Sunday, September 16, 2007
♥ Sunday, September 16, 2007
I've read a lot of books.
Not as much as novelists write, or people like Simmy - but not as less as people who hate reading. But I'd say I'm generally over the average band.
In particularly, I grew to like one author. And, eventually, after I'd read all of her books and fell in love with everyone of them and all the characters she created, I went back to the first book I read from her.
What really spurred me on on reading her others, was the first I read. In my mind, I'd always thought it was good, exceptional, wonderful, and that no other books were measurable to this particular one, and so this stayed. I borrowed the book three times from the library, and even today, as I was in Kinokuniya treating myself to a good weekend, I found myself searching the shelf for that book.
I've read all of Sarah Dessen's books, and I've even preordered Lock and Key, her latest coming out April 08 in the US on Amazon. I've found myself at 3 in the morning on school nights hiding under my blanket with a reading light (turns out my aunt gave me a bad present - but that's from my mom's point of view) , the book clasped in my hands, only to think, what are you doing, Jessica?
And surprisingly, after I'd ask that question I'd smile, and then continue reading, only to ask the same question minutes later.
The book is called Someone Like You.
Her name is Halley.
I look back at all the times I've met with something I couldn't solve, and then go to the library the next day feeling unstable and uneven, sneak out from the house or pretend to need the loo so I could be alone to look for the book that I knew will always restore my confidence in everything.
And then I look back at all the times people around me've met with things i couldn't solve, for them, and then I turn to Halley. The book is special and she is special because (as much as I remember) she's the only one who didn't get Prince Charming. In the end, she's pretty much on her own, only with Scarlett - who'd gotten a new baby, so that's a plus.
This is so going to be a spoiler.
Halley. She was named after the grandmother, named for the comet. She's the strongest young woman I probably have ever known. She went for Lamaze classes with her very pregnant/moody best friend, who she had to support when her boyfriend - the guy she truly loved and who truly loved her - died from a motorcycle accident in the summer, which wasn't his fault because a businessman in a bmw was such a total asshole. She tackled her psychiatrist parent-child-relationship mother who'd written three books, almost all about her and Halley and their perfect relationship, her radio-broadcast father who hated Christmas jitterys (i.e trees and ornaments and clay figurines, whatnot) and embarrassed her by exposing Halley's most embarrassing moment nationwide on the radio, which made Macon Faulkner nickname her Muddy Britches.
I can remember things like that.
But I prefer to remember Halley, or in fact, Someone Like You, in many other ways. It was something that led me to discover Dessen, and all the books she'd written, each teaching a different lesson, a different story. Telling a different problem. Everything that has taught me to be what I am now, someone who plays so many different roles, solving so many problems, finding so many answers, but altogether one person, someone, who really, is made up from a lot of different people, with contradicting qualities that complement each other.
I know I'm contradicting and this is sounding stupid but that's the point.
True, there are books she's written that are better reads than this one. But this - it's special. It's a testament. Or friendship, of courage, of making the right decisions, of love, of trust, faith. But really, the first strikes me most.
And today, I've reread it. Like visiting the same house four times, I was aware of what was to come next, what the ending was, and allthough it took some rereading (my fault, not concentrating) of scenes and other stuff, little details that I'd come to remember, that Lakeview was three miles away from the airport. It was the same as locating the spare key, of the directions I would take, what the house was like, and all the little details - scents and sights along the way, the boulders that blocked the way to the end, the destination the road eventually led to.
But like reading the book, embarking on the road to reach my destination doesn't become as frightening as it was. I don't know how to explain, maybe I took Lazame classes, or brought So You're Pregnant - Now What? books like Halley and Scarlett do everywhere they go, or maybe, just maybe, I'd slunk into the comfort of safety, knowing that the spare key had been in my pocket all along, just waiting for me to get to the place where I'd finally be, and unlock the door, where I'd find new experiences and new lessons I've never learnt before, nor seen anything as beautiful as what I get, at the end of it all.
And then, going by this criteria, I'd say that Someone Like You is my most favourite book ever.
Because it's led me on my first step towards the end, and given me the key to unlock the place where I will be.
