Review of Surviving Chaos

[Charles Adebola]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Surviving Chaos" by Harold Phifer.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Surviving Chaos by Harold Phifer is truly a collection of emotional, fascinating and dramatic stories. By and large, the book exemplifies that tough times do not last but tough people do. Harold went through series of challenges and some untold scenarios growing up at Columbus, Mississippi because of his schizophrenic mother, lack of a father figure in his life, and of course Aunty Kathy’s terrible behaviors to his family. With all these, one could have thought that he was going to end up as a failure, but his unwavering determination to excel and resilience bailed him out of the sting of failure. Albeit, the challenges were heartbreaking, but on the flip side they made him confident, decisive and strong enough to overcome all the obstacles that he faced into adulthood.

Some of the amazing sides of the stories include Harold’s creativity and talents which he put to use at different points in his life. These put together contributed to his make-up as a full grown man who was able to deal with situations decisively. He believed there is always a way out of every difficult situation and he had his way through his challenges. Living this way would help a lot of people to get solutions to their challenges in life.

Furthermore, I found it quite exciting and impressive that Harold’s mother, Eliza popularly known as that crazy bicycle lady performed wonderfully well at the annual school talent show. This shows that there is always something good about everyone irrespective of their circumstances. Although, this may sound absurd but it is true. It may only take some time to discover.

Ordinarily as humans, we all want to be at peace and tranquility at all times and this played out well for the author who was able to find peace at the beach bar in Thailand by sharing the stories of the ups and downs of his life with a friend named Dylan. Harold Phifer was greatly relieved by that beach experience having gone through those psychological and physical traumas, particularly the Afghanistan bomb blast that was caused by the Taliban which could not be forgotten in a hurry. Of a truth, when we are at peace we enjoy mental stability which enhances our efficiency and productivity as individuals.

On the downside, the negative influence of Aunty Kathy on Harold’s elder brother, Jerry cannot be overemphasized. She pampered Jerry from childhood which affected his studies in a great manner. As a result, he grew up to become an irresponsible adult who always claimed to be entitled to things which he did not deserve. I believe that people should work to deserve whatever they desire, rather than looking up to others to always give them what they did not labor for or deserve. Plus, pampering a child does a lot of damages which can extend into the future of that child. So parents need to exercise some cautions in this regard.

Additionally, the Afghanistan explosion had a terrible turn on Harold’s life that he became so fearful by that awful encounter and he had to pray in the midst of the rubbles to have his life spared. Luckily, he made it and moved on in Thailand where he was terribly humiliated by some of his colleagues who wanted him out of his job. I know that this is a prevalent scenario that happens when a worker is seen differently from other colleagues, but it takes courage to scale through such hurdles. In this case, racism did not favor Harold in any way, but he survived it by being courageous. So courage is an essential tool for overcoming similar challenges. Besides, it is so sad that things like this do play out among humans instead of us to see one another as one and work together in unity.

At this juncture, I will like to say that I truly derived pleasure in reading the book, Surviving Chaos by Harold Phifer which is quite captivating and thought-provoking. It was professionally edited and the author presented the stories in such a way that one can easily follow through. I must say that it is a superb work and therefore I rate it four out of four stars. It is a good book that single parents, children, teachers and school administrators will learn from in no small measure.

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Surviving Chaos
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