PAIN 

 

Literature


The Power of Now

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This book explains is all we got, right now, all of us are in this room this is all that exists. There’s nothing out there, there’s nothing over there, this is all we have. When you move from the now into the next place, that will be a now then. Buddhists concentrate on now and the beauty of now. There is a part of you and when you understand it it becomes still. And when you become still then everything makes sense and falls into place and there is no more noise. There’s no more confusion and no more fear, Most of us tend to constantly think about the past should would could what’s going to happen, who am I going to marry; In reality there is no past. Past are former memory traces of former “nows”, they don’t exist. The future is not here; it will never get here. But if the future does come, it is coming as a “now”, which you’re not going to pay any attention to because you are over here. And he said I studied under 7 Zen Masters, all of them count. If you look at a cat or a dog all they do is live in the now, they play they eat they wash they sleep its right now they aren’t worrying about what’s going to happen, and we should take time to notice this. Pain is just not about how you feel, what makes you upset, its about being able to embrace and enjoy life once your fears are eliminated

The Secret

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"The Secret" is a book about the "Law of Attraction" which is a theory that the universe can sense what your mind fixates on.  Whatever it is that the universe senses you thinking about the most, it thinks that you want it to happen, so that wll happen.  It kind of relates to the idea that if you have a positive outlook for a day, the day will go well.In our experimental, we tested an old experiment that went like this: You take 7 bottles of water. On three of them you write positive words and on the other three you write bad harmful words. On the other bottle you place a Buddha. Scientists studied these samples and after leaving them out for people to se for hours, the crystals of the "hate words" were ugly and unattractive, the crystals for the "good words" were beautiful and under the Buddha were even more beautiful water crystals. 

Siddhartha

A literary character that suicide can allude to is Siddhartha.  When he goes through a time where materialism takes over his previously spiritual mindset, he finds himself on the edge of a river, nauseated by the sight of himself and ready to plunge in.  He then hears the holy "OM" and decides not to, but, as is apparent by our world today, the "OM" is not always there as prevention. 

Chanda's Secrets

A painful disease that people will put off finding out about is HIV/AIDS.  People will put off being tested for this disease because they may not want to believe that they have it, and hearing it will force them to know. The fact that there is no cure makes it even more difficult to hear because you know you can never get rid of it. The pain associated with AIDS is evident in the book Chanda’s Secrets, in which Allen Stratton tells about Chanda, a teenage girl, and her community.  In her community, HIV had been spreading with increasing rapidity. Eventually, it becomes clear that the disease has hit home for her.  Her mother, sister, step-father, and best friend all get the STD, resulting in death for three of them by the end of the story. Those without AIDS in Chanda’s community treated those that were suspected to have it like lepers.  They avoided them and even made a mob scene outside of Chanda’s house.

Before I Fall  
By: Lauren Oliver 

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Beautiful, popular Samantha and her three best friends are the ruthless queen bees of their high school. But Samantha is living a nightmare: throughout the book, she relives the day of her death seven times, with some dramatic alterations and revelations depending on her choices—ditching school to spend time with her younger sister or, on a day when life’s rules have all but lost their meaning, seducing a teacher. She faces the often tragic consequences of even the smallest acts, awakens to the casual cruelties all around her, and tries to get things right and maybe even redeem herself.

Prizewinner of Defiance Ohio 
By: Terry Ryan

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Married to a man with violent tendencies and a severe drinking problem, Evelyn Ryan managed to keep her 10 children fed and housed during the 1950s and '60s by entering--and winning--contests for rhymed jingles and advertising slogans of 25-words-or-less. This engaging and quick-witted biography written by daughter Terry relates how Evelyn submitted multiple entries, under various names, for contests sponsored by Dial soap, Lipton soup, Paper Mate pens, Kleenex Tissues and any number of other manufacturers, and won a wild assortment of prizes, including toasters, bikes, basketballs, and all-you-can-grab supermarket shopping sprees. Sometimes she even hit the jackpot, as when a Beech Nut jingle contest netted a Triumph TR3 sports car, a jukebox, a trip to New York and an appearance on the Merv Griffin show. But the Ryans' means were so limited that even a $25 prize was an economic boon. Between contests, Ryan provides dry-eyed glimpses of her father's violence, family medical emergencies and the crushing poverty of everyday life, showcasing the resilience of a mother who, despite her own problems, spurned television's Queen for a Day for making victims of its contestants.

From Publisher Weekly

A Child Called "It"
By: Dave Pelzer

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David Pelzer wrote this autobiography about his alleged childhood abuse by his mother.  He had other siblings, and none were abused like he was; there's no telling why he was chosen, but any explanation would just have to be that his mother was an alcoholic.  His abuse varied in severity, going from extra chores, to family exclusion, to being burned, beaten, or stabbed.  Child abuse is sickening and traumatizing, and this book tells about the true story of a terrible child abuse case in California.

The Odyssey
By: Homer

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Homer's account of the adventures of Odysseus has stood at the center of classical literature for centuries. It is a sweeping story of a great warrior who wanders the world, but also an intensely domestic tale of a loving husband's struggle to protect an enduring union with his faithful wife. Meticulously studied and commented upon by innumerable scholars, The Odyssey remains, nonetheless, a uniquely personal literary experience, startling each new generation of readers with its excitement, its drama, and its remarkably contemporary hero. In the Odyssey, we see our hero Odysseus deal with the pain and struggle on his adventure finally returning home. We get the image of war and his untrustworthy crew. We see pain in relationships when Penelope is upset waiting for him, Telemachus wanting to see his father, Circe and Calypso having issues with the men, and much more. We see the physical pain of the crew getting eating and torn to shreds. We also encounter emotional pain when Odysseus is crying on the rock and finally breaks down. Also, we see how his men rape the women of the town, this can cause permanent trauma to these people, but back then this is what men would do at war. 

Gilgamesh.

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One of the oldest and most universal stories known in literature, the epic of Gilgamesh presents the grand, timeless themes of love and death, loss and reparations within the stirring tale of a hero-king and his doomed friend. Loss is a very difficult concept to understand unless it occurs to you, and even then it's hard to understand other's feelings of loss.  This can be seen in the book Gilgamesh about the relationship between Gilgamesh and his possible "soulmate", Enkidu.  When we lose someone that we loved and changed our lives so much, it can cause great amounts of pain.  Enkidu changed Gilgamesh's perspective of everything, and it's completely understandable that he was distraught. 

Siddhartha
By: Hermann Hesse

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In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of his life -- the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom. When he goes through a time where materialism takes over his previously spiritual mindset, he finds himself on the edge of a river, nauseated by the sight of himself and ready to plunge in.  He then hears the holy "OM" and decides not to, but, as is apparent by our world today, the "OM" is not always there as prevention.

The Book Thief
By: Markus Zusak

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It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. Set during World War II in Germany, this groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist—books. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul. While it is a story of Nazi Germany, it goes beyond the horrors of war, and tells of the life and joy of a child, in the midst of the deaths surrounding her. 

By The Time You Read This I'll Be Dead
By: Julie Anne Peters

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Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she's determined to get her death right.  She starts visiting a website for "completers"- www.through-the-light .com.  While she's on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten.  When she's not on the Web, Daelyn's at her private school, where she's known as the freak who doesn't talk. Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she's waiting to for her parents to pick her up.  Even though she's made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won't give up.  And it's too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life.isn't it? This book is eye opening and gives you another look on how people treat others.


Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls
By: Emilie Autumn

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This book is positively packed with hand-written memoirs, photos, and paintings, this profoundly empowering epic not only deserves a place on your tea table, it is also one of the most complete accounts of bipolar disorder ever penned, and will take readers behind the doors of both modern day psych ward and Victorian insane asylum in this true life horror tale of madness, murder, and medical experimentation.



If I Forget Thee, Oh Earth
By: Arthur C. Clarke

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This is a story about a boy named Marvin who is forced to leave his home planet. Marvin and his father are sent to the moon because Earth has just been contaminated with nuclear weapons. It is unsafe to live on earth so both Marvin and his dad go to the moon hoping to finally return to Earth. Loosing everything on Earth is a great deal of pain. Marvin had lost the rest of his family, friends, and everything that got left behind. The only memory he holds is looking at the glowing Earth. Experiencing loss and the end of the human race is indeed very painful, but Marvin’s dad tells him about surviving on the Moon so one day they will return. With hope for returning Marvin can try to cope with his pain. Also, nuclear war is another very painful and dangerous experience and with the weapons we have today we are at risk of an extinction of humanity. 


It's Hard to Keep a Secret When It's Written All Over Your Body
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Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen-year- old Willow's parents drank too much wine and asked her to drive them home. They never made it—Willow lost control of the car and her parents died in the accident. Now she has left behind her old home, friends, and school, and blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she begins an intense, life-changing relationship that turns her world upside down.

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