The whole world was shocked by the news last week of Anthony Bourdain's passing. I personally was very saddened by his death and more so with him taking his own life. it was a very devastating news. Anthony Bourdain was my favorite travel journalist or still is. There are but a few who are honest in front of the camera. Bourdain would tell you straight if he didn't like the food or the hotel was to cramped or the service was less than expected. He never sugarcoated and that brutal honesty was probably the reason why a lot of audiences had followed and watched his shows. It was such an unbelievable thing to hear that he ended his life. Yes, he had a wonderful job, probably one of the most coveted job in the world. It seemed like everything is going great for him, but that was just how it seemed. We don't know what it was like for him when the cameras stopped rolling. The news said that he battled with addiction and depression. I felt like Anthony Bourdain is the closest person that I knew that had felt like his life is no longer worth it. Honestly, I can't judge him for committing the act. I understand how it is to be in that dark hole. People who haven't been there or haven't experience a very devastating loss or failure or depression would not understand. I had a friend who laugh at the sign in the MRT that said to call the Hope hotline if you feel like you're in the brink. The sign was a reaction after someone jumped off the tracks of an incoming train. I was appalled by my friend's reaction but had kept quiet. She just laughed at the situation because she didn't know how difficult it is if you are trapped in that dark hole and you felt like there's no getting out and the only way has been taunting you. It's tempting you to end it all. I would say, I am also battling depression. Some days are easier and there are days that all I wanted to do is just sleep and wake up in the next century. Hopefully, things will be better by then. Depression doesn't just happen in one click. It slowly eats you up. I even did not realize that I was going through it until the last two years when a big disappointment happened to me. It's as if someone triggered all other things and an onslaught of very negative and overwhelming emotions attacked me. I was surrounded and it felt like that darkness is so intent in swallowing me whole. Until now, I can't seem to understand what happened. I did what I could during that time but circumstances were just beyond my control and I did what I think was best. I didn't regret anything or any of my decisions but rather I regret that the outcome was not very favorable for me. But at least, I maintained some semblance of self-respect for myself, even just a little because I felt like I was stripped off of my dignity. I don't know if my family is aware of what I'm going through. Maybe they thought I am just going through my moods. And I realize that in order to survive, I just have to help myself and reading books had been my greatest tool. When dark thoughts assault me from all directions, I turn to books to forget myself. To not focus on my suffering and they do help a lot. I don't know how long will I be able to keep this up or keep hanging on but I will keep trying. I have a lot of things to do still. I would still love to travel the world.
Okay. Yes. I just had to say something about Anthony Bourdain. And I also learned about Kate Spade too. I don't know. There must be something about very creative and successful people and depression. I think, the common thing about Bourdain and Spade are they are both very successful in their field of work and I don't know if in a way, that somehow affected their personal lives. As they say, you can't have everything. And where am I in that equation? I am not sure. I know I have my creative side and like those two visionaries, I put my best in everything I do. That's probably why, when failure struck, it's such a bitter and hard pill to swallow. It's harder to accept and get over with.
So, this book, it's not necessarily about suicide but it's about death. Limpet syndrome means that the soul stays firmly stuck to the Earth, irrespective of how much force is applied by an external source. If you remember the movie Casper, Casper became a ghost because he had an unfinished business and that's what Limpet syndrome is. Limpet is actually a mollusk. So, when a soul is almost impossible to remove from Earth and be returned back to the afterlife. It's like a limpet stuck to a rock after the tide has gone far out to the sea. That was how it was explained in the book.
Now that we have that out of the way and you understand now what Limpet syndrome is, let's look at the story. The main character in the story is John Hewson. The story started with John's death and his trip to the underworld. He was given a special mission and was asked to go back to the land of the living and find two souls who are not supposed to be still on Earth. He was given instructions on how to spot these two and why it's apparent and important that he should retrieve these two souls with Limpet syndrome. The balance of the land of the living and the dead is precariously in danger if these two were left free to roam Earth after the summer solstice. These two souls that he has to bring back are Sandy Logan, the Mininster of Home Land Security for the UK and his assistant Ian Noble.
I suspected that John's death was somehow weird or there was something that was suspicious. I think his death was not an accident. I think something unknown had a hand in his death. It might be something supernatural or someone wanted him dead. At the end of the story, it was somehow revealed that John was actually chosen for the special mission and so his being dead had to be a part of it. But I wasn't satisfied. I feel like there was some unexplored portion about this death and circumstances leading to it that were still unclear to me. So, that's one of the questions that's still plaguing me about the story.
The two limpet souls that John had to capture were very bad people when they were alive and a part of them becoming limpet is because an accident happened on their last outing which was just karma taking over and reversed the situation and they ended up having a taste of their medicine. Yes, it served them right. But on the later part of the story, as these two realized what happened to them and what's their current situation, they somehow turned around and actually used the remaining minutes of their borrowed life to do the right thing which I really liked. And it also revealed that there are two other persons in the story that are madder than these two. It's good that the story ended with these two being instrumental in saving London or the whole of UK from eventual doom.
This is an entertaining read especially when it comes to Sandy and Ian. Ian is probably the dumbest and the most simple person in the whole universe. His antics are just hilarious to the point of irritating. I personally wanted to knock his head off. He was just too stupid. I feel for Sandy being always at the end of his patience when it comes to Ian. John, on the other hand is also a funny character at times. His monologues are in a way funny too.
I give this book 3.5/5 pigeons. This is a good story about reincarnation and how people are so consumed by ambition and power that they would do anything to keep it. Even to the point of controlling people's minds just to keep them subdued and obedient. I think the intentions of the people in power here are darker than the levels and creatures described in John's tour in hell. Their selfishness just know no bonds and the sense of loyalty and dedication to the job was greatly misplaced. I think it's still selfishness, right? The great urge to do one's assignment and reach a goal, even if somehow you know that what you're pursuing is definitely wrong. I just hate that Agent 15 ignored his conscience because of his false sense of loyalty and duty. He just went on even if he knows that he's a pawn to an evil plan. I wished he could have turned around and had a change of heart.
There are some other important qualities about the solstice you may not know. When the sun is in its highest position in the northern hemisphere it literally stops. Its name comes from the Latin 'sol' and 'sistere'. Sistere means stand still and sol means sun. Yes, but it actually refers to the soul. The soul stands still. In medieval times, people would light huge bonfires to ward off evil spirits. Although stuff of pagan propaganda, it wasn't so far from the truth.
- Tony Moyle, The Limpet Syndrome -
