See You On The Other Side

Commentary

Hello guys!

It's been a while since I finished this book. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I loved translating it and adding some emotional embellishments to make it better.

But this particular book is not for the casual readers. If you just read this and did not go deeper to what the texts presented... you did not read this book effectively at all. That said, you might not be part of my target audience.

I gave one easter egg in one of my end-of-chapter notes as a clue. In the first chapter, the painting the Forth perused and got fascinated with in Beam's exhibit was a foreshadowing of Beam's psyche. It read as follows:

"...it pictures a child in chains. He was in tears but you can sense a great fury deep within those eyes. If you stare at it longer, you'll see subtle glimmer of lights as if signifying hope. But gaze at it longer, I felt like our world was drowing in the nothingness enveloping the whole thing. And I realized, those little shimmer actually comes from the eyes of a demon lurking in the background. It devoured all the remaining hope, leaving only despair in one's heart."

The painting was basically Beam with his inner demon. It all comes full circle when he spewed out his heart while he was looking for Forth in the warehouse. I was hoping someone will go back to the first chapter and read it then come back to comment to say something about but no one indulged me.

But to discuss, Beam was the most pitiful character in this story. He deserved his fucking time with Forth in the afterlife because his mortal life was terrible.

- He longed for a family. This was evident with the wall mural he showed Forth. But we learned that his mother left their family for another man. His father hated him and will have sex with him when drunk. It was the only time that he felt that his father loved him. He then eventually watched his father kill himself. His mother didn't recognize him and forced them to be in a relationship. After they consummated, he killed her himself. He even made a painting to show the terror in his mother's face while he killed her. Yeah. That's fucked up.

- Forth, the only man he wanted, made him taste bliss but then eventually rejected him. Those who haven't felt the pain of rejection can never imagine how much this hurt Beam. It drove him to desperation and it spiralled out to deep despair and anger.

On the other hand, Forth's true struggle was not mentioned directly. But I can tell you that the root of his problems was only one issue: he denied his sexuality. That's the reason why he got curious with what it's like to be with Beam which eventually led to the collapse of his supposedly perfect life.

This book was written to be a tragedy. Hence, the scarlet colored letters in the book cover. I think the emotional embelishment I added were to much effective that I even cry whenever I read them. I practically rewrote the last two chapters of this book because the source material failed to give it the depth it required. But let's give credit to the original author as he was able to give a proper descriptions to his characters that's why I was able to tap into the needed emotions to make his story even more tragic and emotional.

That said, I was shocked to have received some comments pitying other characters not just ForthBeam. I mean, how? More importantly... why?

Granted, the initial comment about it is from a reader that tends to comment unnecessary things. You can check out his comments if you don't believe me. I called him out on some insensitive ones. It might be the language barrier but I don't care, learn to effectively communicate.

Going back... Someone actually agreed with him with the pity that he felt for Sammy and the kids. I was mindblown! I cannot fathom it. Really. I just cannot.

I asked the reasons why the other one agreed but I couldn't get a proper response. I mean, Beam died unloved. Forth died by heartbreak yet they sti have pity left for side characters?

That's the sad thing about tragedies. The main characters die in the end. That's the end of their story. There is a sense of finality. Meanwhile, Sammy and the kids are alive. Sammy might have remarried and is happy. So are the kids. But ForthBeam are both dead. Why pity those who are still alive?

I simply cannot find the logic in it. I gave up in replying the reader because he/she gave me a generic reason that there are people with different views. Probably cannot defend his/her answer so I just stopped responding. I genuinely wanted to get their explanation because I truly want to get the logic behind it. If you share their views, please do enlighten me.

Let me put it this way. I presumed you guys read or at least know about the most famous love story of all time and at the same time it's a tragedy, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespear. When Romeo and Juliet died by suicide, did you also felt pity for the family they left behind? If so, why?

It's the same thing as the issue that we have that they felt pity for Sammy rather than the main characters who died. Please do satisfy my curiosity if you share the same pity with Sammy.

In the end, I just concluded that they may be one of those who just read this story at face value. Because I tell you, if you were able to grasp how tragic ForthBeam lives were, you will pity them, no one else.