Musing on H.S. Kushner's 'When Bad Things Happen to Good People'

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very good friend remarked on my Facebook profile about this book:

An extremely flawed book. It asks all the right questions, which is very thought provoking. But it comes up with all the wrong answers and conclusions. The author is unable to accept that idea of a God who is all powerful and all knowing and settles on some touchy/feely non-distinct spiritual essence within us. So disappointing.

Read the book and share your thoughts, too, in the comments section of this posting.

Below are my thoughts on the book after I finished reading it:
I finished this book while on the background I could hear the reading of the names of those who perished in the 9/11 horrific events on TV during its 10th anniversary. I was also wondering why this book has remained to be among my bestsellers in my online bookstore via Amazon.com (I must have sold 3 copies of this book, which got me curious and made me start reading and finishing the book). Actually, the book's a wonderful 'moving on' material, which didn't occur to me until after I finished reading it.

Those of you who are religious or have different faiths other than Judaism may not exactly like the idea of hearing from the experiences of a Rabbi who wrote this book. He wrote the book because he wanted to understand reasons behind having a son who was born to his family but died so soon because of 'progeria,' which is an affliction causing one to die so quickly because those afflicted get so old fast than most of us normal people undergo. I hope that description made some sense, just like what this book says about randomness and other difficult-to-explain events that happen to people. But more about the book, the Rabbi Harold S. Kushner has expounded on areas in life (that we would rather not discuss about normally, i.e., issues that really matter to our hearts and inner minds), which thoughts would be helpful to those among us who will be undergoing difficult, really rough situations in life (there's no running away from them, it seems).

I won't share here (nor summarize) his 'tips' as they're not exactly tips, nor are they not exactly 'how-to's.' Life's too precious to be just listed down into these brief words you may be reading here. It's not exactly a book about how-to-lead a more convenient lifestyle, despite all the hassles and challenges thrown our way. Suffice it to say that the book's very much worth reading and learning from, if you will find the time to get distracted from your varied activities. It's a good tool to help you listen very well the next time something grave happens with someone you know and [s]he would like to share you something about it.

This last copy I got actually came from the estate of someone who died from AIDs complications --- I knew the story from second hand sources. But I could understand why he would be reading this book (he died in the early 90s here in NYC). He must have wanted to somehow understand his situation; I like to imagine that now as I ponder on the book's merits. I may have to keep this one for myself but then again I think I can provide some help to others out there if I offer it again on my bookstore. Get one for your reading leisure - it may come handy one of these days. Or you may start by reading the story of Job in the Bible to gain a perspective on the story that's being mentioned and discussed in this book.



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