Marian Keyes - The Other Side of the Story

 Time is a flawed concept. It is one of the shittiest jokes that nature could ever play. But just like everything else, we endure it. Much like time, happiness is a rotten concept. So much has been written and spoken about it that now it seems almost idealistic.

I was, and someplace deep inside still am convinced with this. There comes a phase when almost everything and everybody is conspiring against you. Every single action or event compels you to believe that you are now rotten, just like happiness.

You sit in a corner of your room isolated, free from all the chaos, delimited by absolute silence. And that silence is the root of your agony. You longed for it when you didn't have it. But when you finally got it realization dawned and it hit you in the face.

Amidst the noise of silence, I did what I do best. Embracing the isolation, I picked up a book and crossed the threshold into the virtual world. Marian Keyes’ ‘The Other Side of the Story’ is rather an unusual story. But a perfect book to read in times when you are on your way to self-destruction. The books starts on a wrecked note and you realize that it is perfect. Reading about other people’s miserable life is somehow comforting when you are on the same page as them.

But as the book progressed, it delivered a strong vibe of optimism. Not the clichéd concept but the kind where it tells you to stop over-analyzing, take a deep breath and deal with whatever shit you are going through. The lives of Gemma, Jojo and Lily are portrayed in a very realistic fashion and that’s what made the book so appealing. It is fast paced and makes you bubble up with happiness inside.

After all happiness, however rotten it is is a rare thing and we have to take our chances where we find them. We want to do the right thing – but how do we ever know? There are no guarantees. I could rationalize until I was blue in the face but then why not just accept and smile.

John Green - Fault In Our Stars

The thing about books is they leave you with memories. The thing about characters is they take the form of life you want and permanently reside in your universe. Sometimes as a friend and sometimes as a reflection of what you want to be. The thing about books is that the story they behold stays with you. It becomes a part of you. They make you feel emotions you never thought you could feel.

I was looking for a certain book when I accidently came across John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now even though it is not some extraordinaire work of fiction, it still has that spark. People who have read it might just call it a ‘chick book (like a chick flick)’. But I refuse to do so. Emotions cannot be differentiated on the basis of gender. That would be unfair and rude. Emotions are meant to be felt.

The book is about Hazel Grace and Augustus (Gus) Waters. Both are Cancer patients and both have a unique sense of humor which absorbs you as you walk through their journey. The thing about cancer patients is that we believe they start living death even before they actually face it. John Green managed to contradict that in a manner as if mocking us by proving us wrong.

A person leaves you with a void to deal with for the rest of your life when s/he walks out of your universe. You never knew what that void could be like unless it hits you in the face. That’s the thing about death. It leaves the others who are alive emotionally handicapped. Their lives are like stars that cannot fathom a constellation.

When Gus died, he left a void in my universe.

This book is definitely worth a read.