Mend The Living by Maylis de Kerangal

Author : Maylis de Kerangal
Title : Mend The Living
Published : 2014
Publisher : MacLehose Press
Pages : 240
Genre : Contemporary Fiction

      In the depths of a winter's night, the heart of Simon Limbeau is resting, readying itself for the day to come. In a few hours' time, just before six, his alarm will go off and he will venture into the freezing dawn, drive down to the beach, and go surfing with his friends. A trip he has made a hundred times and yet, today, the heart of Simon Limbeau will encounter a very different course. But for now, the black-box of his body is free to leap, swell, melt and sink, just as it has throughout the years of Simon's young life. 5.50 a.m. This is his heart. And here is its story.

     This was a book I felt very drawn to, there is a great deal about this world that is still a mystery to me. When it comes to transplants my knowledge is very limited. while I myself am a donor on record it has always been a thought pushed to the back of my mind. I figure when the time comes and if the condition are right I won't really be here anymore. But what about my family, those having to bear witness. How do you let go knowing they still have a pulse, even if they are brain dead. It is one very big question to have to think about. How do you begin to grieve all the while knowing your loved one's body is being cut up to save another. Does it make it somehow easier, the thought that even in your darkest hour some light may shine down on another's anonymous life?

     This is not a book of unknown bodies and a heart as some sort of thing. The author takes us into the world of our donor. In flashes, we get to learn not only who Simon is but those that care about him. He is brought to life before our very eyes. It made me care about him in a way I had not really been expecting. I got to form an attachment to him, which only makes it so much harder as we already know what is to come for someone cut down far too soon. It is an odd thing to look in on someone's life as it slips away. To see that anyone's life can be gone in a blink of an eye. But it is also the flip side. To be introduced to the recipient, someone who just wants to be around to see next week. All the while that dark thought that in order for you to live someone else must die. 

     This is a book of heartbreaks. One we must live through with these people. The author does such a beautiful job in trying to convey all the emotions from both sides of the fence. In some ways, she truly captures the nature of human existence. We all have this inbuilt drive to live to make out hearts keep beating. One that I fully acknowledge takes a great deal to get to the point of not wanting it to anymore. It is safe to say it gave me pause for thought, what would I be like should I have to make that decision for someone else. This whole book is a ticking time bomb, will the heart get to where it needs to be and will it, in fact, do what is being asked of it. For me, it was a book that hooked its claws in deep. But I also acknowledge that her style will not be to everyone's liking. It is very stripped back and she doesn't get lost in the metaphors of everything. For me this really did work, there is a starkness to what is to take place. It is still rattling around inside my head a day after I finished it. How this thing that is buried inside my chest could one day be in another's. It is something that is so real and tangible but at the same time so very alien.  

     This is one of those books I could go on about for a lifetime. But I have no wish to take away from anyone who will go one to read it. It is a book that seems to have cut deep into me and one I will not shake for a good long while. Should you choose to give it a go I can only hope you get an experience from it like mine.