love, read, write

Many weeks have passed since my last post, again. [Insert over-exaggerated apologies here]

I am reading a new book titled “Nation” by Terry Pratchett right now. It reminds me of the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. I haven’t finished it yet (about 3/4ths through the book), but for sake of filling this post with something blogworthy, I will try to write a crude summary about the book so far. (Or, as the title suggests, a Review-thing.)

It’s written in the point of alternating characters, Mau and Ermintrude (in third person though). Mau and Ermintrude are from different “worlds”—while Mau is a boy from a tribe/island called the Nation, in a nearly unknown island that the Europeans called the “Mothering Sundays” island, Ermintrude is the daughter of a rich and wealthy man who has now risen to become king because of the many deaths caused by a plague (but she and her father have no idea of this because they’ve been travelling around the world). The book starts as Mau traveled to another island to cross into his manhood, a ritual that every boy did when he became of age, and Ermintrude was aboard a ship that was sailing back to the mainland to assume her position as princess (again, which she had no idea of). (This is the backdrop of the book. Don’t question it.)
Mau and Ermintrude, who had never met before and never knew each other, were suddenly clashed together in a gust of unfortunate fate as a great tsunami, “the great wave,” came over the Nation and the neighboring islands. Mau became the sole survivor due to his luck of being away from the island at the time, and Ermintrude became the only survivor on her ship (which was in the area of the tsunami just as it rose) as well. Mau, shaken by the sudden death of his family, the disappointment of not getting the newfound respect and glory of becoming a man, and the anger for him being the sole survivor, suddenly began to question the gods: did they exist? Why did they do this? What was the point of believing when they killed your entire country, the Nation? Are we just creating stories in our mind?
Meanwhile, Ermintrude, a girl brought up to be ‘prim and proper,’ is afraid and lonely but surprisingly strong in the sudden crash. She sees Mau washing away the bodies of the dead into the ocean, and finds relief that at least there is a ‘darkie,’ a ‘tribe boy’ to keep company. Soon, the two of them cross paths, they begin to find some life and hope, and sooner again, other survivors from other islands nearby begin to come and search for shelter and comfort. Mau, the only person left of the Nation, is the only one who knows the culture and history and rituals, and suddenly is overwhelmed with the responsibility of witholding the duties and cultures that the Nation had held for the past thousands of years. He hears the voice of the Grandfathers (the Nation’s great ancestors of the past) screaming at him to do ‘this and that’ to keep the gods near and dear, but Mau fights against this, losing faith in his gods by the minute.

And the rest you shall read in the book, which is quite good so far.

Happy Reading!