Second Glance

I just finished Second Glance by Jodi Picoult. This is my third novel by Jodi Picoult. The first novel by her that I read, My Sister's Keeper, is probably her best work. The book was about a family with a daughter with leukemia. In order to save her, the parents decide to have a designer baby, designed to match her sister so that she can be a bone marrow donor. Its an amazing book. A must read.

This book, Second Glance, deals with paranormal stuff. Its tough to keep the book down (though this is my problem with almost all books) as the ghost can and did appear anywhere, anytime but compared to the other books by Jodi, this one wasn't that good. Though this book made me think..Does, not believing in God, automatically means not believing in Paranormal? Or are those two different aspects? The same old argument pops up...if you can't prove something, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exists. An argument given by religious people in attempt to convert atheist/agnostic people like me. I tend to incline towards this argument. Didn't subatomic particle exist before they were scientifically discovered, even though no one could see them or prove their existence? Its a good argument and so far I haven't been able to counter it. I think it finally filters to the individual's perception then. What we choose to believe. May be all these things exists or may be not but none of these phenomena or even God affect our daily life. So even if at some level they do exist, I don't care and obviously don't wait them to take actions on my behalf. May be thats why I prefer calling myself agnostic rather than an atheist (apart for it being convenient for me).

Thats what I like about Jodi Picoult's books. They actually make you analyze your own believes. She provides really good insight to her character's psychology. She usually takes up a social issue and describe events around that issue while analyzing each and every character's thoughts and beliefs. There are no blacks and whites in her books. May be thats why her characters are so real and their way of thinking affects you. The people chasing ghosts aren't freaks and scientists not believing them aren't perfect. Its just the circumstances, they have been through, affected them and their beliefs. How can anyone, who hasn't been through those particular circumstances personally, say that he/she wouldn't have done the same under those circumstances?

The best quote from this book is below. The circumstance of this dialog was argument against existence of soul-mates or an argument against destiny having any part with our choice of life partner.

...Fate is what people invent to explain what they can't understand. If you think Eli's the one, you tell yourself it was meant to happen. And if he breaks your heart, you'll tell yourself it wasn't meant to be. I've spent ten years trying to find a man who knows where I am in a room the moment he steps inside, without even having to look. But it hasn't happened. I can admit the truth to myself - that I've got lousy luck finding love - or I can tell myself that I haven't crossed paths with my soul mate yet. And it's always easier to be a victim than a failure.