Forever

Reading fiction is something I don't do often enough. I am subscribed to Computer Totaal, Bright and Het Parool and such newspapers and magazines take up valuable fiction reading time. 'Forever', however, made me throw the Parool aside unread so I could keep reading about Cormac O'Connor and his hundreds of years on the island of Manhattan.

The story starts in Ireland 1741 where we meet Cormac O'Connor and his parents, struggling to survive arctic winters and the brutalities of the Protestant English colonialists. Cormac O'Connor is not Catholic or Protestant but an Irish Jew who is educated secretly about his Gaelic religion. When both his parents are killed by the English Earl of Warren, Cormac seeks revenge which brings him to New York.

He befriends some of the African slaves during the gruelling trip across the Atlantic, Kongo in particular. Kongo is no ordinary African - he has shaman-like powers and saves Cormac's life one night, thereby granting him the gift of everlasting life. Forever. The only conditions are that Cormac must truly 'live' his life and may not leave the island of Manhattan. There are worse places to be holed up for over two centuries and Hamill leads us through those centuries as we follow Cormac 'leading' his life.

The mixture of magic and history and Hamill's excellent prose make this a wonderful, captivating book. It gives you a real feel for how New York must have been during the Civil War, prohibition and everything in between. I also enjoyed the everlasting life aspect of the book and the choices Cormac has to make.

Often, when trying to make people 'live' their lives we say they should live as if tomorrow could be their last day. That's one way of looking at it, but what I found fascinating about this story was the opposite: if you knew you had all the time in the world, what would you do? Never again could you say you were too old to embark upon learning or experiencing something new. It opens up a whole new realm of possibilities in developing your mind and feeding your brain. Quite refreshing actually.