AN OUTLOOK ON LIFE

     Just finished a book over the weekend, an excellent book and I highly recommend it. It is Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. Suffice it to say that the story itself, the events that it covers, all are interesting and keep the reader involved, but there is more to it than that. I intend to go find the author's other books and see if they are of the same quality.
     But more than that is the outlook on life espoused here in the book, the philosophy of life and the questions asked. Most curious is the hero that had a lifetime effect on the protagonist of the story and indeed saved his life and even his sanity at perilous times. And who is that hero? Jack Lalane, yes, that same guy that people use as a joke, the one who towed boats with his teeth as he swam in deep and nasty waters. So why? Because the man had a philosophy that said that life is not existential but instead life is within our choices, what we do with what life hands us. And if we set our minds to it, we can change things, change the course of that river of time and its effects. And so our small boy learned to swim and when grown up used that skill and determination and philosophy to save his life and that of another small boy.
     "The lives we live are full of holes." It is up to us to fill those holes when we can and to face those holes when they come. It requires a certain quality within one - yet we all have that if we so desire and requires thinking and faith, in oneself and in the combined strength of both religiosity and rational knowledge, for they do work together.
     It asks questions about life. Life hands us cards, good and bad. Some of these cards are life changing, altering the path or course of one's life, or even many lives. What do we do with these events? How do we face them? Are they overwhelming in their entirety, leaving a person only the choice of being blown away by them, losing any choices to be made, or are we to take these events and work forward with them, in spite of them and because of them? Can we? Are we all capable of this? Do we all have the inherent possibilities and abilities to do that or are some of us limited? Do some of us lose that ability because we do not use it and the use it or lose it statement comes true?
     Suffice it to say that the events in this book are life altering and it takes time for the character to understand this, for him to withstand the vagaries and nastiness of the world and other people and move forward with his own life. How he does that will certainly affect the lives of other and how they deal with that keeps the line growing.
     You still do not know what this book is about and it almost does not matter in the particular, but matters rather in the general points for this is a book meant to keep you bound to its story but also bound to the desire to make you think. It does not talk down to the reader but almost challenges that reader to rise to the level of thought that the author demands. Go, to the library and put it on reserve or buy it in the stores or on line for this is a book that one can return to, to reread certain portions and to think once again on life. Add a piece of chocolate and what a combo!!
     Had to add this on. Attended a performance of Rock of Ages at the Lake Worth Theater and it was wonderful, a bunch of young actors, professional and community who gave it their all. The price is not expensive and depends if you want dinner or not and quite enjoyable. One thing that one saw in here is that one cannot run roughshod over the dreams and hopes of others just because you want yours to have precedence. The cast had a contagious spirit and the audience was marvelous, joining in with the songs, clapping in tune and laughing on target. It will be there till the 24th of July - go and enjoy. We all need a little bit of humor in our lives now. Enjoy!1