"How godless and hopeless will he remain? Not very. “What an unexpected reversal of fate,” he says: “only after my skin was burned away did I finally become able to feel.” And: “While I was now surrounded by far fewer people than before, they were far better people.” And inevitably: “Being burned was the best thing that ever happened to me because it brought you.” "
I cried and cried at the end of this book. It was dark, very dark, deep, and disturbing at times, but the theme was amazing. I cannot recommend this to everyone, the language at times is sharp and the visualizations are alarming with the burns he describes in great detail, but I am glad I read it. Mental illness and severe burns make this book very depressing, but the true theme is beautiful and well worth the journey. We are made better and whole by those we know and those we learn to love. Love is not something we use to control another, it is something we give to set them truly free. Religion is huge in this book, he even makes his own trip to hell as in Dante's Inferno.
Tears are flowing as I think about this book. The imagery is full, I could see every thing clearly, even the arrow flying true in the blizzard towards his heart. Loved filled the pages, over flowing there edges. Everyone he met after the burns changed his life for the better and even though he didn't want to accept it, he found love through service. It is haunting and I don't know if I will ever forget some of the stories.
The main character despised church goers, "they pray on Sunday for God's will to be done and when it is they complain the rest of the week."
Love is enduring, pure and everlasting. Listen carefully, "I love you." whispers through the air to all of us.
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