The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud (Post #2)

Over spring break, I read The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood. The story revolves around Charlie St. Cloud, the protagonist. In his teen years, he was involved in an accident with his younger brother, Sam, who is killed; Charlie was brought back to life. Charlie also received a gift: he can interract with the dead, specifically his brother. Years later, he meets a girl named Tess, a sailor, and ultimately falls in love with her. It is later know that Tess was involved in a boating accident and is in "limbo" (in between life and death). So, she is basically a ghost. However, Charlie does find and save her, and life for them finally returns to normal. Charlie gave up his gift and the companionship with his brother to save Tess, which was extremely hard to do.
Previously when I read A Walk to Remember, I said that I don't usually read the lovey-dovey young adult book, like this. But, a few summers ago I actually saw the movie, and since then I've always wanted to read the book. After reading it, I found out that it's so much more than a love story between Tess and Charlie; the book actually focuses on the changes that people go through. Before the accident, Charlie had planned to go to college to play baseball, after the crash, he gave up on that dream and became a keeper of the grounds is a cemetry. Throughout most of the book, Charlie is extremely passionate about meeting with Sam every night in the woods, and never once did he miss a night in fear that Sam might fade away. As Charlie starts to fall in love with Tess, he becomes less dependent on Sam to make it through the day (meaning that he's finding a new reason to live for.) This book is very good because it displays how people cannot hold on to the dead; it destroys you. At the end of the book, Charlie does finally let go of Sam, and by doing that he is able to live his life fully. And, Charlie realizes that Sam will always be there; in the wind, in the water, in his dreams...he'll never leave. I think that its' also the message that Sherwood was trying to put out there; that loved one's that die never really do leave your life. They'll always be there. they're everywhere. Somewhere in your life, you will lose a loved one. You will go through the stages of grief, but in the end you should be able to accept what has happened. If you don't, like Charlie, then your life will be taken over by the dead; you'll lose yourself in your misery and never be the same. The thing that Sherwood is trying to make us think about is letting things that you love go; they never actually leave, though.
Charlie was the best character; he goes through a hige right of passage at the end of the book that really makes you think about life and death. At the beginning, I believe that Charlie felt that he was dead because he was so connected with his dead brother. As his life starts to change as he falls in love, it's like he was coming alive again. In the book, the man that saved Charlie's life in the accident dies and comes back to Charlie to speak with him. He tells Chalrie to not waste his second chance at life, go and live it. This really makes Charlie think about his life and how he has lived it for the part 13 years. At the end of the book, Charlie can finally move on from the death of Sam and begin to live his own life, one where some one who is alive is the most important thing to him, not the dead.
“That's death and life, you see. We all shine on. You just have to release your hearts, alert your senses, and pay attention. A leaf, a star, a song, a laugh. Notice all the little things, because somebody is reaching out to you. Qualcuno ti ama. Somebody loves you " This quote, really, just makes me smile. It makes you think about the little things in life, like Sherwood said, that make us happy; the things that we live for. I like this quote because it makes me feel as though things are not as bad as they seem; that there's always some one that will help you and love you. Another quote that I really liked was: “Trust your heart if the seas catch fire and live by love though the stars walk backwards.” This was the quote that was at Tess' fater's funeral. It means that when you trust your heart, you live. When you follow your heart, things will not go wrong. In the end, the right choice was made.
The only question that I have for Sherwood is: Who did you lose in order to write this book? I feel that to write about Charlie's character you would of had to experienced what he went through. Did he? What did Sherwood go through in order to write Charlie? A character that deep can only come through empathy.