I watched the movie before I read the book. It's a travesty of epidemic proportions, I know, but this was practically force-fed. You see, my chum and I were given a ginormous wad of cash (that is, if you are like me who lives in Poverty Lane and considers R200 (+-$30) to be ginormous) to hire movies. We have this law that we don't watch certain movies of the same genre. To deviate from this law, is to accept a wedgie that will be hoisted over your head. So you can basically imagine what punishment would be like if I disobeyed. The rules are: Per R200, you are permitted;
1x Gutty Action Movie
1x The Latest Slap-Stick Event
1x Taste-of-Thy-Salty-Tears Drama
1x Horror
The latter was another force-feed. I'm the girl that get's queezy at the sight of blood. Anyway, My Sisters Keeper was our Drama Movie. Here were some of the setbacks that we faced; We had a Kleenex shortage. This was nothing short of blatant carelessness on our part. I mean,to walk into this unarmed, well, I haven't seen The Office Idiot do worse. We substituted premium tissues(that were designed for these such events, mind you) for cheap 1-ply toilet paper. Big Mistake. In fact, the mistake was so colossal that we ended up looking like one of those angsty, suicidal teenagers who tried killing themselves by rubbing sandpaper against their cheeks. Our cheek-pores were on the verge of trickling with blood. Thank God for Petroleum Jelly.
Okay, so that was the fixed up thanks to Vaseline, but Vaseline did nothing to stop the repercussion the film left us with. The movie was a tear-jerker to the nth degree and it took us time to actually come to and exit our haze of devastation. But we did, at least I did. Until I read the book.
And guess what?
THE BOOK WAS WORSE!
Before the book, before I knew about the magnificent Jodi Picoult, I didn't know that tears could run in all directions. I didn't know how much salt water that hails from your eyes can make your face itch in ways that you can't imagine. I didn't know, that after hanging on to every word, and making it through the end in one piece, would make your eyes dilate in deeper understanding of the world. That after reading this, everything from there-forth would be shone in a new light.
If there are words to describe how daunting this book was to me, I don't know them. And I am the person who makes it a religious event to read segments of the dictionary everyday. I don't think I will come across a sizable amount of words that equate to the boggling complexities of this book.
It's the kind of book that makes you resent the writer a little bit. Not because you are mad at yourself for not thinking of it first, but because the piece was woven into a stunning, heart-wrenching piece of work that leaves a mark. She does this thing where, once you really delve into this book, you cannot help but be stuck in this elaborate knot that can only leave you mentally stained once you manage your way out of it. It is a beautifully conceived book. The relation between you and the characters is very tangible. I personally had a deep connection with Sara and her emotional struggle to make right in her family. And it was a tough venture, the family is pretty messed up. It was a sore realization when I found out the truth: that she couldn't have both her daughters in the end. But that was the nature of it all. You could only have either, or. Which is quite relevant to the Real World and a good lesson learnt.
I think that out of all of it, the one thing that I really appreciated about this book is that it made me realize how good I actually have it. And be happy that my life is nothing close to theirs. This was a real eye opener.
Lastly,
But this book, some Kleenex and read it. It is time to be thankful for what you have.
No comments:
Post a Comment