SPOILER ALERT!
My book for this quarter is "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. While I was reading through the question and answer portion with the author at the end of the book, I got to one question and answer that I didn't understand. The question asked about the sad ending to the book and why it was necessary. This was something I had been wondering from the moment I finished. Picoult's answer surprised me in the way that it didn't seem like the most obvious answer. She said "medically, this ending was a realistic scenario for the family[...]". I thought that was kind of ridiculous and even a little angering. The ending of the book was so moving because it was completely unexpected. The wrong Fitzgerald daughter died from nothing medical what-so-ever, but a car accident. I thought a more natural yet still heartbreaking ending would be that Anna would either keep her promise to her sister and keep her own kidney, or give up a kidney just to have Kate die anyway. The possibility that seemed the least medically accurate was Anna dying. Perhaps I would have had less trouble with it if she had died on the operating table as opposed to crushed in a car.
When I got to the part of the book where the dad, Brian, finds Anna crushed against the window of a car, I didn't even realize what had happened. The part of the book described it, "a dog comes wimpering out, I relize that the face pressed up against the other side of the broken window is Anna's." Before the reader even takes that information in and realize what it means, they are reading the next line, "Get them out, I yell, 'get them out now!" That's when I began to realize and the feeling that it gives you is comparable to being knocked over by a swinging bowling ball. I remember having to stop reading for a moment before going back a paragraph and re-reading the descriptions to make sure that I had understood correctly. I was initially so shocked that something as random and unnecessarily depressing as that would have shown itself in an already intense book. This is why Picoult's response to the question ticked me off. It didn't seem like a natural or purposeful way to end the book, although it did serve it's intended purpose of putting everyone who reads it into an all night depression.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Blog #2 Quarter 2
THIS BLOG CONTAINS SPOILERS
After I finished "My Sister's Keeper," and found out the big plot twist at the end where we find out that Kate had wanted to die so that Anna could live, I remembered a quote from earlier in the book. It was Kate talking to her mother concerning Taylor Ambrose, a boy at the hospital who she became infatuated with. Kate says, "When you care more if someone else lives than you do about yourself... is that what love's like?" (310). I thought this quote was extremely significant because in the end, we find out that Kate loved Anna so much that she was willing to sacrifice her own life for her sister's. Maybe a part of Kate was talking about Anna as she talked to her mother.
There's a big difference between caring if someone lives, and actually being willing to die for them. Without thinking about it, it's easy to think they go hand-in-hand but in reality, you can care about someone more than yourself but still not be willing to die for them. I think the sibling-love between Jesse, Anna, and Kate was very unique. All siblings love each other, even if they refuse to admit it, but most wouldn't be willing to give up their lives in exchange for their brother's or their sister's. During the book, Anna admits several times that she thinks her life might be easier if Kate just died. I believe that she might choose her sister over herself if it came down to who had to have Leukemia. Jesse, on the other hand, seems like he would do anything to save his sister. At one point in the book, he mentions that he just wanted to be useful. It is implied that the reason he has such destructive patterns is because he feels useless when it comes to helping his sister.
This book pushes the boundaries on what people like to think about. It asks the question, is there a limit to how far one would go to save a loved one?
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
After I finished "My Sister's Keeper," and found out the big plot twist at the end where we find out that Kate had wanted to die so that Anna could live, I remembered a quote from earlier in the book. It was Kate talking to her mother concerning Taylor Ambrose, a boy at the hospital who she became infatuated with. Kate says, "When you care more if someone else lives than you do about yourself... is that what love's like?" (310). I thought this quote was extremely significant because in the end, we find out that Kate loved Anna so much that she was willing to sacrifice her own life for her sister's. Maybe a part of Kate was talking about Anna as she talked to her mother.
There's a big difference between caring if someone lives, and actually being willing to die for them. Without thinking about it, it's easy to think they go hand-in-hand but in reality, you can care about someone more than yourself but still not be willing to die for them. I think the sibling-love between Jesse, Anna, and Kate was very unique. All siblings love each other, even if they refuse to admit it, but most wouldn't be willing to give up their lives in exchange for their brother's or their sister's. During the book, Anna admits several times that she thinks her life might be easier if Kate just died. I believe that she might choose her sister over herself if it came down to who had to have Leukemia. Jesse, on the other hand, seems like he would do anything to save his sister. At one point in the book, he mentions that he just wanted to be useful. It is implied that the reason he has such destructive patterns is because he feels useless when it comes to helping his sister.
This book pushes the boundaries on what people like to think about. It asks the question, is there a limit to how far one would go to save a loved one?
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister's Keeper. New York: Washington Square Press, 2004.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Blog #1, Quarter 2
For this quarter's outside reading, I'm having trouble deciding between two books, and will probably end up blogging about both of them. The first book is Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. I've already started this one and have been unable to put it down. I chose to read this book because I've been hearing so much about it over the past year or so but I haven't really had the time to get around to reading it. My friends and family are always loading me up with book suggestions, not to mention the required school readings. I'm glad I chose this book because since I've read it, it has consumed me. It's been a while since I've read a book that I've really been obsessed with. I think All The Pretty Horses is a good book. I like reading it and usually don't have too much trouble making it through the nightly thirty-or-so pages. However, since I've started Picoult's book, as I read ATPH, I'm dying to finish so I can get back to my new favorite book. I feel for John Grady Cole and his struggles but I don't get pulled into his character like I do for Anna Fitzgerald or her conflicted father, Brian. I think it'll be a great book to blog about, if I can slow myself down enough to make it last until next week.
My other outside reading book of choice is Nineteen Minutes, aslo by Jodi Picoult. I had never heard about it before last friday but what I heard the other students and my teacher say about it was enough to peak my curiousity. I don't have that one yet but it's coming on thursday. I've heard it's Picoult's second best book, only being beaten by My Sister's Keeper. I read an excerpt and it seems just as captivating as my current novel. I'm looking forward to reading Nineteen Minutes and can't wait to get started on it.
My other outside reading book of choice is Nineteen Minutes, aslo by Jodi Picoult. I had never heard about it before last friday but what I heard the other students and my teacher say about it was enough to peak my curiousity. I don't have that one yet but it's coming on thursday. I've heard it's Picoult's second best book, only being beaten by My Sister's Keeper. I read an excerpt and it seems just as captivating as my current novel. I'm looking forward to reading Nineteen Minutes and can't wait to get started on it.
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