TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Teens
Author:	Jay Asher

Thirteen Reasons Why. Huh? What? Aren't you curious what these reasons are all about? Intriguing title, isn't it? I never knew that such a novel exists, and I never expected that I would invest my precious time reading a masterpice of an author I've never even heard before. But I simply just wanna satisfy the GG (xoxo, haha) side of me, that's why I checked on the first page just to know what it is all about, and then the second page, and then the next one, until I realized that the time I finished a chapter, the more I was interested on proceeding to the next.

What's the novel all about? Say hello to Clay Jensen, the ninth reason why. Tadahhhh! Clay received a box addressed to him one afternoon, with seven CASSETTE tapes inside it. These audiotapes were recorded by Hannah Baker (Clay's classmate) before she comitted a suicide. (So you might have guessed by now that the complete title of the book should be THE THIRTEEN REASONS WHY HANNAH BAKER KILLED HERSELF. Haha) The audiotapes said it all about the life of Hannah before she ended her life, and how these thirteen person somehow affected her decision. Each of the thirteen had a side of a cassette tape dedicated to him/her. Sent to the first person that started it all, Hannah gave only two rules to the LUCKY 13. Rule number one: Listen to tapes. Rule number two: Pass it to the next person involved.

Who are the other twelve persons?
Why are they on Hannah Baker's list?
What happened to Clay after listening to the tapes?
So I think that's the rest of the things you'll know after you read the novel.

I am contented on how the novel is written. Though centered on Clay Jensen's point-of-view, I love the idea of putting Hannah Baker's point-of-view through the cassette tapes. The story? Interesting enough. Not only that the whole book is a mystery, but each chapter is fascinating. And of course, I love the meaning beyond the words. The ideas and lessons presented by the novel, I don't know if intentionally or unintentionally, that were applicable to the real world. My favorite is the idea of snowball effect. I just think that I didn't know some characters that much. I don't know. But I think something is incomplete on how the characters are presented. But overall, I think the novel is good. A must-read!

--some of my favorite quotes from the novel-- (apparently all said by Hannah Baker)
* Because it may seem like a small role now, but it matters. In the end, everything matters.
* Things get better, or worse, depending on your point of view.
* Stupid? Yes. But did it make sense? Yes...at the time.
* I guess that's the point of it all. No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people. Oftentimes, we have no clue. Yet we push it just the same.
* Sometimes we have thoughts that even we don't understand. Thoughts that aren't even true--that aren't really how we feel--but they're running through our heads anyway because they're interesting to think about.
* If you could hear other people's thoughts, you'd overhear things that are true as well as things that are completely random. And you wouldn't know one from the other. It'd drive you insane. What's true? What's not? A million ideas, but what do they mean?
* If you hear a song that makes you cry and you don't want to cry anymore, you don't listen to that song anymore.
* You don't know what goes on in anyone's life but your own.
* And when you mess with one part of a person's life, you're not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can't be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person's life, you're messing with their entire life.
* Everything...affects everything.
* You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have...is now.
* I could have stopped it--end of story. But to stop it, I felt like I'd have to stop the entire world from spinning. Like things had been out of control for so long that whatever I did hardly mattered anymore.
* The signs were all there, all over, for anyone willing to notice.

Mga Bagay na Masarap Sabihin Minsan.

***

Ikaw ang nagpapahirap sa sitwasyon mo. Ilang beses ka na ba niyang iniwan? Iiyakan mo ang lahat ng tao sa paligid mo. Mangangako sa sarili na 'di na muling magpapaloko sakanya. Pero isang tawag lang niya, bibigay ka na naman.

Kung ayaw mong mahirapan, simple lang, bitiwan mo ang bagay na nagpapahirap sa 'yo. Iwan mo na siya. Marami pang iba diyan. Pumili ka naman ng taong ka-lebel mo, 'yung taong tutumbasan ang pagmamahal na kaya mong ibigay.

***

Mahal mo siya? Gaano mo siya kamahal? Ganun mo ba siya kamahal kaya't handa mong itapon ang pagmamahal ng isang taong lubos na nagmamahal sa 'yo, para lang isugal ulit ang puso mo sakanya?

Kung ayaw na sa 'yo, 'wag mong pilitin. Kung may iba na siya, hayaan mo na siya sakanya. Wala nang pupuntahan 'yan. Oo, madaling sabihin, mahirap gawin. Pero kung magsisimula ka ng pakonti-konti, makukumpleto din 'yun.

***

Tanga! Kung may salitang makakapaglarawan sa 'yo ngayon, tanga! Alam mong hindi ako nagmumura, pero dahil espesyal ka sa akin, PUTANG-INA! Ang tali-talino mo puro puso ang pinaiiral mo! Hindi kailangang mawala ang ulirat kapag nagmamahal. 'Wag mong ibigay lahat, magtira ka ng para sa ibang tao. Puro nalang siya! Aba, hindi lang siya ang tao sa mundo mo. Hindi lang siya ang nangangailangan sa 'yo!

Sige, ibuhos mo lahat-lahat sakanya. Sige lang, hayaan mong ilayo ka niya sa mundo mo. Pero baka bukas, kapag nawala siya sa buhay mo, mahirapan kang balikan ang mundong iniwan mo dahil sakanya.

***

Hindi lang ikaw ang tao sa mundo namin. Sana minsan isipin mo 'yun. Mahal ka namin, pero hindi lang laging tungkol sa 'yo ang nangyayari sa mundo namin. Lagi kaming nakikinig sa 'yo. Pero ikaw ba pinakinggan mo ba kami?

Paulit-ulit na kuwento. Hindi naman masama. Pero natanong mo na ba sa sarili mo na minsan gusto rin naming magkuwento sa 'yo. Alam na namin lahat tungkol sa 'yo, pero sige nga, anong alam mo tungkol sa mga buhay namin?

Give and take, dude. Minsan iparamdam mo rin sa amin na espesyal kami sa 'yo, na gusto mo ring pakinggan ang mga kuwento namin, na concern ka rin sa amin.

***

Wala ka pa ngang nasisimulan ayaw mo na? Hindi mo pa nga nasusubukan eh, sinusukuan mo na. Anong balak mong gawin? Hayaang ipamukha sa sarili mo na duwag ka na subukan man lang ang mga bagay-bagay? Gusto mo 'to 'di ba? Pero bakit parang hindi ko nakikitang ganoon ka kadeterminado para makuha 'yun? Wala man lang kahit kaunting effort!

Tapatin mo nga ako. Gusto mo ba talaga? O napipilitan lang dahil wala ka nang ibang pagpipilian? Kung 'yung pangawala, tama ngang tumigil ka na. Hindi lang kayo magiging masaya pareho. Ok lang sana kung ikaw lang eh, pero 'wag ka na sanang mandamay ng iba. 'wag ka na sana uling gumawa pa ng mga bagay-bagay na simula pa lang, alam mo nang hindi mo kayang tapusin at panindigan. Na sa simula palang, alam mong may mga taong masasaktan.

***


Kung hahayaan mong lamunin ka ng buo ng iyong mga alaala, sinasabi ko sa 'yo, ikaw ang kawawa. Hindi ko sinasabing kalimutan mo, ang sa akin lang, 'wag mo sanang gawing hadlang ang mga pangyayari sa nakalipas para sa mga mangyayari pa sana sa hinaharap.

Darating ang panahon, baon ka pa rin sa hinagap ng kahapon, habang lahat ng mga tao sa paligid mo, masaya nang hinaharap ang nangyayari sa kasalukuyan. Ikaw ang talunan. Ikaw ang maiiwan. Huli na nga, wala pang balak humabol.

Identity?

Isang eksena sa buhay ni Samantha. Pasok! Haha, corny ko talaga. (Samantha Sweeting, lead characted sa novel ni Sophie Kinsella na Undomesticated Goddess. Iris. Nanay ni Nathaniel na love interest ni Samantha sa novel. Si Iris din ang nagturo sakanya magluto. Bakit? Basahin mo nalang basta ‘yung novel. Maganda.)
 

Samantha: I don’t know who I am. Or what my goal is. Or where I’m headed in life. Or anything.

Iris: It doesn’t matter. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or where you’re heading. Sometimes it’s enough just to know what you’re going to do next.

Bakit ko nga ba pinorward ang quote na ‘yan via SMS? Hmmm. Bakit nga ba? Siguro nga naka-relate lang ako.

Sa isang lecture namin sa PolSci160, tinanong kami Ma’am Lusterio-Rico, “What’s your identity?” (para sa topic about nation-states and ethnicity) Sabi ko sarili ko, “Ano nga ba?”

Ilang tao ba sa mundong ito ang matapang na nakakapagsabi kung sino ba sila. Kung saang grupo sila kasali. Kung ano ang pinaniniwalaan nila. Kung nasaan na sila sa landas na tinatahak nila. Siguro nga, masuwerte ka kung alam mo. Ako? ‘di ko pa yata siguro.

Kung sa Psych point of view, nasa stage siguro ako ngayon ng “identity searching”. Pero my god dear, parang antagal ko na yata sa stage na ‘to ah! Napag-iiwanan na ba ako? Future searching. Buti sana kung ‘yun lang. Sabi nga ni Iris, hindi kailangan lang na alam mo ‘yung next step mo. Yeah, I agree with her in some cases. Pero paano kapag kahit ‘yung next step mo hindi mo alam?