Written from scratch by Junic Andy So – Meston Ecoa
No assistance was received from any form of Artificial Intelligence.
No assistance was received from any grammar or vocabulary enhancing software.
One Paragraph Review
contains no spoilers
It was when I was around seven when I popped this question to my mother. I remember the phrasing too. It was “If we are all going to die one day, why do we live?” Lulu too, asked something similar to her father at the age of seven. Over the years I have come up with my version of the answer to the question. On mother’s day from 4 years ago, I had curiously written what I would say if my child or loved ones would come to me with the same question. I had great fun digging that diary up and comparing it to where Lulu arrived. It was almost exactly the same place. Then could it be said that I had less to gain from this book? I guess it’s not entirely false but not completely true as well. The way she would extract wisdom from observing the world and the way she connects the dots in her signature way made the read more than worthwhile. I was in awe from the amount of research she conducted, backed by the lengthy reference section at the end. I was mesmerized by her storytelling and the vivid expressions. Besides, I would not mind a sense check on others’ take on the question every once in a while.
Recommendation for Readers
contains no spoilers
Peer into Lulu’s approach to “what’s the meaning of life?” Some only occasionally visit this question. Some get drowned in it. Perhaps some people have never thought about it. Whichever case you are, you will be drawn into the casual storytelling of this piece from a current radio host. Without resorting to mundane philosophical jargons, she simply tells her story. One that you could easily find relatable. The book is a giant analogy on its own. However, each section does not just stop at functioning as a means to her answering the existential question. It also presents independently captivating topics such as history, love, semantics, and the randomest of all-taxonomy, that will keep you entertained for the whole duration, right from the cover. “Why wouldn’t fish exist?”, you’ll wonder. Does this sound like something you feel like reading?
One Paragraph Summary
contains spoilers
Lulu struggles to get out of her apparent misery. However, she cannot outrun Chaos. Her sense of futility and the insurmountable question of “What is the meaning of life” have impaired her compass with which to navigate forward. Once discouraged by her father’s answer that simply all humans don’t matter, she seeks inspiration from David Starr Jordan, an American taxonomist from the late 1800s. While his vigorous drive in life as well as in the pursuit of finding order among Earth’s organisms, especially fish, is admirable, she is unsuccessful transmuting its essence to herself. Although discouraged, she notices one of David’s mantra – the spell of self-efficacy and optimism that he casts on himself. David, like her father, preached the futility of an individual man to nature, but employed something quite the opposite. She exposes the side-effects of these delusional self-affirmations through David’s conducts in his later years. He is questionably involved with the death of Jane Stanford as well as thousands of babies through his propagation of eugenics. In this journey she discovers that in the interconnected relationships that humans establish, we occupy a presence that matters to one another. In essence, we matter.
Source
• book cover photo: shot myself
