Finally manage to finish reading this book after 3 weeks... been too busy with work and no time for reading...
Similar to the other Picoult book I have read, this book also revolves around a court case, or should I say 2 court cases. The main storyline is about how a 5 year old child was found sexually abuse and her mother a district attorney tries her means to protect her only son by taking matters into her own hands. But by doing it is she really protecting her own son? This is what actually the whole book revolves around.
There is a commnt at the back of the book by GLAMOUR "Picoult's novel... reminds us how easy it is to jump to conclusions and to do all the wrong things for all the right reasons."... I like the way Glamour phrase it... how we humans always like to jump into conclusion before we see or get a clear picture... when we have some facts we believe we have already see everything and we judge a matter or a person... how many times are we the victims of ppl malign and also how many times are we the ones who malign pple? Countless... Of course in this book you will see how the Mum (Nina Frost) jumps into conclusion and messes up everything that she is trying to do (I can't say more as it will become spoiler).
another thing is the world is never white or black... there is always a gray area... sometimes we can be doing a bad thing for a right reason... like lying to protect onself or others interest... in the process someone else might be hurt... so is there absolute right or wrong? sometime wat we find morally right might be wrong in the eyes of law.. sometimes wat is right in the law might not be morally right... if not there will not be a chinese saying of 法律不外乎人情.
as usual i teared when i read her book... i feel sorry for Nina... for Patrick the person who stood by her and love her for his whole life and yet is not her husband.... feel touched by wat patrick did, wat Caleb (the husband) did... Feel sorry for Nathaniel (the son)... and also remind myself how we normally try to "act normal" and be nicer in front of those who are hurt but this in turn make the person who is hurt more painful... as everything gets unnatural... sometimes our over symphathy hurt the person more than the actual event.. they may have got over it, but our constant actions keep reminding them... how more love can hurt...
Favourite lines from the book:
- There are certain acts for which you easily make excuses - killing during wartime; stealing food if you're starving; lying to save your own life... Justification is a remarkable thing - takes all those solid lines and blurs them, so that honor becomes as supple as a willow, and ethics burst like soap bubbles (Pg 320). Sometims when we do something wrong, we just justify ourselves by coming up with excuses... isn't killing during a wartime still a killing? isn't lying still a lying even if it is to save your own life... wat makes your life more important than others?
- Maybe time is something you notice when you get old and have less of it at your disposal (Pg374). Do you remember you have to rush for time when you are a kid? Especially when you are a toddler... generally during that period you have all the time in the world to do wat you want and wat you like.. u dun have to worry about no time to do things... but as we get older there seems to be more things we wanna do... and less time to do it...
Picoult book never fail to set me thinking... let me learn new things while reading a novel.. now i noe how a person DNA can be changed... I like books like tat... bringing you theories or facts in a story rather than just pure fictional.... However, I still prefer My Sister Keeper... I think because I can relate more to that than the other two...
