At Least We Can Apologize, A Review

Kindle Edition

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine this : One day suddenly waking up inside a mental institution. You do not have any memory of how you got there nor why. But somehow you managed to adapt in the environment as if it was like a home where you were fed, medicated, given sleeping accommodation and assigned everyday tasks. One of these tasks is to apologize of the wrongdoings of other residents. What is more is that you do all these things as if it is the most natural thing in the twisted world that is of the institution.
This is what happens to Sibong and Jin-man, two young men who were brought to a mental institution at an early age, and then forced to adapt at such demanding place.

The story At Least We Can Apologize penned by Lee Ki-Ho begins in a light, somber tone. One could chuckle and smile a bit at the silliness of the premise. But one will also know that there is something foreboding about it.

Admittedly, I purchased the ebook after being intrigued by the book’s synopsis. I was like: ‘Who, in their right minds, will apologize for any wrong of my own doing?’

Yet, unknowingly, with that question, I also found the answer. Who in their right minds will do such thing? Presumably, the antagonists in the story were not of right minds because they were admitted to a mental institution. But were they?

This is what the narrative explores. Through Jin-Man’s thoughts and voice, I began to empathize, relate and explore what really is being mentally-ill and what it is not. For there is a fine, thin line between that on some, maybe most, people.

I like the book because it does not dither and dawdle on what it truly can be in the world of mental health care (or lack thereof). I do not wish to reveal more of the plot but I can say that the story makes this known in such peculiar and gripping ways.

I also found the narrator’s voice curious, candid and sincere. Though warped and nonlinear may the narrator’s way of thinking is, the reader will come to understand and justify why this is so.

I find this story highly recommended if you prefer to read less-talked about topics or issues intertwined in the plot with an air of mystery. It is not an effort to read at all. This was one of my apprehensions at first but, gladly, it was all easily overshadowed with further reading.

Altogether, it’s an engaging read because the story can be real to any one person. We do not have to be mentally-ill to relate to it. Nor we do not have to be thoroughly sane to realize the foolhardy ways with which we live unapologetic lives.

To end this review, I leave with my favorite quote from the book:

Because sometimes your wrongs only go away if you pretend you never knew them.

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Reading Richelle Mead's Silver Shadows [spoiler alert]

** spoiler alert ** 

The 20-Something Life with Green Apples

I find Highway with Green Apples intriguing, mysterious, deeply-woven, and confusing – exactly an unapologetic mastery of my twenty-something life. It is a hauntingly real read. It’s like a zombie – walking across, limping aimlessly, wandering suddenly in my mind, all while checking my twitter feed and emails in between the daily routine that has become of a life.

The typical socially-active twenty-something would have, perhaps, rather dismiss these thoughts and continue staring off the computer screen at work or mindlessly gulp that nth cup of coffee. I thought I would too. Yet I couldn't. Thoughts like: “what the hell! Did she? Did the BFF? Oh no? That other friend was surely unhappy with her in-real-life Dr. McDreamy?!? Woah and now she works as a customer service rep like me? Whoa I feel like eating green apples now under the dawn light? Shall I get a new haircut too? What was her name?! O.o ” I couldn't shake it away.

It’s just that in the story, I felt I was represented and that someone knows how it feels to be in my skin and head. I somehow feel that Bae Suah is freakishly like me or at least the character in her story is; only she likes green apples too much. Perhaps it’s just got something to do with being in this phase of my life. However, honestly, I could easily leave a letter to my parents saying that “I've fallen in love” and would run away in a heartbeat. I would go seek that place by the highway and sell green apples all my life. If that means knowing what I want, getting it, being contented, and be happy with it; despite and amidst all the restrictions society has to place. Yet it’s not all that.

The setting and cultural context may be different from what and where I am living in now but it is mostly still the same struggles somehow. Reading the story felt like there is an acknowledgment of what I feel, like there is hand that reached out to mine. There may not be a solution to the core problem. But it’s enough, it is okay.

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