3 out of 4 stars
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This book is amazing. True, I downloaded it for a quick read. Yet, it had such a profound message. I do not think I have read anything which expresses something so meaningful in such an easy and quick way. However, I believe I face a lot of difficulties in giving it a proper review. The first thing is that it is too short to write a review and in contrast, it has too deep a message for me to analyse easily. The Banned Book About Love (whose original name was, I learned, ‘I Love Brock Turner’) is about how to forgive and love. The author has written it in such a beautiful way that is sure to inspire.
I am sure that most people are aware of the attempted rape committed by Brock Turner. Yes, according to his charges, he has only attempted rape and so will serve a sentence of 6 months (with a chance of parole after 3 months). The author of this transcendental book, Scott Hughes, does not press on this matter too much. That is a decision which I believe to be correct on his part, because other issues are more important. How do we treat a criminal? Do we treat him/her as a fellow human being?
What the author believes in is universal love. Is universal love so easy? Loving a criminal might be easy to say but not to show. Proving that true love is equal is probably just as difficult. The author quotes from Jesus Christ, Dr. Martin Luther King and his own sister, a rabbi. Yet, I believe that more quotes might have been necessary.
I understand the difficulties the author faced due to the title. Such a controversial title would easily trigger hate. Another problem was that since he dives into the topic immediately, it is hard for a commoner to comprehend his purpose. Most people would think wrongly of him. I suppose some might have thrown the book away as soon as reading the first page (considering they attempted to read it after seeing the title). I guess expressing love in its raw form is like that.
I believe that there was definitely room for improvement. Hence, I sadly rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The booklet has been beautifully written and I have tried to compare it as a memoir to an article. The places I believe the author could have improved upon: a slight introduction to the topic before delving into universal love (without, of course, describing the crime in detail which neither I nor he would’ve liked), more quotes from significant people (or commoners), more stress upon why we should love one another and alternative suggestions to ‘cure’ a criminal rather than to ‘punish’. I guess the suggestion of changing the original title is not that advisable, but there would have definitely been less hate from the readers. I wish the author the best of luck in life and hope he has this courage and patience forever.
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The Banned Book about Love
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