Mixed Emotions
1August 19, 2011 by travelingsole
How can you love and hate something at the same time? How is it possible for a human to have completely opposite emotions simultaneously? Are love and hate opposites?
I just finished reading the book “My Name is Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok. I will not spoil the book by telling you what happens. That book stirred a lot of emotions in me. Small laughs, some tears, contentment, rage, warm fuzzy feelings, and lots and lots of frustration. I’m not sure whether I love or hate the book.
At the beginning, I couldn’t read slow enough. When I run across a really good book, I like to read it slowly. I want to make it last as long as possible. I want to get every word.
By the end, I was reading fast to get it over. I almost didn’t finish. I could sense an ending that didn’t bring any satisfaction. But now that it’s done, I want to start at the beginning and read it again.
Is it possible for a human to have completely opposite emotions simultaneously?
Karli
Traveling.Sole 
You read “My Name is Asher Lev”?? Sigh. Yes, it’s wonderful. And horrible. I loved it because I identified with Asher a mad lot. Reading the first part of the book was like discovering a language I had forgotten to speak. Growing up can train the sensitivity and artistry from a person, and seeing the world through Asher’s eyes took me on a trip back to my childhood. But I hated it because it seemed there was never any solution to the problems Asher’s gift caused him and his community. Hurt seemed inevitable, and Asher didn’t have any proof that the only way that seemed plain to him WAS the right one. I hated it because I was still hoping that, one day, even in this messy, beautiful world, I would know how to do what is “for sure” the “right thing”. But didn’t King Arthur say, “Only fools never doubt.”? And didn’t Jesus wrestle with himself and the Father in the garden before the terrible even He knew was inevitable? Maybe feeling stong, opposing emotions (and being able to express them) has a lot to do with being humbly and gloriously human. Thanks for the book review!!