Seize the Day is possibly the most depressing book I have ever read. I would place it in the same category as The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It is the story of a middle aged man who has failed at everything he has tried. He was a failed actor, a failed husband, a failed salesman, and a failure in his father's eyes. The story follows him as he spends the last of his money gambling on the stock market with a untrusted "expert" trader. As you read through this story you find that he is looking for something that no one has given him, and that is love and kindness. Each character he encounters or reminisces about wants something from him he cannot offer or wishes him harm. The story is focused on themes of loneliness and despair as you see Wilhelm (the main character) at his last straw and beyond. The story ends with just as much depression as it had in the beginning.
I didn't have much thought or emotion while reading this book, and I don't know if I would recommend it to anybody unless they first showed interest in it. Although it was well written, I was constantly reading with the feeling that I couldn't wait for it to be over. I may have learned somethings from it, but I will have to think about it for a while before I could easily share what those things may be.
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