My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
So... this book has actually been on my mind for a while now, ever since I read an excerpt of it somewhere (I forget where). I finally decided to buy My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult last Saturday, when I saw the small paperback version of it in Fully Booked SM Mall of Asia.
It is a beautiful novel, powerful and heartwrenching. Tears flowed in my eyes as I read the last three chapters of the book. As much as I would like to rail at the author for how could she end it that way?! And yet, I have also considered that ending, and knew that it would be the most staggering and perhaps the only way to really drive the point across, so to speak.
The short synopsis at the back of the book:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
The book poses a lot of questions to the reader, questioning both the ethics, morality and simply the rightness of the decisions that we sometimes need to make. How far would a mother go to save her child's life? People would say, there is no limit to what a mother would do, but then, what if it starts to compromise another child's rights?
This story is about a family defined by a child's sickness, who can barely imagine what life was like without that sickness. Each of the characters both have personal and familial issues they're dealing with: the story is told in different voices, with each character speaking to the reader in different chapters.
What I love about the book (in addition to the story): it uses a lot of metaphors about fire and stars that fit perfectly with the storyline.
Who my favorite characters are: Anna, of course, is my favorite. I find myself relating with her thoughts and views, her questions regarding her existence. She finds herself struggling with the fact that she doesn't want to let her sister die, and yet she wants to stop being defined as merely a donor to her sister; she wants to live and do things and not be forced to always be waiting and available when her sister needs blood, granulocytes, a bone marrow, even a kidney.
Campbell, Anna's lawyer, is another character I like. He begins with seeing Anna as a charity case, something to build his image for the media. But he ends up getting caught in Anna's turmoil, realizing that the case is not as simple as he thought it was.
Brian, Anna's father, is a fireman who finds that the flames he battles at work doesn't compare to the inferno that his home has turned into. He loves his children, but finds himself at a loss on how to really help them, especially Jesse, his troubled 17-year old son.
Sara, Anna's mother, is the character that one may like to blame or hate for seeming to neglect her other children in favor of the sick Kate. And yet, how can you fault a mother for trying to save her child?
In the end, we realize how parents are also so very human, who can't help but have favorites, who also make mistakes, whose decisions are colored by their experiences. And that there's a very thin line between what's moral and what's right. It sounds ironic, but occasionally, there is a difference.
Quotes I love:
Anna:
See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you.
"You want to know what I want? I'm sick of being a guinea pig. I'm sick of nobody asking me how I feel about all this. I'm sick, but I'm never fucking sick enough for this family."
Brian:
I would have given anything to keep her little. They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.
Jesse:
My father looked right at me, but he didn't answer. And his eyes were dazed and staring through me, like I was made out of smoke. That was the first time that I thought that maybe I was.
I hadn't been thinking, actually. I was just trying to get to a place where I'd be noticed.
Campbell:
"We're here today because there's a difference in our system of justice between what's legal and what's moral. Sometimes it's easy to tell them apart. But every now and then, especially when they rub up against each other, right sometimes looks wrong, and wrong sometimes looks right. We're here today, so that this Court can help us all see a little more clearly."
Anyway, so I really like this book. I'm considering other books written by Jodi Picoult found here. It's nice to find a book that makes you contemplate and wonder and question things that you haven't thought of before.
I'm here in Capas, at my parents' house. It's summer vacation from school.
It is a beautiful novel, powerful and heartwrenching. Tears flowed in my eyes as I read the last three chapters of the book. As much as I would like to rail at the author for how could she end it that way?! And yet, I have also considered that ending, and knew that it would be the most staggering and perhaps the only way to really drive the point across, so to speak.
The short synopsis at the back of the book:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate - a life and a role that she has never questioned… until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister - and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable… a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.
The book poses a lot of questions to the reader, questioning both the ethics, morality and simply the rightness of the decisions that we sometimes need to make. How far would a mother go to save her child's life? People would say, there is no limit to what a mother would do, but then, what if it starts to compromise another child's rights?
This story is about a family defined by a child's sickness, who can barely imagine what life was like without that sickness. Each of the characters both have personal and familial issues they're dealing with: the story is told in different voices, with each character speaking to the reader in different chapters.
What I love about the book (in addition to the story): it uses a lot of metaphors about fire and stars that fit perfectly with the storyline.
Who my favorite characters are: Anna, of course, is my favorite. I find myself relating with her thoughts and views, her questions regarding her existence. She finds herself struggling with the fact that she doesn't want to let her sister die, and yet she wants to stop being defined as merely a donor to her sister; she wants to live and do things and not be forced to always be waiting and available when her sister needs blood, granulocytes, a bone marrow, even a kidney.
Campbell, Anna's lawyer, is another character I like. He begins with seeing Anna as a charity case, something to build his image for the media. But he ends up getting caught in Anna's turmoil, realizing that the case is not as simple as he thought it was.
Brian, Anna's father, is a fireman who finds that the flames he battles at work doesn't compare to the inferno that his home has turned into. He loves his children, but finds himself at a loss on how to really help them, especially Jesse, his troubled 17-year old son.
Sara, Anna's mother, is the character that one may like to blame or hate for seeming to neglect her other children in favor of the sick Kate. And yet, how can you fault a mother for trying to save her child?
In the end, we realize how parents are also so very human, who can't help but have favorites, who also make mistakes, whose decisions are colored by their experiences. And that there's a very thin line between what's moral and what's right. It sounds ironic, but occasionally, there is a difference.
Quotes I love:
Anna:
See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, that reason better exist. Because once it's gone, so are you.
"You want to know what I want? I'm sick of being a guinea pig. I'm sick of nobody asking me how I feel about all this. I'm sick, but I'm never fucking sick enough for this family."
Brian:
I would have given anything to keep her little. They outgrow us so much faster than we outgrow them.
Jesse:
My father looked right at me, but he didn't answer. And his eyes were dazed and staring through me, like I was made out of smoke. That was the first time that I thought that maybe I was.
I hadn't been thinking, actually. I was just trying to get to a place where I'd be noticed.
Campbell:
"We're here today because there's a difference in our system of justice between what's legal and what's moral. Sometimes it's easy to tell them apart. But every now and then, especially when they rub up against each other, right sometimes looks wrong, and wrong sometimes looks right. We're here today, so that this Court can help us all see a little more clearly."
Anyway, so I really like this book. I'm considering other books written by Jodi Picoult found here. It's nice to find a book that makes you contemplate and wonder and question things that you haven't thought of before.
I'm here in Capas, at my parents' house. It's summer vacation from school.