To Live

 I'm currently re-reading a great novel, To Live, by Yu Hua, in Indonesian this time around. I previously read the book in English and have also seen the Chinese movie version with English subtitles. This is about the struggle of one family just 'to live' during the harsh years from the end of World War II to the end of the Red Revolution. It's a great novel to read if you ever think that your own life is hard or that the vicissitudes of life are overwhelming. Imagine, for instance, having nothing to eat but for roots dug from the ground or the bark of a tree, competing with others to obtain these poor treasures even while exhaustion and malnutrition and illness make it difficult just to stand, let alone toil in the field. Imagine how a handful of rice might seem like a fortune. And while the novel is on the one hand about the weakness of the human condition, it is also about the awesome power of love, the relentless will to endure and to hope. It is about one man's arduous passage from careless self-absorption to a full life of compassion forged through hardship. A great novel, as I said. And by the way, the movie version is also excellent.