Saturday, May 11, 2013

Death and books

It has been a while since I last posted here, but I have not been terribly inspired by the books I have read lately. Do not get me wrong, there have been some good reads, but nothing that has stuck to me like the ones on my last post (The Rook series' second book is finished!).

However, I just finished reading a book that made me cry and made me think hard. It is a tragic love story, so tragic, but so nice too. Of course, it is still fiction, but the theme of the book is one that is real, and that is the right to die.

 

In the case of Me Before You by JoJo Moyes, one of the main characters, Will Traynor is involved in an accident that leaves him a quadraplegic - causing him paralysis on all four limbs or the entire body below the neck. Will used to be a daredevil before the accident, and he talks about his adventures with such melancholy that one cannot help but realize how tragic it would be to end up like him. 

But then the story gets complicated, with Lou Parker entering his life like a ray of sunshine. They fall in love slowly but surely, and then we are thrown with the fact that Will has decided to end his life in the near future. What, you say? How can the lead in the novel die? 

But that is exactly why this book made me cry and made me think. What would I do if I ended like Will? Would I be so depressed and out of hope that I would end my own life? Would my family be okay? What if it was one of my loved ones, like in the book for Lou, that decides to end their life?

Would it be so unbearable to keep on living and let the complications of quadraplegia end your life instead of using a drug? Would that person have the energy to keep on living? What about the family? What if you let it happen to you or someone else, is it possible to forgive? To allow them to make their own decisions?

I actually wrote about the right to die for a paper a while back, and I had to read some stories and reasons why so many people are fighting for that right. It is illegal here in Canada, so it would not be possible for someone to request it from me... I truly do not think I would be able to say yes to my loved one. I would make them fight for their life and let it end when it is supposed to. What about you?

I say this now, but so did the character of Lou, and in the end she gives him his freedom by letting him do what he wanted. He decided to have her in his life till the end, but could not love her enough to stay alive in his condition. Such sorrow! Oh, the pain that one would feel if it was one's spouse or partner. If my hubby asked me it would break my heart in a million pieces. Cannot even conceive it. 

Yet there are many out there who are suffering from long term diseases that are awful, like ALS. Or ones who are just completely paralyzed and really cannot be moved. And then there are those who are in a complete vegetable state. What do you do then? Big question, huh?

Even though the book had some funny and light parts and some romance, it has a very serious topic to be discussed. I love books like this, that stay with you and you know you will read again. If you read this book, make sure you have tissues with you. The tears are 100% worth it.