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I have a lot of feelings about Pear trees blossom white (self.Blind)
submitted by blindnessandbees
Trigger warning for suicide and also spoilers for the book pear trees blossom white (perenbomen bloeien wit) by Gerbrand Bakker
So I’m getting through my required reading for high school and I just finished the Dutch book pear trees blossom white, by Gerbrand Bakker. And honestly I don’t know how I feel about it. Let me give you a summary:
Three sons live together with their dad and dog on a farm in the countryside of Holland. When driving through a pear orchard they get into a car accident and the youngest son ends up in a coma for a bit. When he wakes up, he is blind. The next two thirds of the book is the youngest son being super angry about... everything really. Until he commits suicide by drowning himself.
Now this doesn’t sound so bad but there is quite a lot in this book that rubbed me wrong. Most notably, the writer (who is fully sighted, by the way) comparing being blind to being in an actual coma. This kind of... upset me when I read it. I have a retinal condition that is causing me to slowly go blind and honestly having someone tell me that my future is basically gonna be... useless. I also kinda hate the ending. Instead of having an interesting character arc where the boy accepts his blindness and grows, the writer went... suicide. Obviously not every story about disability has to be happy and inspirational but writing a story about blindness and making the blind character basically the antagonist... just seems icky.
I don’t know if anyone here has read the book but I really had to get this of my chest,
So I’m getting through my required reading for high school and I just finished the Dutch book pear trees blossom white, by Gerbrand Bakker. And honestly I don’t know how I feel about it. Let me give you a summary:
Three sons live together with their dad and dog on a farm in the countryside of Holland. When driving through a pear orchard they get into a car accident and the youngest son ends up in a coma for a bit. When he wakes up, he is blind. The next two thirds of the book is the youngest son being super angry about... everything really. Until he commits suicide by drowning himself.
Now this doesn’t sound so bad but there is quite a lot in this book that rubbed me wrong. Most notably, the writer (who is fully sighted, by the way) comparing being blind to being in an actual coma. This kind of... upset me when I read it. I have a retinal condition that is causing me to slowly go blind and honestly having someone tell me that my future is basically gonna be... useless. I also kinda hate the ending. Instead of having an interesting character arc where the boy accepts his blindness and grows, the writer went... suicide. Obviously not every story about disability has to be happy and inspirational but writing a story about blindness and making the blind character basically the antagonist... just seems icky.
I don’t know if anyone here has read the book but I really had to get this of my chest,
OutWestTexas 15 points 4y ago
I’ve never heard of the book or the author. But your own life is an unfinished story and it certainly doesn’t have to end that way.
jrs12 6 points 4y ago
Can I upvote your comment twice?
multi-instrumental 2 points 4y ago
It makes me wonder who thought this would be a fun story for high school kids to read? lol
Kevin_M_ 2 points 4y ago
Dutch adult literature is weird. I read a book for my reading list thing which I've heard a lot of people say should be a mandatory book for high school students to read.
The book is an autobiographic story about a kid in high school who knows a handicapped child who eventually dies according to the cover. This seems like a very interesting story, _if it actually went into how certain actions led to his death or something_. Instead, the writer describes how much he wants to beat up the kid in a lot of detail, and then he just rants about his school and town until the handicapped kid pops up again at the end of the book and falls off of a bridge. His death isn't relevant to the story at all, even though it was the only interesting thing that was described on the back of the book.
The book is an autobiographic story about a kid in high school who knows a handicapped child who eventually dies according to the cover. This seems like a very interesting story, _if it actually went into how certain actions led to his death or something_. Instead, the writer describes how much he wants to beat up the kid in a lot of detail, and then he just rants about his school and town until the handicapped kid pops up again at the end of the book and falls off of a bridge. His death isn't relevant to the story at all, even though it was the only interesting thing that was described on the back of the book.
jrs12 10 points 4y ago
I understand how you might not like the writer's stance in this book. It doesn't sound anything like your story. It might be someone's story though. I had a client once who lost his vision in a similar way and really struggled with depression. Adults who lose vision later in life compared to people who are born with vision loss might have very different journeys. That's okay. Some people need to grieve for lost vision. Some people don't. Maybe the author knew someone in their life who really struggled with vision loss. I think if there is a class discussion on this book, you need to speak up about your feelings. People can sometimes group everyone into one category from one story like this. It's important that your classmates hear a different view if you have one to realize that this story is not the story of everyone with VI.
AllHarlowsEve 5 points 4y ago
Honestly, I totally get the author. When I lost my vision, I wanted nothing more than I wanted to die. I lived in an area that has not great public transit, with an abusive parent, and I lost all of my hobbies and goals. Can't be a tattoo artist or digital artist if you can't see, and it's not like I can play the video games I used to. To me, there was no difference between the days I begged a god I don't believe in to kill me because my vision loss was excruciatingly painful, and the early days of me being blind where I laid on the same mattress, staring at the wall and crying.
pokersnek 4 points 4y ago
I agree with your analysis. I am not Visually Impaired, but I have depression. Some people assume that means I am suicidal, but I am not.
I am an O&M specialist and work with kids. I make sure to let them know that their teacher has depression (like many of them) and I am happy that meds help me. This way, they can see someone like them who is successful in living their life.
So many people have told me that if they went blind, they would kill themselves. I think that comes from misunderstanding and ignorance. They view blindness as helplessness. They don’t know what people can do without vision. I aim to dispel that myth.
I am an O&M specialist and work with kids. I make sure to let them know that their teacher has depression (like many of them) and I am happy that meds help me. This way, they can see someone like them who is successful in living their life.
So many people have told me that if they went blind, they would kill themselves. I think that comes from misunderstanding and ignorance. They view blindness as helplessness. They don’t know what people can do without vision. I aim to dispel that myth.
[deleted] 1 points 4y ago
[deleted]
multi-instrumental 1 points 4y ago
You don't have to let disabled people read your story but doing heavy research is definitely a must.
It's fairly easy to research what it's like being blind.
It's fairly easy to research what it's like being blind.
multi-instrumental -4 points 4y ago
>Trigger warning for suicide
Oh, lordy... I don't think I've ever seen or heard that used sincerely.
Oh, lordy... I don't think I've ever seen or heard that used sincerely.
blindnessandbees [OP] 4 points 4y ago
What do you mean?
multi-instrumental -1 points 4y ago
When someone usually says "trigger warning" it's more often than not a joke. Sort of like a stranger approaching you at the grocery store, saying hello, and then asking you what your preferred pronouns. Sure, there are people like that who exist in the world that but it's still very odd. Someone so sensitive about suicide would probably be offended/hurt by the lone word "suicide" so I had quite a chuckle after reading your post & the accompanying warning.
>Most notably, the writer (who is fully sighted, by the way) comparing being blind to being in an actual coma. This kind of... upset me when I read it.
You don't have to have an attribute of a character to write that character, but I will agree that being blind certainly isn't the same as being in a coma. Seems like a dumb analogy. Is that what they *literally* wrote?
I definitely agree with you about the book as it sounds pretty bad and I also prefer happy endings in general.
>Most notably, the writer (who is fully sighted, by the way) comparing being blind to being in an actual coma. This kind of... upset me when I read it.
You don't have to have an attribute of a character to write that character, but I will agree that being blind certainly isn't the same as being in a coma. Seems like a dumb analogy. Is that what they *literally* wrote?
I definitely agree with you about the book as it sounds pretty bad and I also prefer happy endings in general.
blindnessandbees [OP] 2 points 4y ago
I made a post about a book on a sub reddit that doesn’t specifically talk about mental health and I mentioned suicide. So it’s really not that weird to include a content warning. People come here to unwind and coming across something that could actually really upset someone can really suck. I like to give people a little heads up and a choice.
multi-instrumental 1 points 4y ago
You're missing my point, but I can't say that I'm surprised.
Anyone sensitive enough to be upset by your post would have likely gotten upset over just the word "suicide". Seriously.
Next time please put a trigger warning *before* the actual trigger warning so that those of us sensitive to "the s word" won't become distraught. A sort of "pre-trigger warning" if you will.
Anyone sensitive enough to be upset by your post would have likely gotten upset over just the word "suicide". Seriously.
Next time please put a trigger warning *before* the actual trigger warning so that those of us sensitive to "the s word" won't become distraught. A sort of "pre-trigger warning" if you will.
Amonwilde 2 points 4y ago
Pretty common these days, friend.
multi-instrumental -1 points 4y ago
Common on BuzzFeed-esque cliques, but not anywhere normal.
Amonwilde 3 points 4y ago
I think normal is a relative and not very useful term, as people on this sub would attest. The warnings are clearly not universal, but they are widespread enough in different communities that it's a bit surprising you haven't encountered them. It's debatable how useful they actually are but they seem a pretty common feature these days.
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