If there is anything that sums up how weird I am, I suppose it is the fact that I went on a 7 day Carribbean cruise and spent half of it reading a book about strangers committing suicide together.

Well that seems like an over-simplification of Together We Will Go, but it was already a bit of a run-on sentence.

When I was reading the autobiography of J. Michael Straczynski (you know, my idol? I’ve mentioned it once or twice), it came up that he had recently released a new novel. I was very excited.

Then I found out it was about suicide. Didn’t see that coming.

Together We Will Go is about a group of strangers who answer a want ad. They agree to go on a cross-country journey- one last adventure, before watching the sunset and then driving off a cliff. Along the way they are required to keep an electronic journal, so that the world would know who they were and why they did what they did.

I won’t lie. It was not an easy book to get through. Not because it wasn’t great. JMS’ reputation remains intact. But man… it was hard to read those stories.

It was too honest, I think.

Confession time. I was suicidal for a good chunk of my youth. I never had the courage to make the attempt, but I did truly want it all to end. If you’ve never been there, you can’t really understand it. The constant pain. And the never-ending belief that not only would the world be better off without you… but it wouldn’t even notice if you were gone.

Reading the stories of these fictional people… a girl whose body is her own worst enemy. …a young man who could never live up to the expectations of his parents and the world. …an old man who never had the courage to take a single risk or live the life he was supposed to live. …a drug addict whose last friend was going to die before his eyes. That’s just a few of them. It was so much. It felt real.

I hope this doesn’t discourage you from reading the book. It really is great.

If you’ve been there, you’ll recognize these feelings. And if you’ve never been there… well, there is a good chance that you will be surprised by how familiar these feelings are. Or maybe you’ll think twice about the way you interact with people, oblivious to their pain.

Or hell, maybe you’ll hate it. Its worth the read though. It has one of the most creative story structures I’ve ever read. And it has a lot of heart.

******

P.S. If Mr Straczynski reads this, I would still love to take your portrait. I know it is unlikely, but if your life story has taught me anything, it is to never accept the impossible.