Stunning. I finished it in less than 24 hours. Maybe even less than 12 hours and I've got two little kids! Need I say more?
Spoiler alert!
There are a few problems, though. I didn't really like his style of writing. Almost truncated, fragmented thoughts running through the head…this type of thing didn't impress me too much. But I do have to say that I was impressed with the sheer simplicity and brevity in his words. Also, it was getting too dark, with little reprieve from the threats of cannibalism and starvation. By the end of the book, I was convince the good guy the boy ran into after his father’s death was still a bad guy luring the boy away so he can eat him later. There's a part of me that still believe this is the true ending.
But...against such a bleak landscape where almost everyone they meet are out to do them harm, never mind the ash, dust, and lack of food, the love between the man and the boy is awesome in its power to bring hope to such miserable existence. And me, being an eternal optimist, really liked the fact that when they were on the verge of starvation, a slow, agonizing death from what I’ve read, they find food. They will have to go through harrowing ordeal to get the food, but they do. Although it sounds really convenient, I was cheering for them every time they found it. The father’s death was heart-wrenching, but it was coming and the father knew it. It’s agonizing to imagine the thoughts that ran through the father as he drew his last breath – his heart still full of worries for his boy knowing that he won’t be there to protect him for another instant. It must have been a miserable death.
I love this book because it made me think about all kinds of thing I actually try not to think about, especially since I had kids. I can no longer watch movies where kids are killed or kidnapped. Too close to home. And I used to love war movies, but after I had my son, the whole war movie watching experience has been ruined, forever. Every time I watch a war movie, I think about how much love I felt for my little boy and wondered if there was anything that was worth losing his life for. Then I thought about all those mothers, from both sides of conflict, no matter what the conflict was, losing their sons...for what?
Yes. I know theoretically, there are many good reasons to go to war. WWII. And as a Korean, I thank God for all the soldiers who came and fought in the Korean War. Because of their sacrifice, South Korea is thriving today. I know all these things, but I’m not sure I could relinquish his life for any amount of good it would do the world. I am no Mary. I don't think I could ever be Mary or ever want to be.
OK. I’m not Mary, but I still have my brand of faith and hope. I have friends who don't have kids because they think this world is too corrupt, too dangerous, too miserable, but I tell them those are all the more reasons for them to have children. Never mind that they are highly educated, intelligent, and compassionate people. I tell them the sheer act of having a child is a profound act of faith. Maybe their offspring is the one who could change the world, even just a little bit, for the better.
As I was reading the book, I thought about what I would do, with my two children and a husband. There's a part of me that would hang in there until the bitter end, like the man, but I also remember all those men and women enslaved by a gang of thugs who will rape, pillage, and cannibalize whoever they come across. I would never want that kind of existence for my children. A bullet in the head would be so much better than that kind of existence, or would it? I don’t know… If they were alive, there’s still hope of one day escaping and living free, but would a life in a world like that be worth it? It might just lead to lingering death by starvation. Who many awful scenarios to consider…. It would be so easy to do what the woman had done, but it leaves no hope for the future. It's Romeo and Juliet again when all the young people die and there is no hope for the future. This is not a future I want for anyone. I believe there's always hope, even if the sky is falling on you.
What I agonized about was...what if I have to choose between my two children? What if I had just enough food to ensure the survival of one or two die together…. That question haunts me to this day even though I finished reading this book over several weeks ago. I love that it made me ask so many questions. The sad thing is…North Korea has had to deal with devastating famine several times. There were rumors of cannibalism, and older family members choosing to die of starvation so that the younger generation may eat and live. I’ve seen pictures of kids will light brown hair in North Korea and I was asking…biracial? The sad fact was, because they lack nutrients, their hair lost their original color, black. It is chilling to think about their world, and I’m so eternally grateful that I only have to wonder about these things instead of living it.
I think this might make it to my top 10 books. So bleak and dark on the outside, so bright and hopeful on the inside. The boy will carry that fire in his heart for the rest of his life because of the father who planted it. The man with the shot gun will protect this boy and the other two children with his life because not to do that would mean to consign the whole human race to slow but certain extinction. I whooped loudly when the man with the shot gun came by. The world is still good, I shouted.
This book reminded me that the universe will indeed conspire to make your dreams come true (The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho). The glass is always half full.
