Book review: Turning Thirty by Mike Gayle

First… Big thanks to Burt for lending me this book. I finished reading it in 1 day (less than 24 hours!) Thank god I had it… it kept me company while I was with my dad in the emergency room waiting our turn to see the doctor… and later… my company whilst my dad was asked to stay in the day ward... (the remainder of the night!) and… my good company while he was admitted in the hospital… At least I didn’t go mental waiting and doing nothing or starring into space… which I would have if I didn’t bring any book… TIP: Always bring a book to the hospital/banks/clinics!

I tell you what I got instead… The attending doctor thought I was turning 30!!! (I had to point out to him that reading different books does not mean you are that! I added I was a mere 27!!!) Politely OF COURSE :P and I WAS!!!! Really… he smiled!!!! I got weird glances from the people in the waiting room… There were several boys/men staring my way… but with a book titled “turning 30”… young men (STUPID ONES!) look and turn away!!! Why men are threaten by age or intelligence??? I CAN NEVER FIGURE THAT OUT!!!!!!!!

Brunei is TOO small… or is my family too big? Or my parents know a lot of people… either way… they stumbled onto a LOT of people in the emergency room (JUST MY LUCK!!!) and these people are naturally nosey… They can’t help it… and with a book like such… you are bound to attract attention… hence the topic of whom I was… my work… and my marital status became conversation topic!!!! I don’t mind so much… but when ‘strangers’ start to comment about me to stop being picky, choosy, to have kids… etc. I get a bit agitated… and grit my teeth and smile… I am NOT PLEASED!!! Who do they think they are to pass comment as such? What is it to them anyways? Why is it anyone’s business??? The lack of action in my private/love life is my own problem… unless I invite you in to discuss it!!! SHIT!!! Everyone thinks they know me and wants to do something…. BUG OFF!!!! MIND YOUR OWN BUSSINESS!!! I wonder what they would feel like if I pass comments on their marriage! Or lack of one... I dare say... they deserve it!

Alrigh… I have gone off tangent a bit… but it felt good to let go of steam *SMILE* the book… yeah… It was a great read… It was about this man who was turning 30 and he believes and convinces himself that life would be different… He would eventually find the perfect partner… get together… marry and start a family… as well as be happy in his job. (Like what all of us wants!) Interestingly, he almost had it, until his girlfriend and he broke the relationship up… It wasn’t working, they found…

He then went back to his country place… to find peace… to clear his mind… and to meet old friends… and unexpectedly, he found ‘LOVE’ only to lose it through his own doing!!! I totally relate to it… I mean… you don’t intentionally make mistakes… but some mistakes are easily apologized for… Others… once committed will forever be there, always nagging at the back of your mind, never leaving you even if you had apologized till you dry your tears!!! In other words… there was no turning back after the decision had been made…

I wanted a good ending for the man in the book… I wished things could and would work out even if he had made a mistake… I really wanted things to work out… because books were supposed to end happily… things always work out… (You want and are brain washed for all books; to me at least, to end with the ‘happily ever after’ effect!) Well… not this one to my great annoyance!!!

It did not worked out for him and his ‘LOVE’… I was devastated… I mean… if you can’t have dreams and books with fairy –tale ending… is there any hope for any of us??? ME especially!!!????

Sigh… he wasn’t bitter though… he pulled himself together… and plod on with life… He remained friends with friends from home… as well as on good terms with his ex-girlfriend (I like that!) ARRRRGGGHHH…. I had to re-read the book to make sure it ended like it did and I did not misunderstand any concepts in the book…. Sigh… after reading the second time... I was even more ANNOYED!!! Only because it did not end the way I want it to… but otherwise it was very realistic… sigh… a wake up call for me to realize life is not always rosy!!!

I went to read a different book after that… (similar concept – a single girl looking for love at an older age similar to mine!)… I was mid way in the book when work overwhelmed me… I am still to finish it… but it was funny… like “turning 30” was witty! I just hope it ends better…

On top of that… another friend just passed me a new book… its called “The World from Islam” by George Negus. It was reviewed by the friend to be a good read… I think it’ll take me a few months to finish it… BUT I intend to read every page and every word!!! I’ll leave you with some good bits from the book “Turning Thirty” by Mike Gayle:

“Bill Gates has a way with computers, Picasso had a way with a paintbrush… I have a way with the telephone. It’s my gift to the world.”

“Maybe, I thought, I should look at the world as it is, rather than how I want it to be. But no matter how hard I try to imagine it without them, no matter how I tried to guess what it would feel like to have a parent-shaped hole in my life, I couldn’t imagine a world without my mum and dad.”

“For your information, I didn’t email because I didn’t know what to say. I suppose random guys in bars are all part of the moving-on process. Part of me wants to be jealous. I suppose a lot of me. But the rest of me knows that this sort of thing has got to happen, hasn’t it?”

“The only problem I really had was loneliness.”

“The only thing in life that gets easier the older you get is the ability to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.”