 |
| A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard |
If 'Room' by Emma Donoghue was poignantly life-affirming and 'On Two Feet and Wings' by Abbas Kazerooni was overwhelmingly emotional and endearing, then 'My Sister's Keeper' by Jodi Picoult was equally sensitive and soul-stirring. But this one ~ 'A Stolen Life : a memoir' by Jaycee Dugard ~ has got to be one of the most hardest and disturbing books I have ever read... such an intensely heart-rending true story of survival! The ordeals of a girl, rather a child, someone as young as 11 years old, who got robbed of her childhood.... who got kidnapped and held captive for 18 years in trying conditions (chained and hand-cuffed during the initial years) and unhealthy surroundings (having just a bucket for a toilet)... who endured mental tortures (extreme isolation) and repeated sexual abuses/rapes by his captor all those years, whom her captor impregnated twice (first at the age of 13 and then at 16) resulting in two daughters...
It was heart-wrenching to say the least... the very thought that something like this happens to children in this world, it was so very hard to continue reading any further at some particular stages of the book that anyone would put the book down. How do such despicable people as the rapist Phillip Gerrido and his wife Nancy come to exist on this earth? And how could God sit silently while Jaycee suffered all these years?
At the same time though, this book is such an inspiring story of strength and remarkable determination to survive. Even during the numerous moments of despair, Jaycee still held an extraordinary fortitude and always hoped that some day her life would turn for the better.
Jaycee writes, "Something inside that frightened little girl made her a survivor and she has made me the person I am today. I would make up stories in my head to pass the time. It was easy for me in those early days to escape into my dreamworld because I had always been a dreamer and had my head in the clouds a lot. I used to lose all track of time and it helped to keep me from going crazy."
And despite all the torments she endured at the hands of her captors (Phillip and Nancy) and even after being freed, she refused to harbour any hatred for the people who "stole her life".
Jaycee writes, "I don't believe in hate. To hate wastes too much time. If all my heart were filled up with hate and regrets and what-ifs, then what else would it have room for?"
She proved by her exemplary positive attitude that someone may snatch away every bit of sunshine from your life, someone may scar you to the depths of your soul but they can't take away the intrinsic goodness of your heart!
Also after having gone through so much, perhaps not many would have been able to keep a positive attitude towards life... but the way she has reclaimed her life, anyone can draw inspiration from her resilience. Equally endearing is her resolve to give her daughters a good education and a normal life they so deserve, without being over-protective. May God bless Jaycee and her daughters and may each day of their lives be filled with loads of goodness and blessings!
But one shouldn't pick up this book expecting it to be a literary masterpiece because it isn't. One would surely find some technical errors and incorrect grammar at certain places. But then Jaycee's formal schooling had ended abruptly in her fifth standard when she was abducted and she has written this book very simplistically, with a childlike innocence. And therein lies its beauty and charm; neither has it been edited nor has it been written by some ghost writer!
Jaycee writes, "This has turned out to be a very hard book to write. Part of me does not want to continue. To re-enter the state of mind I was that age is difficult and twists my insides. To get inside my head and relive all this stuff that happened back then is terribly hard for me. On the other hand, I want to go on. I feel if I don't then I continue to protect my kidnapper and rapist and I don't have the need to do that any longer. I'm also writing my story in the hopes that it will be of help to someone going through, hopefully not similar conditions, but facing a difficult situation of their own -- whatever it may be."
Jaycee Dugard is a real life hero in the true sense, embodying the strength of a fighter and the hope of an eternal optimist :)) And this book is an inspiration for each one of us as we sometimes give up without sticking to the fight when we are hit the hardest in life. Words may not suffice to express my feelings right now but reading this book was definitely a life-changing experience...
