When I first opened the book, I was a little confused – the story after the death of a little boy? Will it be too sad? Will the whole person sink after reading it? I even thought about preparing a pack of paper towels.
What about the result? I was like sitting on a sunny grass. The wind was soft and the grass was green. There was a little boy with a light voice sitting next to me. He shook his legs and said to you, “Hey, don’t worry. Death is actually not that terrible.”
It has a completely unprepared beginning: a little boy named Harry died in an accidental car accident. It’s that simple. Don’t sell it badly, don’t be sentimental, and even a little understated. Then he found himself standing in an empty place, next to rows of desks, and everyone was queuing up to register. It’s like going to an amusement park to buy tickets. An old guy next to him told him that the gentle blue over there, called “the other side of the sky blue”, probably won’t come back if he goes there. But Harry is not ready yet. He has a wish: to return to the world and say goodbye to those who are still alive.
The process of reading this book is wonderful. It drags you back and forth into two worlds: one is the world after death, where it is quiet and empty, and everyone is moving towards their own end; the other is the home, school and town where Harry once lived, where the sun rises as usual, and life goes by as usual, but one person is missing. You followed Harry’s soul on the familiar street, saw your classmates playing football on the playground, saw the teachers in class, and saw other people’s clothes hanging on the hook of your coat. There is a sense of loss that “the world is still spinning without me”. It is written lightly, but it hits your heart heavily.
I remember one scene very clearly: when Harry returned to his home, he saw his sister Yadang sitting alone in the room, staring at a wall in a daze. Harry remembered that he had quarreled with his sister before he died and said something particularly cruel: “If I die one day, you will definitely regret it.” Now this sentence has really come true. He looked at his sister’s tears and wanted to reach out and hug her, but his hand passed through her shoulder. At this time, the powerlessness of “the person is standing in front of you, but you can never touch her again” made me cry in an instant. But this book didn’t make you cry all the time. The author seemed to calculate your mood. When your tears were about to fall, he gently pulled you back with a warm little detail.
Of course, if it’s just about warmth, this book can be regarded as tear gas at most. The reason why it is special is that it talks about “death” without fear at all. On the other side of the blue, there are friends who can still chat together after death, cats that can possess you, and magic that can write a letter to your family through the light of the street lamp. It doesn’t make you afraid to say goodbye, but to make you understand that before saying goodbye, say what you should say, forgive the person you should forgive, and hold the person you should hug tightly.
At the end, when you read that Harry finally came to the blue and said “Okay, I’m ready”, you wouldn’t cry. You would think – well, almost there, that’s all.
It’s warm, but not sensational; it talks about death, but it’s all about life.
The moment I closed the book, I didn’t cry, but my heart was stuffy and warm. I think of a friend I haven’t contacted for a long time, my parents who said something angry when I hung up the phone last time, and my sister who always quarreled with me. Then I picked up my mobile phone and sent a message one by one: “It’s nothing. I just miss you.”
This book can be read by an eight-year-old child and an eighty-year-old grandmother. It reminds all readers to live well. After reading it, you will understand what The Great Blue Yonder means – that is not the end, it is the gentle and bright place that everyone will go to in the end. And now, while you are still here, while they are still here, let’s talk about your love.
