Author: Mark Curl
This novel tells us about a young man who is called Mark. Generally, it tells us about the complexity of Mark’s life. He mostly found instability in his young age. Especially in his time in study and the way he interacted with other people. His life ran on two specific parts, playing volleyball as his choice and studying science as his parent’s choice. He was a kind of sensitive person. He easily felt abandoned and lonely. Since he was a child, he has been left by his parents to study. The only one who accompanied his life and motivated him was his brother, David. But, sadly, David had no long life. Because of an unidentified disease, that was called viral attack, his life ended soon. Mark became more depressed and mostly felt doubt in his life. Although he was very attracted to volleyball game, he fulfilled his mother’s hope to continue his study in science field. At first, he didn’t want; because he thought that his ability was not capable to face science. He felt that he will never be as clever as his brother, David. However, he accepts to learn science. Consequently, he lives his life in science faculty at university with such an empty heart. He always thought against towards his lecturers. If he cannot understand what they explain, he judged them as incompatible educators. He walked on his days by his own paths. He really did not have any spirit in enjoying the study. At breaking time, he chose to walk aimless alone, sometimes looking hopelessly to the group of some students who really dedicated themselves in science study. He felt so strange and thought all of his studies might be will not be applied and just became unnecessary things, because we do not know when our death is. He thought that might be we will die before we got some chances to apply our knowledge. The result was his first days in university flowed unwell. His ignorance feeling covered him tightly. He really felt that he had none and nothing. There was no motivation, pleasant, and care from his family. The only thing that probably could make him happy was the way to home.
However, as a young man, he had received some knowledge from his father, who was a perfectionist in everything he did, and who had always succeeded, with dedication and enormous ability, in obtaining the most from his inventiveness by reinvesting it each time in new experiences. He and David had always tried to imitate him, but they lacked a fundamental feature, i.e. the mainspring that had always guided their father's behavior, which was, the need to give his sons a better life than he had had. But, sometimes under several circumstances, Mark felt that no one could give him that support and that, in order to achieve his dream, he would first need to understand the meaning of the words application and dedication. In his heart, he felt that he had the strength to express himself at a higher level, but he also knew very well that he had not yet learned the right way to apply himself: he was still too moody, disorganized and, at times, distracted.
But, time after time was spent out. He learned through his family. And, he met a girl that had been in his brother’s life before. That girl attracted him and could change the way he thought in his life. She gave him a lot of concrete and abstract of life meaning. He had picked up a lesson from her that his weigh thinking just as such immaturity. He realized that everyone had his own problem. He became motivated to attend the lecture. He got his power in living his life again. He found how meaningful his parents’ hope on him. Besides, there were a lot of people concerning on him. He was not alone. He decided to interact closer to the circumstance, although he still took some gap. Later, he decided to be a person who had always managed to survive, but, when the opportunity had come to leave his studies for an athletic career as a professional volleyball player, he did not think twice about it. He was not cut out to be a student. He had stayed in school. However, to obtain a diploma so that he would not displease his parents too much, and then he had become an athlete.
Again, he met a kind of wise person, who had felt some difficulties in his life, Eric. He learned from him that the education we received, which was the same for everyone, was rather good in readiness to pass on these some fundamental principles to our own families or life in the future.
At last, he understood that the choice that stood before him was not between two noble ideals such as “sports” or “science”. Regardless of the choice he would make, the roads he would take in life would lead to a life made of encounters with other people, joy and pain to be shared with others, and to be lived intensely with them, so that “the choice” would take on the role of extra, while the real leading role would be played by him and by the people he would meet during the course of his life.
The moral value of this novel is clearly constructed, that the choice does not lay between two subjects, but it lies in those two subjects. Whatever we choose, if we want to be success on that thing, we must remember that that success would be based on our choice in enduring it.