Tuesday, July 31, 2007@The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
This is my 100th post!
yayy! (x
Our class had a talk with the principal just the other day. It was depressing, enlightening, stressful and motivating. I have no idea whether that lazyworm in me has been squashed yet, but I'm definitely grasping the severity of the consequences. And dreading it.
Law. This had been brewing in my mind for some time, though it would take something close to a miracle to clinch that 85.7 points. They say it's alright to aim high, but sometimes I wish I have more ordinary goals.
I'm officially going to cut down on reading time. (Not totally, just fewer.) Yes. As hard as it is, I'm not going to indulge in too much fiction for this period of time till the examinations are officially over. Just watch, buddy. I'm going to win this war.
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Book Recommendations: The Ninth Life of Louis Drax - Liz Jensen
(This was the last book I've read before I made my reading resolution.)
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax is a story that paints the complexity of human nature and their relationships. Louis Drax is an amazingly perceptive and precocious nine year old, that was too intelligent for his peers. People thought he was weird because they couldn't comprehend his thoughts. Louis had a set of his own theories. He believed in the 'Right of Disposal': if you own a small creature and you kept it alive beyond the predicted lifespan it has, you have the right to kill it. So Louis killed his hamsters. He was also an accident-prone kid. If a tree was to fall at this instant, it would surely choose his head to fall on. Louis' adopted father - Pierre - however, didn't believe the crap about purely accidental, so he sent his son to the psychatrist, thinking his son was inflicting harm on himself.
The story unfolded when the police arrived at a cliff and found Louis' mother - Natalie - screaming hysterically that Louis had plunged into the ravine. Pierre had pushed his son off the cliff in a fit of anger while she and her husband were arguing. Pierre was missing. Louis was pronounced dead. But he didn't stay that way for long. Eerily, Louis came back to life in the mortuary, and slipped into coma.
The story is told by two individuals in two worlds. Louis, in his head and Dr Pascal, in the real world. Even Dr Pascal, who believed in the inconceivable workings of the brain, was shocked when Louis communicated with him while still in coma. Then truth began to unravel, and light was shed as Louis gave an account of what happened that fateful day he fell down the ravine.
*** Don't continue if you think you want to read the book yourself ***
Pierre had never pushed Louis into the ravine. Louis jumped at his own will.
Natalie loved Louis dearly, but at the same time she hated him. She hated him so much she used to inflict injuries on Louis. But almost immediately her 'protective instincts' kick in and she would clean the wound and shower her baby with love. Louis, with his 'Right of Disposal', caught on and soon complied to Natalie's wishes - he would inflict injures on himself and let his mother care for him.
"I did what she wanted, like I always do. She didn't even need to help me, not this time. It was easy. I'm always doing it. It's what I do. But it wasn't her fault."
That fateful day, Louis jumped off the cliff because his mother wanted him to, because she had the right to dictate his life and death.
"It's allowed you know. That's what Papa didn't understand."
"What's allowed?"
"It's a secret rule. It's called the Right of Disposal."
This is quite a heart-wrenching book that exposes an eccentric darkness in humans. And oddly enough, I was chilled to the bone even though the author kept it light, without the overtones of violence of a normal thriller. Very twisted in my opinion.
Truly a good read. *thumbs up*
loves*sarah //
