http://www.hongniba.com.cn/bookclub/images/books/book_20005176_b.jpg
I don’t like Korean dramas very much. To be more precise, I know almost nothing about them because I have never watched more than five minutes.
So when a friend strongly recommended that there was a very touching book “My Dear Orange Tree” featured in a very popular Korean drama “Little Women”, I nodded and said it sounded like a very good book, but I was thinking in my heart that this book might only be very good to a limited extent.
But my friend wouldn’t give up and insisted on discussing the book with me in person, recounting several stories from it. When he told me about the five-year-old boy, Zeze, who didn’t get a present at Christmas and said something that hurt his poor father’s heart, and then dragged his shoe-shine box out to the street to earn money to buy his father a pack of cigarettes as a Christmas present, I thought it was a truly wonderful story. He also told me how one day, Zeze saw his father looking downcast, just like on Christmas Day, and to comfort him, he started singing a pop song he’d learned, the opening line being “I want a naked girl…” This cheered up his father, who then beat him up while he sang… Thus, his father was “killed” by himself… Fortunately, there was the talking orange tree and “Old Grape,” but in the blink of an eye, they too became a thing of the past… A child under six was forced to grow up.
Finally, I couldn’t resist the temptation and opened the book. The first two chapters were quite soothing, and I felt like I could put it down at any time. But once I read on, I couldn’t put it down. So, one weekend morning, I sent my wife and daughter out and enjoyed this gentle story alone.
The author is a master storyteller. At first, the story is just a gentle caress and tugs at the heartstrings, but gradually, the magic blossoms in the extremely ordinary daily life, yet it is also deeply helpless. So, in the astonishment and admiration, the heart surges, wave after wave, until at the climax, it is completely lost in the self, unable to control oneself…
Before my daughter went to bed that night, I told her to read a new story. She wanted to listen to “The Lord of the Rings,” but I told her to listen to “My Sweet Orange Tree” first. Don’t you have a tree too?
So I started reading the first chapter to her. It felt incredibly familiar to start over again, and even the first chapter, which I’d initially thought was a bit slow, became incredibly engaging. My daughter was so tired from playing that she fell asleep before she even finished the first chapter. But I still finished reading it aloud because I now had another listener.
The lady said the story sounded really interesting, and then she picked it up and continued reading.
Later I said, it’s late, let’s read it tomorrow. She said, OK, finish this chapter, finish this chapter…
When she woke up the next day, she told me sleepily that she had finished reading the book in one sitting. I asked her how she felt, and she said she cried her eyes out.
Well, I said, that’s exactly what this book is like.
“Life without tenderness is meaningless.”
Written on June 11, 2010, Red Mud
【Supplementary Note】
If I had to recommend three books for Father’s Day, I’d go with “My Dad,” “Dancing,” and “My Dear Orange Tree.” If I could only recommend one, it would be “My Dear Orange Tree.” It’s a novel suitable for both children and adults, and I think it’s on par with “Little Miss Window” and “Charlotte’s Web” in this genre. The story features two fathers: one is the biological father who tragically destroys himself in his child’s eyes, and the other remains forever “Dad” in his child’s heart… I think it’s worth reading for every father, and for anyone who wants to explore the true nature of “dad.” Of course, this masterpiece is much more than that. Also, it’s best to read it alone, and have plenty of tissues handy…
