I've read two books in the past week and I'm on to my third now. The books struck me in such different ways that I don’t want to forget, so I decided I'd write down what I thought about the books. Here goes:
1. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
This was recommended to me by my friend when I asked her what books to buy from Kindle - the iPad was still new then and I was exploring how to buy ebooks. Once I figured it out, and got loads of free ebooks, I forgot about this book. Typical me. A year after I bought it, though, I saw it in a Top 100 list of teen fictions. So when I had a not so hectic week, I finally got around to reading it.
The book is about a girl who mailed cassette tapes to 13 people telling the story of why she killed herself. Yes, the 13 recipients all contributed to her deciding to commit suicide. Interesting right? I thought so too, at first.
From as early as the second chapter of the book, though, when the dead girl told the story of the first person that got her onto the suicide path, it became all too clear to me that this was really a teen novel through and through - dealing with teen issues, written for teens mostly. It was all about rumors in high school that ruin reputations, friendships that fell through, and...I guess that's that. There was a bit towards the end about rape, but it was just slightly skimmed through, nothing meaty (which in itself was a minus point for the book for me because I thought that bit was the most important part and it was wrong that the author gave so casual a treatment about it).
But what got me glued to the book was the realization that teen issues are as real to teens as adult issues are to adults. And that it is always a mistake for adults to dismiss teen issues as silly non-concerns. And as a mother of a little boy who will eventually grow up and face the same issues himself, it would do well for me to learn to address such teen issues.
I remember a quote I read before, though I can't remember who said it: "we're young, we're supposed to be stupid. You're not young - what's your excuse?" I also seem to recall something that Dumbledore said, to the effect that it’s a common fault of adults, not remembering what it’s like to be young. I hope I never get there; I hope I never get to be so exasperated at the pettiness of teenage issues that Mito will someday talk to me about. I hope I never get to hear him accuse me that I don’t understand.
2. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
(It was very wrong for me to read this after Thirteen Reasons Why. When I finished this book, I seriously wanted to find Jay Asher's address, mail him a copy of this with a note that says, "now THIS is how you write novels!")
If I have read something better before - and I do believe I have - I can't remember what it is anymore.
The story is narrated by Amir, an Afghan man, about his life growing up in Afghanistan, his family, his country. I am at a loss as to how to summarize the plot of the book - it was just so wonderfully complex and yet cohesive that I feel I can't summarize without mentioning everything, but if I mention everything, then it won't be a very good summary now, wouldn't it?
So I won't bother to sum it up - I won't find words as beautifully simple and powerful as the author's anyway. Suffice to say that you really, really should go out, get a copy, and read it. It's that good.
To whet your appetite, here's one of my most favorite parts in the book:
I slipped the picture back where I had found it. Then I realized something: That last thought had brought no sting with it. Closing Sohrab’s door, I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the middle of the night.That description of how forgiveness probably feels just hit the spot for me. I know forgiveness is not supposed to be a matter of emotion, but to have it described that way – “pain gathering its things… slipping away unannounced…” – that just made it so palpable, so tangible. It’s almost physical.
The book's theme line - is there such a thing? - is this: For you, a thousand times over. It wasn't so oft-repeated in the book to make it cheesy, just enough to make you think that these may be the most powerful words of devotion ever said. It's like the line I didn't know to say before, but now perfectly sums up what I want to say to my son. That there won't be any sacrifice that's too hard, no forgiveness that's once too many, no devotion that's too much. That no matter how difficult it may be, I would do it again and again and again. For him, a thousand times over.
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
I'm only on chapter 4 of this but as early as now, I know this is going to end good.
The book's title sums up what the book is about. It starts with an introduction on why the author wrote the book, which, in gist, was because science interested him when he was a kid but the science books he read didn't quite connect.
Because the book is about everything, it of course starts from the beginning of everything: from when out of nothing - no space, no darkness, nothing - something came to be, and that something, surprisingly, led to us here, now.
I know the book is very good because it talks about science - a topic that's just beyond me - and yet from only the second page of the introduction, I'm hooked.
When the book goes on to talk about gravitational pull, supernovae, Isaac Newton, etc., I have to confess that the science remains lost on me. I still am not able to grasp the concept of light-years, or gravitational position, or the scientific significance of whether the Earth is perfectly round or slightly oblate.
But what I did get from the book is this sense of wonder at these things. For some weird reason, four years in high school did not impress upon me just how big the universe is, or even the Solar System. And yet the book, by simply illustrating that the Solar System if drawn to scale would use up miles of Manila paper, did just that.
I don't understand the significance of Newton's laws of motion, but I am amazed that there are intellectuals such as him, and many others before him, who look at something, wonder at the math behind it, and are able to investigate and come up with mathematical formulae explaining that something. A few weeks ago, while we were on our way back to the city from Bulacan and Moks was driving, he was complaining about the bright lights from the cars behind us. He adjusted the rear-view mirror a bit and then it was okay. A few minutes later, he realized that the lights weren't too bright anymore because what he was seeing was the reflection of the view of the street on the car ceiling. The rear-view mirror was directed at the car ceiling, not the windshield at the back of the car. So we then wondered: how did the windshield "project" the view of the road to the car ceiling? But that was the end of our wondering - we have no clue how to even begin to analyze and try to explain it. (And if you know how and why, don't bother telling me, I won't understand anyway. Haha! Believe me, pearls on swine.)
So I highly recommend this book as well. Hopefully when Mito grows up, he will get to read and enjoy this, and actually understand the concepts Bill Bryson was talking about. In this one aspect, I fervently hope he does not take after me.
