Zombies, Love, and an Epiphany.

This week I read a book that was really thought provoking. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. The first time I past this book in Waldenbooks, I stopped dead in my tracks. The title was so awesome I nearly bought it solely based on that alone but then I read the back and am saddened now at how the publisher failed with the back of the book hook. It so miserably fell short of expressing this books awesomeness! So I didn’t buy it that day.

Zombies!!! Would have done the job better, but I digress.

So I finally read the book this week and was astounded to find that a book full of zombies could reveal a truth about my own life. *Spoiler Alert* If you have not read the book and don’t want your view tainted, don’t read on. (Also, you should go out and buy it right now!)

Mary, the main character is never satisfied. She lets her desire for something more cause her to take the important things for granted until it is too late.

After reading it, this book stuck with me. I kept thinking back to all Mary’s choices and wondering if they were worth it. In the end, was getting what she wanted worth losing everything else? I wondered about what happens after the story ends. Would she then be unhappy with what she finally got? Wish she had stayed and loved Travis, or Harry? Would she ever be satisfied?

Why would this eat at me you ask? It’s just a story, you say. But isn’t that what reading is about? Looking at others experiences and seeing ourselves? This is where the epiphany comes in. I realized it was eating at me because I wondered if I am just like Mary, never satisfied.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to go through life trying new things only to find they bore me once I’ve proved I can do them. It’s the one reason I knew that I was meant to be a writer. I haven’t lost interest yet. But this book made me question everything else. Am I missing the important things by always trying to find something better?

When I’m old and grown will I look back on my life and wish I had enjoyed the things I had instead of always searching for something more? Will I wish I had just been content to follow the path society tells me I should? Will I ever be satisfied? Or will I always want more than I have till there is nothing left?

With no answers to these questions, I end with a hope. I hope that someday I am able to write well enough to put out a book that is as thought provoking for someone as this one was for me.

(p.s. I did not know when I wrote this post that this is a series and there is a second book that will be released March 9^th 2010!!!)