Book Review: Before You Know Kindness

Title: Before You Know Kindness (Audio Abridged)
Author: Chris Bohjalian
Rating: 4 of 5 STARS
Finished Listening: February 14
Own: No - Borrowed from Library
Why Chosen: Looked good at the library

"Before you know what kindness really is

you must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

What you held in your hand,

what you counted and carefully saved,

all this must go so you know

how desolate the landscape can be

between the regions of kindness."

(Excerpt from Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye)

This excerpt from the poem Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye was a wonderful way to start this story. I love the whole poem actually. Listening to the book was great but I was disappointed to see on the case today that it was an abridged version. Oh, well. I always hate to read "abridged" versions because I feel like I'm cheating.

This was a great story about a family and how they live through a terrible accident. It's about forgiveness, living with disabilities, and realizing your mistakes. One of the main characters, Spencer, is a vegen and works for an animal rights organization. He imposes his views on his family without regard to their feelings or beliefs. By the end of the book, he has rethought his unbending convictions and realizes the damage that he has done to his relationships with his wife and daughter. Bohjalian definitely does not put animal rights activists in a very good light in this book. He clearly shows what can happen when animals are valued over humans.

Interestingly, there was a major scene in the book set at the Cloisters in New York and I was just there last month. Also, the book The Secret Garden appears in the story and is the book I'm reading with Mary for her book club right now.