"The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet."
That one little line, in my opinion, encompasses this entire book. That's appropriate, I guess, considering half of it is the title. But, more than that, it's the simple poetry and truth behind it. I can easily describe this book in one word... Beautiful.
This isn't a book I would've normally picked up. I tend to be a magic-loving, sweep-me-off-my-feet kind of girl... I definitely don't typically go for the "grieving character" books. However, I happened to pick this up in the bargain section at Books-a-Million and thought it looked interesting. By far one of my best bargain finds... I laughed. I cried. I got all sappy and emotionally crazy in that good, inspirational way that makes me want to live my life in a way that I never have.
The story is about a young girl, Lennie, of 16 who is trying to deal with the death of her older sister. Her entire life she's lived, by choice, in her sister's shadow and now she doesn't know how to stand in the spotlight. In addition, she's discovered the idea of being in love... Something she's never really thought about before. Throughout the story, we follow Lennie as she works through her grief and self-discovery in her own way.
What's beautiful about this story is the poetry in the writing. It's just so great. I discovered, after finishing the book, that the author studied poetry in college. It's incredibly evident throughout. Jandy Nelson did a wonderful job of making Lennie seem just so... real... to me, anyway. I understood her... Even though I've never experienced the death of a sibling, I still got her and what she was going through.
Although, this book is also about finding love, it definitely wasn't the pivotal plot line for me. I was more wrapped up in her overcoming the grief that surrounded her all the time. I was so taken by the beauty of the book, I found myself barely paying attention to the story and just focusing on the words. I had my own personal love story with the writing.
Here are a couple (out of the hundred) quotes that I felt were worth remembering...
"The guy's life drunk, I think... makes Candide look like a sourpuss. Does he even know that death exists?"
“I’ve never once thought about the interpretative, the storytelling aspect of life, of my life. I always felt like I was in a story, yes, but not like I was the author of it, or like I had any say in its telling whatsoever. You can tell your story any way you please. It’s your solo.”
"Grief is forever. It doesn't go away; it becomes part of you, step for step, breath for breath. I will never stop grieving Bailey because I will never stop loving her. That's just how it is. Grief and love are conjoined, you don't get one without the other. All I can do is love her, and love the world, emulate her by living with daring and spirit and joy."
“As I make my way back to the table, something becomes clear: Life’s a freaking mess. In fact, I’m going to tell Sarah we need to start a new philosophical movement: messessentialism instead of existentialism: For those who revel in the essential mess that is life. Because Gram’s right, there’s not one truth ever, just a whole bunch of stories, all going on at once, in our heads, in our hearts, all getting in the way of each other. It’s all a beautiful calamitous mess.”
"It's such a colossal effort not to be haunted by what's lost, but to be enchanted by what was."
A disclaimer... This book does have it's "mature" moments so it's definitely for mature audiences. I found it relatively easy to overlook and just kind of skim past, but it is there. There's also some language throughout. I mainly note this because the book is in the teen section and, while it might be okay enough for a mature 18 year old, I wouldn't want a 13 year old reading it.
That being said, it's obvious that I was a fan of the book and I would recommend it. I wouldn't be surprised if this book remains the most *beautiful* book I read in 2011. Stay tuned for my review of "The Replacement" by Brenna Yovanoff, but for now... Go read something else. :D
Farewell!
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