Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue || Artlexicons
If nobody remembers you, do you even exist?
Memory is a fragile thing. You might remember a traumatic event from decades ago but forget what your best friend in high school looked like. But how would one live in a world, where everyone you met forgot you the second you were out of their line of sight.
Book: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue puts an interesting twist to the phrase “Out of Sight, out of Mind.” The book sets the mood for a country-girl who wishes to explore the world but is limited by the narrow-mindedness of her family and society. Life for young Addie, if she obeyed the existing norms would end with her getting married, having a kid and “being settled.” But such a life, she feels would dim the spark in her, and would such a life really be worth living? A life that she didn’t chose for herself?
She makes a deal with the devil, trading her soul for immortality – a healthy, long life for as long as she wants it. Unfortunate for her, the deal came with terms and conditions attached. She moves through the world like a ghost. Everyone she meets forgets her the second they look away.
Not truly “Mr India” kind-of-invisible but a different kind of invisibility which can haunt one much more. Imagine meeting someone over and over again, except for them it is always the first time. It is like meeting an old friend after a long time, and realising with the first look itself that they have forgotten you. People that were once important in your life, may not hold the same feelings about you. And while that is perfectly normal, it can surely pinch.
It hurts a little more in case of Addie, because in her case, they don't forget her for being insignificant. No matter how deeply she left her mark on someone, the curse just wouldn't let them remember. Things change when she meets a guy, and he remembers her. But not explaining that since it would ruin the surprise.
Immortality - is it worth it?
The book told the painful agonizing tale of loneliness in
immortality but in such a poignant and beautiful way. Purple prose bled from
the pages and the story flew like the movie “The age of Adaline”. For some
reason, I kept comparing the book with that movie, despite various differences
between the concepts.
“What is a person, if not the marks they leave behind?”
You judge yourself on the basis of your experiences. And in
today’s world, everyone is at least a little bit interested in leaving a mark. How
will the world remember me once I am gone? How much will my family and friends
miss me when I am not here? You must have had such thoughts too.
But imagine not getting the opportunity to do so. Would that
be complete and utter freedom? Like a load off your shoulders. If nobody will
remember anything, you can do anything and everything you want. Or would it be
a different kind of burden to bear? One of complete loneliness. If you’ve lost
the basic essence of being a human – mortality, can you claim to still have
humanity left?
These are the kind of poignant questions that this book
leaves you wondering with.
Don't rush with this book. It is slow poison.
I picked up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue at a time when I had nothing to do. Despite my busy schedule, once my gadgets and resources were taken away, the only thing I could do was sit silently and read. And I am glad that I picked up this book at a time, when I couldn’t afford to just leave it on a shelf and wait till, I was in the mood for it.
The reason being – it starts
off slow and takes a lot of time to grow on you. Despite the beautiful prose, sometimes
you feel like the book is going on and on about the same thing and it becomes
monotonous. That is why it is essential to power-through with the first two
hundred pages and then it is just a smooth ride from there.
If you end up reading this book and liking it, I would
recommend similar content:
Comments
Post a Comment