3 out of 5 stars
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This book is filled with different stories, poems, and rhymes, which aren’t always very positive. Have you ever been depressed before? Can you feel it coming on, or is it just BAM, and you are in this hole? How do you get out of it again? The stories in this book made me think a lot, and although life is full of ups and downs, it always goes on. This means that no matter how bad the storms, the sun will shine again. For how long, though, no one knows, so you need to enjoy life while it is here. Through the stories and poems in this book, we receive an insight into the mind of a manic-depressive (bipolar) person. He has been manic-depressive for 40 years of his life and wrote his first poem when he was only twelve years old.
It seems to me that some of the biggest triggers for David were being alone and not being able to reach his friends. He only wanted to love someone and return that love in full. He believes that love is a desire and not a need. He believes that happiness and health would follow if everyone simply loved one another. The question of what love is was asked, and I loved the answer to that. You can easily see in these writings how important a strong support structure is. If you only have yourself to rely on when things get difficult, it is very easy to fall deeper into this black hole. This can then lead to a lot of very negative thoughts, or even the taking of your own life. It is a very scary illness, but with the correct medication and support, it is possible to live an almost normal life.
The book started with a theatrical and dramatic play but jumped between different stories and poems, which confused me quite a bit as I had no idea how they linked together. There was a lot of rhyming, which helped the flow of the stories. Later, the book became like a diary with entries about his life, although they were not always in chronological order. I think this is to help us see into the mind of someone who is bipolar and to try and understand them, or at least what they go through each day, a bit better. There were a lot of thoughts in this book that made me think, and I especially liked this bit on page 56: "Riches are only in the eye of the beholder! Sometimes you have more before you think you have anything at all." I agree with this statement completely.
I enjoyed this book a lot, even though it was quite confusing at times. Some of the poems and stories were very depressing (which is the reason for this book), but there were also a lot of truths and eye-openers to be caught. Some of the stories’ endings surprised me and made me cringe and laugh at the same time. Have you ever had that dream of falling and falling, then suddenly being startled awake? There was a story about this as well, with a twisted ending. I absolutely loved the "Secrets to Happiness" on page 165. There is a lot to learn from this list, and I do believe it will help with happiness and even just a more peaceful life. The honesty in this book caused my heart to ache and made it possible to put myself in his shoes.
I would rate Bi-Polaroid by David Samuelson 3 out of 5 stars. Although this book was very intriguing with a lot of thought-provoking sayings, there were a lot of errors in it. I do believe this book needs to be thoroughly edited. I would recommend this book to mature teenagers and adults. There were a few references to sex, but nothing descriptive. If you know someone who is depressed or bipolar, I would definitely suggest this book to you to get a better understanding of how their minds work.
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Bi-Polaroid
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