Cancer & Death: A Love Story in Two Voices
By Rob Fatal
The American love story is a farce. Riddled with tales of desperation, apprehension and the subsequent delusional fairy tale ending, films, books and TV shows depicting “love” are probably responsible for the laziness and death of the American couple, marriage and love in general. But before you go giving up on finding an earnest love story, there is perhaps a glimmer of hope for love penned into one of the truest and darkest depictions of romance to date.
In their autobiographical book Cancer and Death: A Love Story in Two Voices, wife and husband Leah Vande Berg and Nick Trujillo attempt to resurrect true love in the pages of literature via a brutally candid first person chronicle of the couple’s journey through Leah’s last months with ovarian cancer.
Those seeking the poetic narrative of The Notebook or the quirky humor of Sleepless in Seattle should stay away from this work. While there are some instances of humor and poetic writing in Cancer and Death, the authors stick to hard reality conveyed through journal-style writing often lacking the flare of conventional fictitious writing, which may be problematic for some readers and refreshing for others. The premise of the book may also be harder for some readers to swallow: it is a story of two lovers from the time of their respective childhoods to their marriage, through the passing of co-author Vande Berg to the rebuilding and understanding reached by co-author Trujillo in the face of tragedy.
To the authors of the book, real love seems to be borne out of imperfection and struggle -- a notion far removed from mainstream American literature or cinema. Stories of brothels, drug use, falling from religion, an ample dose of profanity, bodily functions and decay lay a framework for this piece, capturing a more candid and complete picture of the modern day love story.
Cancer and Death is the modern day love story. If we could have watched the rest of When Harry Met Sally, would we have seen Harry 15 years down the road wiping the ass of Sally after her cancer ate away her intestines? Could he talk her through her death? Would they have the love and strength to face death together? These are questions that Cancer and Death confronts with unabashed honesty, doing so as an autobiography. Real love is not polished or perfect, but it is powerful and what we live for: this is the truth that Vande Berg and Truijillo uncover and present in their final work together.
|
