Silver Lining

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I cannot deny it. After all those long episodes of me hating Patrick... I shed a tear as I closed this playbook of his.

Why Silver Linings? And why Playbook?

The metaphor of this book is the resolve of the protagonist Pat Peoples in addressing the unresolved issue that currently lingered in his life. Told in a scratch-slash-composition-slash-playwright-slash-reflections-in-a-first-person-perspective, Pat writes his "situations" from the last day in the bad place, and his daily situations as he deal with moving back with his mum and dad, looking for more ways to be fit, being in-sync with understanding the essence of reading classic and contemporary fiction, and his ultimate goal of being with his wife again. After all, every person has this one shot at the silver lining.

I, for one who is brutally frank and blunt to tell this: (you may rant but this is still my review) I don't fully comprehend the rationale of Pat's way of thinking, somehow made me appreciate where Pat's way of thinking coming from. He has suffered enough out of loving too much, and his search for his way home is very passionate. I admire him for that because I believe men (like him) who are very passionate in doing things and putting all efforts to make something happen is getting fewer and fewer as the day goes by.

It may not have the same picture of way home he was expecting, but he has found a solace as the book ends. It gives a not-very-mushy feel like any romantic-comedy-flicks, but after all his effort to losing lots of pounds, getting back in touch with his interest in football, his perseverance to understand the author's perspective in The Bell Jar, and practicing difficult dance steps... we see that he has achieved the feeling that he is needed, just like how much he needed someone to be with.

I watched the movie first because of the actors Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper (with the black garbage bag he kept on wearing which I don't really get at first), but I was glad that the movie director gave a different interpretation from the book. I am glad that both the book and the movie are wonderful, however different their takes in Pat's case are.


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