Peaknit

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Change of Heart

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Change of Heart...
The title is a play on words - there are many figurative and even one literal change of heart throughout the book. Jodi Picoult, in my opinion, has done it again. I had alluded to my book signing and the basic premise of the book - but I finished last night - with loads of unanswered questions but a lot of food for discussion.

If you prefer to avoid any religious reference skip below**

I bought a book for a friend and we read it together. There is a great deal of religious information covered and questioned - religion can be so ambiguous and hard to understand - hence "faith" right? The central question surrounds an imprisoned man on death row who wants to die in a certain way - not be lethal injection - so that his organs can harvested for donation for a certain child.

The book has a similar tone as many Picoult books - has many moral dilemmas and of course, a trial. Many of Ms. Picoult's books explore cultures or belief systems - Change of Heart challenges society's ideas about criminals and the death penalty and even begs the question - could this character be the Messiah? As a Christian, I have wondered - in the shape our world is in - if the Messiah were to come, would we believe it? Or would we feel the same way many of the people in Jesus' time did - who is this charlatan? Consider all of my questions hypothetical because I think religion is too charged for a blog BUT it is central to the book - which is why I mention it. I also have to wonder "out loud" if the story was slated to come out now because of the Lenten season? It is about perfect since in the book there are miracles, a figurative crucifiction, and subsequent (and equally figurative) resurrection. Clearly, it feels like heresy to suggest a death row inmate is a representative of Jesus but I thought given the season and perhaps too many viewings of The Passion, I am curious. I may be reading too far into this of course. *wink*

**In Change of Heart we are visited by several characters from other books. At the book signing, an audience member asked Ms. Picoult why she brought some people back in her other writings - like Jordan McAfee, now Ian Fletcher from Keeping Faith...she said Patrick Ducharme from Perfect Match came back in Nineteen Minutes back because she had a mad crush on him - how charming! Jordan came back, also in Nineteen Minutes, because he was the only lawyer she knew practicing law in New Hampshire...

Anyways, in short - another good read.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm glad to hear that you liked it. I bought it and haven't yet read it. Of course, I'm still reading "My Sister's Keeper" because every time I have a choice between reading or knitting, I think you know what wins...

Happy Easter!

9:20 PM  
Blogger Molly Bee said...

This was my fav. Jodi book by far...right down to the last sentence. She rocks! Now I'm reading Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs (he also wrote 'Empire Falls') and am getting precious little done because of it! It even pushed my new found love of spinning to the side temporarily!

9:29 PM  
Blogger Annie said...

Sounds like a great discussion book for the book club I'm in. I'll have to suggest it next time. Can't wait to read it but like Kim, I too, make the choice to knit rather than read.

10:33 PM  
Blogger Heather said...

i very much enjoyed your post :-)
gonna add the book to my list

12:59 AM  
Blogger Auntly H said...

sounds fascinating. I've never read any of her books, but one of these days I might just plow through them all. :)

9:00 AM  
Blogger Sarah said...

I have to ask... how do you work, knit and read? Amazing?!?! Do you listen on audio? Or, are you super coordinated and can read and knit at the same time. Me? I'm an audio book girl since I took up the needles.

I'm impressed!

9:06 AM  
Blogger Cinnamonamon said...

Wow, sounds like an intriguing book! Have you read any C.S. Lewis books? I used to hate it when people asked me that; but after Narnia came out I read that entire series in a week, then hunted through my mother's bookshelf until I came upon his Space Trilogy.

It wasn't so much about Jesus/Savior stuff, but more about the basic nature of Man & a "what if" back at Creation/Adam & Eve.

Anywho, love your book reviews, as always!

11:19 PM  
Blogger Knitting Kris said...

Your book reviews are always well written! I've yet to read this book, and to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about reading it, speaking from a religious standpoint. I too often wonder how we would recognize the Messiah in today's world, and would we treat him the same as in biblical times? Very thought-provoking post.

4:49 AM  

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