The Memory Keeper's Daughter

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

from the author : Kim Edwards

"This would destroy her . I would not have her destroyed ."
- David Henry [McCallister] about Norah , a wife beloved to him .

Life is a choice .Happiness is a choice .Love - is a choice .
One stormy night in the midst of winter in 1964, Dr.David Henry was forced by circumstances to deliver his own twins .Although shocked and terrified , he managed to do that calmly , thanks to his expertise in medical practices .Paul , his son , was born first , crying and healthy .Phoebe was born later , quiet and pretty .Holding the tiny baby girl in his arms , recognizing the unmistakable traits which confirmed that she was to be burdened with Down's Syndrome for her whole life , he numbly requested for his nurse , Caroline Gill , to take the baby girl to an institution for the invalids .A choice made without his unconscious wife knowing ,and later , a secret little prison of his own life. Achoice which would send his whole life wheeling out of control when Caroline , who was in love with David , ran away with the baby , away from David's life ... Until the end came ...

"

The Memory Keeper's daughter is definitely , undoubtedly a page-turner with a plot strong enough to ravage the sea of emotions in your heart .This book I have devoured in twelve hours' time .This book , which had trapped me in my chair , flipping through the pages feverishly one Saturday night !!

What's so interesting about this novel ?
Well , I think ...if you love The Lovely Bones , you would certainly like this as well . I find this feelingly woven story appealing in the same way The Lovely Bones did to me .
Here , we watch Dr.David Henry ,a youthful ,handsome , talented and married scholar and orthopedic surgeon whose life seemed to be perfect -simply flawless .For a child who came from a poor rural family , he was lucky he's intelligent enough to be granted scholarship and a bright financial future and a promising career .He had married his first love , Norah , a beautiful lady who ,as the story developed , would prove as talented as David was .Their life before that stormy night in 1964 seemed like a pleasant dream .David was building up his career and Norah was heavily pregnant .It was a decision David made , a decision greatly affected by his painful childhood memories , his denial and unconditional love for Norah .

It was heartbreaking though , to witness the agony , despair and fury which each of the characters would need to go through . David appeared to be calm and composed but inside , guilt had eaten the desire to life in him , convincing him that he deserves a punishment in all sort of misery and obsession he could find in order to seek redemption for his mistake - a mistake he believed was too late to be reversed . Norah , sorrowful and lifeless after her loss , was desperate for but denied love and consolation as David drowned himself in jobs and immersed himself in all sort of activities but never really listening to , or trying to understand Norah .A child as talented as his parents , who sought escapade in music and defying his parents, his emotions ravaged and unstable , after living in the darkness of the Henry's house for his whole life .Evil and selfish as they seemed , each and every single one of them had locked in their heart an unconditional love to their beloved ones .This love , which lead them to self-destruction . This love , which cause too much pain for them to bear ,they turned and walked away . This love , which wreak a silent havoc inside their family , cracking the remnants of what was left of their bond , erecting a huge wall of lies between them.

“THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER unfolds from an absolutely mesmerizing premise, drawing you deeply and irrevocably into the entangled lives of two families and the devastating secret that shapes them both. I loved this riveting story with its intricate characters and beautiful language.”
—Sue Monk Kidd

“This tragedy of a man who thinks he can control how lives are redirected is as moving as the story of his nurse, who knows that her love can bless a damaged life…Anyone would be struck by the extraordinary power and sympathy of THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER.
—The Washington Post

“An auspicious debut novel…THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is a page-turner, a wonderfully crafted tale…Highly recommended.”
—Bookreporter.com

And ....lastly

Terryfyingly heart-wrenching . A tale of the finding of redemption , love, happiness and helplessness . David had tried to "fix" everything but ended up screwing it all . In the end , whose fault it is ,when "all are punished" ?

click here to read the excerpt .

Night

Night

from the author : Elie Wiesel"For God's sake , where is God ?"
And from within me , I heard a voice answer :
"Where He is ? This is where - hanging here from this gallows."

Eliezer Wiesel [In English : Elie Wiesel ] is a University professor at Boston University , apolitical activist , Nobel Laureate , Andrew.W.Mellon Professor of the Humanities ,and a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust .Years after his survival , Eliezer , who described himself as being "weak,rather shy" boy ,had wondered about the purpose behind his survival . He had authored over 40 books , the best known of which is Night which had been edited ,and translated into English by his wife, Marion Wiesel . He was 15 years old when his family , neighbors , friends , and most of the Jewish society in Germany were deported to the Ghettos ,to the concentration camps and mostly ,eventually , to death itself.

A memoir written by a Holocaust survivor ,this masterpiece allows us to take a vivid glimpse at the prisoners' life inside the concentration camps during the Holocaust itself .
Night tells the story of a young Jewish boy who had ventured into the Kingdom of Night and witnessed the terror of the massacre of the Jewish population by Hitler while the whole world watched in silence .
As the boy went through the daily murders ,under the threat of being tossed into the oven/crematoriums by 'selection' looming dangerously overhead ,and struggled lifelessly to survive , his father the only beacon of life which kept him alive ,we see the horridity of each moments spent in the camps .
Each moment didn't count for nothing , for in each and every moment spent in Auschwitz , Birkenau , Bunchenwald , Jew prisoners were tossed into the crematorium and burned into ashes .Each moment saw the morale erode , humanity dissolve ,blood seeped into the earth ,tears dried and life lost its purpose . Human beings were forced to live with animalistic instincts in the concentration camps .A Eliezer and his father fought in keeping each other alive , it is painful to watch the relationship so dear and close between father and son crumple down when father turned weak and old , and too sickly that he became a burden to the son . Night allows us to witness the lost of innocence ,faith , humanity and sense .Humans fought for a crust of bread like dogs .Families torn apart .Son abandoned father .Manslaughter.
With the boy , we explore the time when the desire to live is no longer present ,when the only thing that mattered is a crust of bread and a bowl of soup ,and when the body lost the connection with the mind .
Night shows that holocaust2 is a time when death is everywhere but far .

Night will drive you questioning your own humanity -and the world's . What would you do under such circumastances ? Why did the world keep silent for such a long time ,when their brothers and sisters are being massacred in silence? Elie Wiesel also ,once again ,brought the truth to the surface , that even until now , such massacre still occured and where were we , sitting comfortably o a couch ? Nowadays see the genocide in Darfur , Starvation in Ethiopia , crisis and massacres in many parts of the world while most of us keep silent and ignorant .There are many reasons why history matters .For one , history taught us of our past mistake ,that there is absolutely no need in repeating the same mistake .That there is a need for us to stand up and speak out .That there is something an indivudual can do . See Raoul Wallenberg , Marthin Luther kIng Jr. , Albert Schweitzer and Nelson Mandela , who had changed the world . All of them are mere men - our only differences lay on determination , belief and courage .

Night is absolutely worth reading , as it explores an appalling subject , a spectral terror which still haunts our world , unnoticed by many , today , in the 21st century !
I can't agree more with The New York Times in this subject .

"A slim volume of terrifying power" The New York Times

"From the depths of the mirror , a corpse was contemplating me . The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me ."

The Book Thief

The Book Thief
from the author Markus Zusak

~Here Is A Small Fact~
You are going to die .

"It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . ."

Set in Nazi Germany era , The Book Thief lulls us with the story of Liesel Meminger [whom I suspect might have been half-Aryan only ]. The story opens with Death- the narrator , which makes this book even more irresistible in its uniqueness - introducing himself , followed by flashbacks and accounts on Liesel's life ,from the moment her biological mother left her ,until her death .After Liesel's parents were send to the concentration camps , she lived in Himmel [Heaven] street with her new German Family , the Hubermanns , and, on the way ,found who her nemesis and friends were in the street while the bombs were falling all over Germany .

~Some Important Information~
It's a small story about :
a girl
+
an accordionist
+
some fanatical Germans
+
A Jewish fist fighters
+
and quite a lot of thievery.

If you expect this book to be "another boring historical accounts" , you're dead wrong . Markus Zusak had employed an unique style and plot ,and a use of language so beautiful that I lost track of time while reading this excellent Novel .To me ,this is an adorable novel , a dazzlingly beautiful yet heart-wrenching tale . It reserved a place on my shelf the moment I read the first chapter , for some reasons . Never had I seen such a novel before and so alluring is this tale that I fell in love with it the moment I started reading it .

~Another Thing You Should Know ~
Death will visit the book thief three times .

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner

from the author : Khaled Hosseini

"For you , a thousand times over..."
[Hassan to Amir , Farid to Amir , ...and later , Amir to Sohrab ]

The Kite Runner is one of the books I couldn't help but lay my finger on it ...
It's truly "extraordinary" , "Moving and unexpected" ,"Vivid and engaging "and "Riveting ... Unforgettable !" . A tale about two boys who lived in the midst of chaos in Afghanistan ,you might as well expect shooting and massacre in the book ,but no , I'll tell you : it's not the main issue here ,although a small part of it does mention about the Taliban massacre .

Amir is a son of a wealthy and renowned 'baba' . Father .Hassan is a Hazara boy , Ali's son , a servant whose wife eloped with a troupe of traveling performers .There was an intricate tangle of strings , a fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love which held them together ,even until Afganishtan's revolution when a string of chaotic confusion tore the two of them apart .

Amir moves to America , and , as you might have guesses , lead a happy life as a married author , although childless .It was when a letter saying that Rahim Khan is waiting for him in Peshawar ,Pakistan , which awakened him .It was the fact that his suspicion about Rahim Khan and Hassan had proven to be true . The fact that he knew had scarred his heart so deeply .
What would he do when he finally knew who Hassan is ...?
Who HE,himself is ?

A tale of Innocence Denial Shame Redemption Forgiveness Anger Loyalty ,
Reading this book is like overhearing secret conversations -and thoughts , thoughts which you would not like to hear ...- and stealing stealthy glances at events -events which you would not like to happen - .
Everything in this book is an honest deceit , a misleading truth , an understandable confusion We watch both of the two very different yet very alike -almost like brothers- boys seek redemptions, their own atonement .

There is always a wise omniscient protagonist in the book .Rahim Khan is the one in The Kite Runner .He watched ,he knew but stayed quiet .It was Rahim Khan's words which finally awakened Amir
"There is a way to be good again ..."
There is a way indeed .