"So just when I'd started to believe that the terse chronology of Grandma's cancer that I'd prattled off all my life held all the truth, some window shade in the experience flew up to show me what suffering really is. It's not that old man with the arthritic fingers you glimpsed trying to open on of those little black, click-open purses for soda change at the Coke machine. It isn't even the toddler you once passed in a yard behind a chain-link fence, tethered to a clothesline like a dog in midday heat. Those are only rumors of suffering. Real suffering has a face and a smell. It lasts in its most intense form no matter what you drape over it. And it knows your name."
We've all suffered in some way before, but no case is exactly the same as another. Everyone goes through different things, and responds differently at each time, but we all know what it's like to suffer, which is why I think this passage really affected me. Suffering is like all those other emotions that cant really be described. Even when you've felt it, even in its harshest state, its impossible to fully explain to someone else. With this quote, Karr does a good job of describing how intense real suffering can be, and how its something that sticks with you forever.
Mary went through a lot of suffering, just in the beginning years of her life, and I think that's another reason this quote stood out to me so much. From all the grief her grandmother gave her, to being raped by a teenage boy, Mary grew up a lot faster then most children. I still cant figure out what the exact tone of the book is, but regardless I keep finding myself feeling more and more sorry for her. Now with her dad coming around less, and her mom shutting out the world, it's almost like her and Lecia are alone.
I cant even imagine going through half of what she has gone through just in her seven short years of life. Although I do feel so bad for Mary and her sister, I have a feeling there is going to be a point where everything turns around for her, and I think that is making the book even more interesting. After everything that's happened, I can't wait to see her come out on top.
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I loved that quote that you used, i even underlined it in my book. I completely agree with that and i never thought about it that way until she said it. I agree with you that i too have no idea what the tone of the book is. It is almost to unreal to believe that these things happened to her, but i am sure we will figure it out as the book goes on.
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Your excerpt about suffering is something I hadn't considered. I don't feel sorry for her just because it seems like she isn't looking for pity through the writing of this novel. I predict things getting much worse before they get better. After all her mother is nervous.
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