Doc Meek

Posts Tagged ‘Yann Martel’

Thursday, January 20, 2011. Today I am grateful for a daughter who loves to read, like I do. Lori is married to Kingsley and has 6 great children. How does she ever find time to read? 😮

Lori; image from Facebook

Open Letter to my daughter Lori:

Dear Lori,

I was glad I emailed you recently and asked if there were any books you could recommend.

You suggested several, among which were Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I found Life of Pi to be a delightful tale, as you predicted I would. I especially enjoyed the unique forms of language used in the author’s native tongue and transliterated into English with rewarding effects on the eye and ear.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, I was struck by the dreary existence and  limited opportunities of most of the characters. I was touched by the ability of the characters to find real meaning in some aspects of their lives. I was dumbfounded by the harsh treatment of women (and men) in totalitarian cultures. Forced marriages of young girls to much older men staggered me.

I knew of these horrible aspects of some cultures of course and yet I was tortured anew at reading of it firsthand so to speak.

My mental tortures reminded me again of my immense gratitude for the good aspects of our “Western” culture, and the great opportunities and freedoms we enjoy (or don’t enjoy, as the case may be).

Thank you, Lori, for encouraging me to read “the good, the beautiful, the bad, and the ugly.”

Floods my heart with warmth for the good in our culture and others.

My profound sadness and pain over man’s inhumanity to man is perhaps a good reminder.

Love, Blessings, and Gratitudes,

Dad

P.S I am so glad you are my daughter!

…………………………………………………..

Doc Meek, Thursday, January 20, 2011, Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA