Unexploded
Unexploded
By
I have rated it 3/5.
Now, why am I giving it a 3? Let me try to give a reasonable explanation here.
Usually when I rate any book 3, it's either because the plot wasn't good, or this book didn't get enough attention from my side for me to finish this book in few sittings.
So was it the former or latter?
It was.. kinda both :|
Usually when I take time to 'read' a book, I totally blame myself because maybe it's me who has to get 'used' to such writing, and for most part of reading, this was true.
But later I'm not sure even the plot took a different turn, and it got me wondering.. yes, this indeed does deserve a 3.
So there's this Beaumont family. Evelyn, Geoffrey and Phillip.
The war has started, and Geoffrey becomes superintendent of the enemy alien camp.
Geoffrey is prepared for everything, he even lets Evelyn know that he may have to leave them.
Leave them, which he has never done before.
He even gives her 2 pills, to make use of as a last resort.
It's for.. we know what.
Evelyn is naturally devastated. Because it's war.
It changes everything, and it actually did.
It slowly took this family apart.
Evelyn meets Otto, a German-Jewish painter in her husband's camp, and their initial distrust turns into something else later. Her husband, I'm not sure, got tired of this war and everything? He almost thought he's in love with someone else, until he realised he didn't at all. Did that make sense to you?
Yeah, not to me either.
And Phillip. Their 9 year old kid, takes up friendship with the other kids who have gone lil wild amidst this war. Their company ruined his innocence so much, he couldn't distinguish what is right and isn't right anymore.
So entire book was pretty much about it. How this war had completely changed his family.
Evelyn realises her husband had been keeping a mistress. She refuses to forgive him. Eventually does, but decided to not forget.
She thought she loves him, but I guess the moment her husband cheated on her, the last knot which connected their bond was weakened for good. She couldn't love him again.
And why couldn't she? Because she had fallen for someone else by then. Otto Gottlieb. Her husband is shattered by this revelation, but at this point, he only begs and hopes Evelyn "loves" him again.
But before that, we are not sure if this was done intentionally or otherwise, he let's Otto find a job for himself, which ends up being the reason he lost his life.
(AANND, I realized this while writing this review the the title of the books makes sense at THIS point! "Unexploded". The unexploded bomb which ended up killing Otto. But why was this the title? Not sure. Any hidden meaning behind this, at this point my brain cannot think of much)
Evelyn is devastated. And so is Geoffrey, as he realises Evelyn isn't his anymore.
And poor Phillip's childhood is pretty much ruined as well. Being in the wrong company, ending up killing a human being (Clarence, and not being accounted for that at all!) and observing how his parent's relationship is slowly falling apart.
That was it. The entire story. I was trying to figure out any hidden meaning behind this. The only conclusion I came up with is.. that War changes everything.
People, life, everything.
The writing was poetic though, no doubt. Loved when I found many relatable quotes in here.
Will drop one of them which I liked the most.
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"There must be another life, here and now. This is too short, too broken. We know nothing, even about ourselves."
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