A place where midday nap and rest time is a required class, no homework is allowed, it's easier to fail breakfast than math, lessons are mostly unsupervised easy worksheets, and PE consists of gentle walks for those who feel up for it... to any healthy person, it seems like paradise. But not to Lane. He had dreams and goals and things he wanted to do. He didn't have time to 'relax'.
He feels trapped. Frustrated. Stifled. But then he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of eccentric troublemakers determined to try and live the biggest and most fulfilled life they can - and he realises that maybe his illness doesn't have to define you, and that life can still be enjoyable, no matter how sick you are.
This book captured long term illnesses in a truthful, genuine and realistic way. Lane started off his time at Lantham in denial about his diagnosis. He pushed himself to the limit, studying hard day and night, trying to keep up with college applications. Of course, he quickly goes downhill from overdoing it, and he slowly learns there are pretty serious consequences to ignoring his health, and eventually comes to terms with his reality.
I'm so glad this book portrayed the implications to pushing yourself too hard. He had days where he couldn't leave his room, where walking around was impossible, and had endless appointments with doctors. The characters were flawed, they made mistakes and the consequences were pretty severe. Sadie ran a black market of sorts, sneaking in all sorts of contraband, sometimes in the mindset that she was invincible. The one qualm I had with the book was that they had a 'sneaking out in the middle of the night to get drunk' storyline, it made the otherwise heartwarming message of the book come across very slightly as 'life your life to the fullest, but the only way to make memories and have fun is to get drunk like every other teenager...." but I'm glad the author portrayed the harsh repercussions after that night and didn't simply brush it off.
A few months ago I watched a TV series called 'The Red Band Society', which followed a group of sick teens in hospital. I loved the characters in it, but found the script infuriating. These teens were having so much fun, 'playing hooky' from hospital and going out on day trips, without wheelchairs, medication or even supervision... going up on the roof and having night time picnics, decorating their hospital rooms as if they don't have to worry about infection control or cleaning. It irritated me quite a bit, as it portrayed us as being healthy enough to do all these things that everyone else does. There's no way that I would be escaping hospital for a day, getting a bus into town, by myself and then running around a football pitch. When I'm in hospital, I am laying flat, hooked up to drips or literally ICP bolted to my bed, dosed up on medication and my days are full of tests, surgeries, medication or movies and books. However, portraying to the general public that the chronically ill CAN and do live a normal life can be detrimental, it makes it even harder for others to truly understand us. It doesn't help us to prove to people that we don't purposely bail out of meeting up with friends, that we do have major limitations, we physically can't do what everyone else does, and that our pain is real. Media has such a big influence on our life, it has the power to raise awareness to so much, and that's all I ever want to do with my blog and YouTube.
I completely understand that nobody wants to watch a show about someone laying in bed complaining of being in pain all the time. It would be boring. Entertainment has to be somewhat dramatic. However, Extarordinary Means has proved that you can write book about the realities of being ill, include all the medical details, and still make it utterly captivating to anyone who reads it, regardless of their own life experiences.
This isn't just another book about two dying teens who fall in love. Although there is plenty of romance involved, it's definitely not a shallow novel. It's a refreshing take on living with a terminal illness, filled with hope and inspiration.
No comments:
Post a Comment