I finished the book last night. The most obvious happened but there were a couple of unexpected events before Ben's passing. The story is a little more high impact (unrealistic) for my taste, but the author makes his point. What if you only had a year to live?
Who really knows how long we really have? Some people have an idea, but most of us really don't have that knowledge. Also, how long do our loved ones or the people in our lives have to live? So, whether we know our exact amount of time or not, how should we live our lives? Not just in general, but every day, what choices should we be making? Probably, the most important question that I took from the story was...how should we be treating others and how should we be treating ourselves? As serious as this all sounds, the book was an enjoyable read because the author uses wit and hope throughout the story.
This novel and message reminded me of another book I read a few years ago. It was The Last Lecture written by Randy Pausch. Randy was a man who knew his time was near because he had pancreatic cancer. I could always suggest you read his book or read articles about his life, or even easier watch a video on youtube. However, for me, I can become inspired by just a few quotes. Below is a link to a few of his best quotes that might interest you on a challenging day.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/287960.Randy_Pausch
Here is a link to a video of Randy Pausch speaking. I highly recommend it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
This is my favorite book! Chris Crutcher is an amazing author in my opinion. He makes his work feel realistic, like you can really connect with the character. The way Ben compares his cancer life to other peoples is astonishing. This book is a different take to disease. Instead of making the book depressing for the most part, the author puts a happy spin on the conflict. He also throws a couple side conflicts in the book to keep the reader interested. I would suggest reading other works by Chris Crutcher. Another good book would be STOTAN its not as predictable and the character is much more maliable in the readers mind.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! I love all the uses of syntax and rhetorical questions! I haven't read this book but it seems like a good book from your opinion.
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