August 2024
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
What if you had the chance to live an everlasting life? Would you take it?
I was sort of fluttering about aimlessly after reading 'The Summer Book', because I couldn't quite follow it up with anything that felt as good as that book. I was looking for that summer feeling and I wasn't finding it until I stood gazing at the titles in my bookcase and happened upon 'Tuck Everlasting'.
The story follows 10 year old Winnie Foster who one day, during a particularly sweltering summer, finds a boy, and a spring. Neither of which are as ordinary as they sound. While the boy may look only a teenager, he is in fact over a century old. And that spring caused it to be so. Winnie soon meets the rest of the family and learns all about the lives of Jesse, Miles, Mae and Angus Tuck. Unfortunately she's not the only one interested in their story.
The book is only 139 pages long and spans over a period of three days, but it packs quite a message about endless living, or rather, 'being'. The Tucks are not entirely sure whether their situation is a gift or a curse. Mae seems to forget every now and then. Which might seem blissful, if it weren't for those moments she remembers again. Jesse, perhaps due to him being the youngest, or due to him not having had as much misfortune as his brother, seems to utterly enjoy his existence.
"Why, heck, Winnie, life's to enjoy yourself, isn't it? What else is it good for? That's what I say." - Jesse Tuck
While Jesse seems to take the carpe diem approach to his never-ending life; Tuck himself, has different ideas about it. Life needs to be able to move, grow and change. He doesn't wish their fate on anyone and therefore tries to implore Winnie to protect the secret of the spring.
"You can't have living without dying." - Tuck
Aside from loving the way this story made me contemplate life in general and mine in particular, I found the writing to be absolutely beautiful. The descriptions of the sun's rather merciless rays are palpable. I especially enjoyed the way in which the Tucks' home is described. The book is also not solely a contemplation on life and death, it's also laced with tension in the form of the man in the yellow suit; who is close to figuring out the secret for himself.
An eternal life certainly seems appealing; brimming with potential even, the way Jesse sees it. However, it wouldn't hurt to consider that life might start to feel like an unending marathon if it were to be eternal. Without any respite. Anything that lasts forever inevitably becomes a burden I think. As explored in the story of 'The Red Shoes', which comes to mind here. I believe the beauty of life lies in the fact that we don't have forever to enjoy it. We need to make it count, right now.
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