the burn journals

Reader Response to the burn journals by Brent Runyon

The inside cover reads:

"This is a true story. In The Burn Journals, Runyon describes that devastating suicide attempt and his recovery over the following year. He takes us into the Burn Unit in a children's hospital and through painful burn care and skin-grafting procedures. Then to a rehabilitation hospital, for intensive physical, occupational, and psychological therapy. And then finally back home, to the frightening prospect of entering high school. But more importantly, Runyon takes us into his own mind. He shares his thougths and hopes and reas with such unflinching honesty that we understand--with a terrible clarity--what it means to want to kill yourself and how it feels to struggle back toward normality."

The back cover reads:
"I bring my bathrobe into the shower and pour gasoline over it. I put the bathrobe over my shoulders. It's wet and heavy, but there's something kind of comforting abou the smell, like going on a long car trip. I hold the matches out in front of me. I light the match."

My Rxn:

Super fast read. Finished it in 2 days and it's 374 pages! An excellent read. It's a journal, but there is some semblance of plot in there... it's pretty linear. i think that anyone who has ever felt said will be able to relate to something in this book. I really like it. There is definitely a personal connection when I read about his stay in the hospital... thoughts of almost dying....I really understood his p.o.v. It's kind of edgy though, lot's of f-bombs and taking Christ's name in vain. Brent tells us about his suicide attempt, recovery, and slow transition back into the real world... but he doesn't really tell us what happens when he gets there. The book ends with him facing the steps of his high school. I'd like to learn what happened when he stepped through the doors. The back inside cover says "Brent graduated high school with his class, and with honors from Ithaca College." not such a great way to end a story, in my opinion. However, it does end on a hopeful, positive note. Again, this book is filled with awesome things:

"The thing about being in the hospital is that people come into your room in the middle of the night, take your blood and urine, and leave again. People stick things into your chest, hook you up to machines, and don't even introduce themselves" (48).

"There are two kinds of people in this world. People that have to lie on their stomachs for ten days straight and people that don't . And the lucky bastards that don't have to lie on their stomachs for ten m-fing days are the ones that get to skat through life like they have their own personal Zamboni smoothing the way for them" (95).

"You're all trying to figure out what went wrong inside my head. F-ing idiots. you'll never crack the code that's inside my head. You'll never get into my castle. You'll never even get past the gate" (185).

"The other section of the hospital is the head injury section. That's where people like Elaine who were smahsed in the head go to get better. So, between the cripples on the one side and the idiots on the other, I feel like I'm the only normal person in this place" (193).

"Maybe she is right, but I still have this guilty feeling all over me, like oil on one of those birds in Alaska. I feel so terrible, so sorry" (207).

"I can't believe this. just when I was starting to like him, he picks up and gets another job. Dickhead" (219).

"God, she's so cool. If I ever get married, it'll be to someone like her" (251).

"God, I feel like my whole life could fit in one of these trash bags" (325).

"Actually, he might be here for attempted suicide. It's hard to tell, but I noticed some bandages on his wrists. Maybe that was just a skateboarding injury. But there's something about him that's sad. I think it's the way he uses his hair like a screen to keep people from being able to see his eyes. I can relate to that" (339).

"I can walk. I can talk. I'm 15. I'm alive. Life's pretty good. It's pretty good" (345).

"I wonder what my skull will look like in a hundred years. I feel around my eyes. I feel the bones around my eyes and my eye sockets. There's the soft tissue inside them. That's where the holes would be if I was dead and someone was holding my skull. In a hundred years, someone's going to dig up my body and hold my skull in his hand, like Hamlet, and say that line that everyone always says" (348).

This one certainly wins a Word Nerd Seal of Approval.