My Sister's Keeper

Finally finished reading Jodi Picoult's “My Sister's Keeper” after borrowed it from Elsa for about 3 months now. Yes, the one that’s been filmed into motion picture. I haven't watched that movie though, decided to read the book first.

For those who doesn't know what's it about… It's a story of a girl, Anna whom was being conceived just to be  a bone marrow match for her sister, Kate's leukemia. She's been donating blood, bone marrow and all her life just to keep Kate alive. Anyhow, when she reached the age of 13, she filed a law-suit for medical emancipation when her Kate's kidney failed and her only hope for survival is a kidney transplant.

The story sounded fiction yet, it's just as true as life can be. I once come across young kids in hospital that was diagnosed with leukemia, and the parents actually consider of having a second child just so that the first could be saved.

Sometimes logically, the easy way out will be just give up and let the child go but emotionally and rationally, as human being, you just wanna grab hold of that one last hope. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? There's no certain answer for that, just like Jodi Picoult said in the book, “It's a Solomon's choice.”

The twist near the end left me touched, and speechless. Life can be so fragile. When things are smooth and perfectly clear, stay alarmed to the impact yet to come.

Ok, the movie next...

漫长迂回的路

昨天看了亦舒的一本小说《漫长迂回的路》。

“他走一條又長又迂迴的路，這條路，同孫悟空當年跟隨師傅去西經的路一樣，充滿妖魔鬼怪，每次叫他心驚膽戰，全神貫注。他一顆心突突跳得比平時厲害，他覺得前程更加彷徨，心情更為凄酸……”

大致是说一个年轻的司机，从货运到客运，每晚来回于漫长迂回的路上，心里的寂寞逐渐麻木。夜路驾驶遇上抢匪；偶尔在在路边寻找一夜的温暖，染上了梅毒；妈妈的唯一对他的期许，他却遇不到那令他心动的人。一切一切都让人那么的无力，无从改变…

当他发觉自己的阅读障碍是因为视觉问题，并非无法改进后，他积极想改变自己：学好英文，遇到自己喜欢的人。当以为一切都可变得美好的时候，原来只是一场空。当相依为命的母亲走了以后了无牵挂，自由了，身边的一切人事物却继续束缚着他。

看了这本书，只觉得心情有被压着的感觉。无力。无奈。生命，很多时候由不得我们计划…

A Thousand Splendid Suns

买了好久的一本书，看得断断续续，这几天终于一鼓作气看完它。

A Thousand Splendid Suns，Khaled Hosseini继The Kite Runner后之作。

背景，仍然是那动乱的阿富汗。背弃、逃亡、离别、死亡，一切都不可预期。活着显得是最单纯的愿望。

虽然我并不是一个女权主义者，可是我不喜欢里面的灰暗。

不喜欢那些面对家暴仍然不能反抗的卑微女人。不喜欢整个女人社会的无力感。不喜欢那些一切都只是男人的沙猪主意社会，男人三妻四妾却理直气壮，而女人就永远都是牺牲品。

不喜欢里面的那么多的遗憾，那没机会见父母最后一面的遗憾...

很多的不喜欢，却无法否认这是一本很棒的书。

在重重困难下为了自己的孩子牺牲一切的妈妈。甚至在没有麻药的情况下剖腹生产... 感叹女人的伟大和坚韧。

感叹在一切噩梦事过境迁后，仍然心系家园，想为那残破的祖国尽一份力的人们。感叹那在一切伤害之后，仍然坚强面对的人们...

感谢纵使家庭不再美满，却不充满无可弥补的遗憾。感谢我住在一个离开战争的国家。感谢我生在一个女人还是有基本权益的国家。感谢生命中所拥有的一切...

For One More Day

"If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it? And if you did, would you be big enough to stand it? Mitch Albom, in this new book, once again demonstrates why he is one of my favourite writers: a fearless explorer of the wishful and magical, he is also a devout believer in the power of love. For One More Day will make you smile. It will make you wistful. It will make you blink back tears of nostalgia. But most of all, it will make you believe in the eternal power of a mother's love."

-JAMES MCBRIDE, author of The Color of Water

 

从Tuesdays with Morrie 到《天堂遇见的五个人》，Mitch Albom 通过故事诉说着世间的一切皆因为爱。He's one of my fav writer because 每一次看他的小说都会深刻体会珍惜家人朋友的重要，感激他们给予的爱和包容。

Just like Mitch Albom mentioned in his prologue, every family is a ghost story. Because of their stories, we have ours.

This story is about Charley Benetto, a broken man, his life destroyed by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits rock bottom after discovering he won't be invited to his only daughter's wedding. And he decides to take his own life.

What follows is the one seemingly ordinary day so many of us yearn for: a chance to make good with a lost parent,to explain the family secrets and to seek forgiveness.

In the book, there's a part where Charley listed out the times his mother stood up for him & the times he did NOT stand up for her. Though I can't recall (or do I just choose to forget) about times I did not stand up for my mum, it made me start to think about times that I hurt her feelings.

 

For One More Day 让我同感身受，明白到主角那失去母亲，很想再见她一面的切身之痛。很多时候我们都忽略了一个事实：妈妈，是我们人生中的第一个好朋友；而她也永远会是我们最好的朋友, whether we like it or not。

这是一本很棒的书，it'll make you re-evaluate your attitude to your parents & appreciate their love & care.