Jesse, Anna, and Kate live a fairly stereotypical middle class life but each is attempting to defy their circumstances. One child is rebellious, one donater, and one terminally ill; these attributes actually define their existence. Underlying is a child that makes grand gestures of goodwill, one athletic superstar, and one quitter, respectively. The firefighter father can't seem to quench the mother's passionate obsession of curing Kate from Lukemia. The family doesn't seem to have any religious background besides the thorough knowledge of the constellations and their histories.
What I like about the story is the medical awareness of struggling through treatments in hope of sending cancer into remission. I also like the rather blaring message of wake up people and take every day as a gift because you never know how long we have left.
"So far I have found that 10 out of every 10 people die."
What I don't is all the swearing, the awkward love scene that doesn't really contribute to the story (more a distraction) and certainly how selfish I find all the characters.
The mother is not a bad mother, she loves each of her children. At first I struggled to see the problem in her parenting because she loves Anna but eventually I get it as the story develops (you will too if you read it). In fact I think she is a very good mother and how much better this entire family would be benefited if they had a knowledge of the purpose of this life. We are here to receive a body. We are here be tested and to overcome our trials so we may live forever in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father sent the Savior Jesus Christ to take on not only all our sins but all our afflictions and pains as well. Anna in this novel completely dismisses the creation of Adam and Eve as our forebearers, Christ as our Savior, but is constantly struggling to find someone to see her as an individual and recognize her worth as a soul.
This novel leaves me with angst emotions because I want so much to share with her how important we all are to our Heavenly Father no matter how much or how little love and attention our earthly parents have shown us.
An endearing account of sister's dividing room because they needed their own space and mother's reaction:
I do not know how long it took my mother to wonder why I wasn't coming to the kitchen for lunch, but when you are five, even a second can last forever. She stood in the doorway, staring at the line of marker on the walls and carpet, and closed her eyes for patience. She walked into our room and picked me up, which was when I started fighting her. "Don't," I cried. "I won't ever get back in!"
A minute later she left, and returned with pot holders, dishtowels, and throw pillows. She placed these at odd distances, all along Kate's side of the room. "Come on," she urged, but I did not move. So she came and sat down beside me on my bed. "It may be Kate's pond," she said, "but these are my lily pads." Standing, she jumped onto a dishtowel, and from there, onto a pillow. She glanced over her shoulder, until I climbed onto the dishtowel. From the dishtowel, to the pillow, to a pot holder Jesse had made in first grade, all the way across Kate's side of the room. Following my mother's footsteps was the surest way out.
Like most novels I believe it to be far superior to the movie. This being said I have not watched the movie. However it is like reading a love note. You can take it in personally and envision what each sentence means or evokes to you as the reader. The movie stamps the directors vision as to the physical attributes of a character, pushes side story drama into the forefront, and presents sensory overload with music and scenery.
