Sad Stories They Say So Much
Yes, I'm getting overly emotional in my old age. I just got finished reading Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go for my book club. It was a very well-written, thought-provoking book in which the author did a great job revealing information in snippets throughout until in the end you finally see the full picture and have an understanding of what is really going on with the characters. And it's not pretty. No sir, not one bit.
Hence, this is where the crying came to play.
Now I'm not one to cry. I'm usually the stiff upper lip, German gal who just sucks it up and deals. At least in public I do. I hate crying in front of others. I don't like getting overly emotional and letting down my guard. Mostly, I don't want to upset others. (Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.) And, mostly, I don't want to share what's going on deep inside, because, eventually, someone will ask what's wrong. And sometimes I'm not sure how to answer. Sometimes something sad will just hit me and I don't know how to explain what's wrong.
Which is what happened at first when I read the final scene. Then after crying for about an hour, I got it.
SPOILER ALERT: If you plan to read this book, stop here. It sort of discusses the ending.
In the final scene, the heroine (the story is story is told through her eyes in first person) says goodbye to the hero. Normally, this would just be another lost love, come Against All Odds or Thornbirds kind of moment. But in this story, they knew the hopelessness of their situation and they didn't try to fight it. They didn't try to fight to live and be together. They accepted their fate. They accepted that they were created for one purpose and that they could never live a normal life. In fact, their lives were not destined to be that long so there wasn't much time to live together anyway. And, finally, when I considered my reaction some more, I realized that it was also the fact that they were saying goodbye and it was final. It was to be their last day together ... forever. They would never see each other again. He was going to die within the next few weeks and she was going to die probably within the year. So when she rides off (because he doesn't want her to see him die) and watches him wave to her in the rear view mirror, I lost it. Mostly, because I've been there. I've had two relatives, one who was elderly and another who was battling cancer, with whom I had lived that scene. In each instance, I drove away in the car and watched them waving at me from their front door. And each time, in the front of my mind, I kept thinking "I'll see you again." But in my subconscious, I knew that was the last time I'd ever see them. I never cried then when I drove off—knowing and not knowing that we'd meet again. But I did when I read that scene in Never Let Me Go.
It's funny how powerful a story can be.
Hence, this is where the crying came to play.
Now I'm not one to cry. I'm usually the stiff upper lip, German gal who just sucks it up and deals. At least in public I do. I hate crying in front of others. I don't like getting overly emotional and letting down my guard. Mostly, I don't want to upset others. (Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.) And, mostly, I don't want to share what's going on deep inside, because, eventually, someone will ask what's wrong. And sometimes I'm not sure how to answer. Sometimes something sad will just hit me and I don't know how to explain what's wrong.
Which is what happened at first when I read the final scene. Then after crying for about an hour, I got it.
SPOILER ALERT: If you plan to read this book, stop here. It sort of discusses the ending.
In the final scene, the heroine (the story is story is told through her eyes in first person) says goodbye to the hero. Normally, this would just be another lost love, come Against All Odds or Thornbirds kind of moment. But in this story, they knew the hopelessness of their situation and they didn't try to fight it. They didn't try to fight to live and be together. They accepted their fate. They accepted that they were created for one purpose and that they could never live a normal life. In fact, their lives were not destined to be that long so there wasn't much time to live together anyway. And, finally, when I considered my reaction some more, I realized that it was also the fact that they were saying goodbye and it was final. It was to be their last day together ... forever. They would never see each other again. He was going to die within the next few weeks and she was going to die probably within the year. So when she rides off (because he doesn't want her to see him die) and watches him wave to her in the rear view mirror, I lost it. Mostly, because I've been there. I've had two relatives, one who was elderly and another who was battling cancer, with whom I had lived that scene. In each instance, I drove away in the car and watched them waving at me from their front door. And each time, in the front of my mind, I kept thinking "I'll see you again." But in my subconscious, I knew that was the last time I'd ever see them. I never cried then when I drove off—knowing and not knowing that we'd meet again. But I did when I read that scene in Never Let Me Go.
It's funny how powerful a story can be.
posted by J.T. Bock at 7:58 PM
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