nostalgia is a bittersweet ache. It happens when the ending of a book causes psychological despair to the reader which can take some time to recover from. It happens most when a reader has formed a strong attachment to a book. This means that when the book eventually ends and the reader isn’t ready for it. It brings a feeling of loss and emptiness wishing there was more to read. 

Someone rightly said, ‘the problem with reading a good book is that you want to finish the book but you don’t want to finish the book.’ 

To sum it up, my point of view is to focus on the fact that you got to experience a wonderful book. If you aren’t ready for a new book yet, don’t rush it. The next one will come eventually and you might experience the book hangover all over again.