My Sister's Keeper (novel)
My Sister's Keeper ( original: My Sister's Keeper ) life is a book of American author Jodi Picoult, this is 2004 stock and 2007 appeared on the German Piper Verlag. In this work Picoult describes the drama of the Fitzgerald family, the father a genetically tailored test-tube baby because of her daughter's leukemia, which serves as a living stock of spare parts. Although the book contains science fiction influences, it is an ethical drama about the value of people. The book in which Picoult processed their own experiences with cancer, was a great commercial success and was shown from the 27th of August 2009 as the film in German cinemas.
Action
Picoult describes the history of the Fitzgerald family. The happiness of the parents Sara and Brian is suddenly shattered when their child Kate leukemia and hardly has a chance. Desperately seeking advice and will find it at a doctor who offers to produce them a genetically tailored retort daughter as spare parts. Nine months later, Anna was born and used from birth as a donor of stem cells, bone marrow and other vital substances. These procedures are painful and traumatic, but always lengthen Kate's life. Nevertheless, it does hurt the parents to always prepare pain of her youngest daughter, and they experience the alienation of the eldest son Jesse, who feels neglected and useless.
When Anna is 13 years, Kate suffers a failure of the kidneys, so Anna should donate one of her kidneys. Since Anna is not yet mature, she complains in court against her parents and gets a lawyer named Campbell Alexander and a new guardian named Julia Romano. They were together during school time and come up during the process closer again. In the process many ethical questions about the value of people will be provided and the complex love-hate relationship between Kate and Anna lit: Kate wants to live, but not at the cost of Anna, and Anna sees Kate the source of their pain, but also the only person who understands. Also, comes to light that Kate Anna has asked not to donate to them because they want to make Anna a beautiful life. Anna wins the case against their parents, especially because their parents have never really asked for their consent to the procedures.
After the trial, Anna comes on the way home in a car accident. Mr. Alexander, who owns Anna's decision-making powers, consents Anna's organs to Kate to donate. Kate lives and works over six years later as a dance teacher. Steadily she thinks back to Anna - especially whenever she hears laughing two sisters. Kate is the belief that one had to go by them and Anna is left in its place.
Topics
The most important question is, what is the value of man. Anna is on the one hand, a human spare parts warehouse, which was deprived of the right to a carefree childhood because of the many operations and a slave is practical as attorney Campbell notes. On the other hand Kate would die when Anna refused to: it also refers to the doctor who "produced" Anna, and notes that he has hereby saved a life. The parents both love and hate daughters, Anna hurting so. This dilemma is at the core of the novel, and how many questions of ethics, there is no conclusive answer.
Ethical and scientific facts
At the time of book publication (2004) it was not technologically able to witness all test-tube babies genetically as spare parts for other people, which is why the book is, strictly speaking, a science fiction novel. The stand up today against even massive ethical concerns.
Comment by Picoult
In an interview Picoult described how she got the idea for the novel from the disease of her own son Jake. Jake had two ear tumors had surgery ten times and was healthy again, but today in the left ear and the right ear not only reduced hearing. Picoult explained that she had "everything" made in the darkest days in order to spare her son further surgery, and it sprang from the book with the complex ethical issues. Also intrigued that the patient much more optimistic and cheerful appeared as often despondent and desperate relatives.
Reviews and commercial success
The book was published in 2004 and was commercially very successful. The critics celebrated the book and gave Picoult following prices ( excerpt):
- 2007 Virginia Readers' Choice Award
- 2006-2007 Maryland Black- Eyed Susan Book Award
- 2007 The Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award
- 2007 Vermont Green Mountain Book Award Master List
- 2006 Alex Award from the American Library Association
- 2005 Best Book of the Year, Bookbrowse.com
In Germany the book is currently (July 2008) in the 11th edition appears. It was several months in the charts by the Spiegel bestseller list.
Book information
The book is 478 pages long and is in the Piper Verlag (ISBN 3-492-24796-2, ISBN 978-3-492-24796-2 ).
Filming
The book forms the template for a film adaptation, which was released on August 27, 2009 in the German cinemas. This differs significantly from the novel to the end from where Kate and Anna does not die. The director of the film is Nick Cassavetes. Abigail Breslin plays the lead role of Anna, Sofia Vassilieva plays Kate and the mother is played by Cameron Diaz. The lawyer Campbell Alexander is played by Alec Baldwin. Picoult is co-author of the screenplay.