Let Regrets Go - Review of Before I Fall

Let Regrets Go

--Review of Before I fall

Before I fall is a famous novel written by Lauren Oliver in 2010. It was recognized as one of the Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly. It has been optioned for film by Fox 2000 Pictures.

What if I had only one day to live? What would I do? These two questions kept confusing me through my whole reading.

For the narrator, Samantha Kingston, a 17-year-old girl, Cupid Day should be a big party, a day of valentines and roses. But she wouldn’t know her life would go to the end. On the way home from the party, she died in a terrible car accident. However, she woke up the following morning. She was given a chance to relive the last day of her life during one miraculous week.

On the first day, she suffered the unbelievable reality that she relived the Cupid Day. On the second day, all she wanted to do was to escape from the reality. She tried to convince herself that her ridiculous experience was just an illusion. On the third day, she tried preventing things from happening, but she found that what she had done was all in vain. On fourth day, she became desperate and decided to do nothing. On the fifth day, she retrospect her short life and thought about how to continue the life journey if she had a second chance. On the sixth day, she relieved and accepted her death. And she began to learn self-control. And on the seventh day, she regarded her family as her first priority. Now that things which have happened were unchangeable, at least she should try her best not to leave more regrets.

‘Maybe for you there’s one thousand tomorrows, or three thousands tomorrows, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around in it, let it slide like coins through your fingers. So much time you can waste it. But for some of us there’s only today. And the truth is, you never really know.’① After her death, Sam finally realized there was not enough time for her to waste. Minutes are slipping by at the speed we cannot control. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. ② It is said that just before we die our whole life flashes before our eyes. What would occur to you at the last moment of your life? The first thing will occur to you may be not the successful achievements you have made, but the regrets.

Few of us think of the value we want to realize in our short life, simply because we never face death, and we believe the time left is enough for us to squander. Sometimes we forget that the future is unpredictable. Maybe destiny will play a trick on you. What if you died the next minute? Isn’t it too late to review your life when you are dying? Death itself is not dreadful. The really dreadful thing is leaving the world with regrets. The reason why Sam finally said that the moment of death is full of sound and warmth and light is that she realized her value without regrets. I extremely appreciate the words that Steve Jobs once said in his speech: Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. ③ 

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