Ecclesiastes is a John-the-Baptist kind of book. It functions less as a meal; more as a bath. It is less nourishment; more cleansing. It is repentance. It is purging. We read Ecclesiastes to get scrubbed clean from illusion and sentiment, from ideas that are idolatrous and feelings that satiate. Qohelet writes an exposé and rejection of expectation that we can live our lives on our own terms.
