Since a young age, I have never enjoyed books with a happy go lucky feel or a fairy tale ending. One of my favorite books as a child was Charlotte’s Web, because there wasn’t a predictable resolution where everyone was content. It built a realistic feel as opposed to a story like Frindle, where everything seems to work out well between the characters and everyone is satisfied. Going into middle school, I found myself drawn to mystery novels because of the unknown factor, nothing is expected about a mystery. During the first week of my freshman year of high school, Ms. Arnett brought our class to the school library at the end of what seemed like an excruciatingly long class period. We only had about 15 minutes to decide what book we would be reading at the beginning of every class for the next couple weeks. As I rummaged through the shelves, I found a book, Black Box by Julie Schumacher. I was drawn to it because of the cover, cliche I know. It was a silhouette of a girl with her hand on a window, damp from fresh rain. It reminded me of the mystery novels I have read. At this point class was almost over so I rushed to check the book out without another thought.
Once I started the book I was instantly drawn to it, which is somewhat absurd for me. It usually takes a few chapters for me to really get into a new book. I shortly began to realize that this book was like nothing else I have ever read. It heavily addressed mental illness, something rather taboo. I found the book to be very eye opening to a truly real reality for many people. I’m a strong believer that you never honestly understand someone's situation until you have experienced it yourself. This book created a great admiration within me for anyone suffering from these kinds of conditions. The book was about Dora, a teenager with severe depression, who became hospitalized. But was written by her sister, Elena’s perspective. That was one of the best aspects of the book, you got to really understand what it’s like for the families as well. I found myself becoming quite emotional multiple times throughout the book, simply from knowing that many people have to deal with a battle within themselves, like Dora did. And that it has such a strong effect on everyone involved.
Towards the end of the novel I found myself confused on why it was almost over, the point in the story did not seem like a stopping point. Once I reached the last page I was so confused, because nothing was resolved by the characters. I searched everywhere online to see if there was a second book, but there wasn't. So I sat on my bed for a while trying to figure out what I had missed and why all of the sudden the book wasn’t making sense to me. After contemplating this for a long time I remembered early on, and in the last chapters, the author made allusions to how overwhelming, unforeseen, and confusing things are for people dealing with depression. I made the conclusion that the author must have intended to interrupt the plot and end it in such a harsh way, to correlate to depression itself. At this point, the characters were finally on track for a happy ending. However, there was this same false hope many times throughout the book. Elena received some bad news that would back track their happy ending once again. I think the author ended the book right then to create some sort of never ending cycle. Kind of a heartbreaking tone, as if Dora will never be able to escape her condition. I was relatively upset when I first finished the book, because I wanted to know what happened next and how it turned out for the family. Looking back, I have a strong admiration for the author for ending her book this way. I think it enhances the empathy you feel for the characters and ultimately gives a deeper insight to what other people are dealing with.
Because Black Box was such an unusual book, in comparison to my ordinary reading choices, it has opened me up to selecting books that I normally wouldn’t consider. I did not expect to enjoy this novel very much, yet it became one of my favorites. I have found myself reaching for books that aren’t all that similar to what I am used to. I notice this is a strong attribute to anyone who enjoys literature since it gives you a broader range of possibilities. Every book you read is like a new adventure you experience and new lesson learned.
Black Box has left a lasting imprint on me. I am very grateful to have stumbled upon this book and to have been exposed to the complex nature of the characters. This book wasn't extremely well written or even had a great plot, but it still had managed to influence me in my day to day life. I am a much more open minded and understanding person because of it. Something so valuable simply from expanding my horizons and trying out a book I never thought i’d relish like I have.
Once I started the book I was instantly drawn to it, which is somewhat absurd for me. It usually takes a few chapters for me to really get into a new book. I shortly began to realize that this book was like nothing else I have ever read. It heavily addressed mental illness, something rather taboo. I found the book to be very eye opening to a truly real reality for many people. I’m a strong believer that you never honestly understand someone's situation until you have experienced it yourself. This book created a great admiration within me for anyone suffering from these kinds of conditions. The book was about Dora, a teenager with severe depression, who became hospitalized. But was written by her sister, Elena’s perspective. That was one of the best aspects of the book, you got to really understand what it’s like for the families as well. I found myself becoming quite emotional multiple times throughout the book, simply from knowing that many people have to deal with a battle within themselves, like Dora did. And that it has such a strong effect on everyone involved.
Towards the end of the novel I found myself confused on why it was almost over, the point in the story did not seem like a stopping point. Once I reached the last page I was so confused, because nothing was resolved by the characters. I searched everywhere online to see if there was a second book, but there wasn't. So I sat on my bed for a while trying to figure out what I had missed and why all of the sudden the book wasn’t making sense to me. After contemplating this for a long time I remembered early on, and in the last chapters, the author made allusions to how overwhelming, unforeseen, and confusing things are for people dealing with depression. I made the conclusion that the author must have intended to interrupt the plot and end it in such a harsh way, to correlate to depression itself. At this point, the characters were finally on track for a happy ending. However, there was this same false hope many times throughout the book. Elena received some bad news that would back track their happy ending once again. I think the author ended the book right then to create some sort of never ending cycle. Kind of a heartbreaking tone, as if Dora will never be able to escape her condition. I was relatively upset when I first finished the book, because I wanted to know what happened next and how it turned out for the family. Looking back, I have a strong admiration for the author for ending her book this way. I think it enhances the empathy you feel for the characters and ultimately gives a deeper insight to what other people are dealing with.
Because Black Box was such an unusual book, in comparison to my ordinary reading choices, it has opened me up to selecting books that I normally wouldn’t consider. I did not expect to enjoy this novel very much, yet it became one of my favorites. I have found myself reaching for books that aren’t all that similar to what I am used to. I notice this is a strong attribute to anyone who enjoys literature since it gives you a broader range of possibilities. Every book you read is like a new adventure you experience and new lesson learned.
Black Box has left a lasting imprint on me. I am very grateful to have stumbled upon this book and to have been exposed to the complex nature of the characters. This book wasn't extremely well written or even had a great plot, but it still had managed to influence me in my day to day life. I am a much more open minded and understanding person because of it. Something so valuable simply from expanding my horizons and trying out a book I never thought i’d relish like I have.
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