Boy - were there ever a draggier start than this novel. Throughout my whole 10-days stay in the maternity ward post-Cesarean, I was reading (or trying to read) this book and I only managed to reach page 16 by the end of my stay!
One of my quirks is that I can't stand leaving a book unfinished. Once I started reading one, no matter how draggy, I'll feel like I've left an incomplete "business" if I don't finish it. So I "persevered" :-) Surprisingly it took a turn for the better & by the time I reach the middle, it became interesting enough for me to complete the read in less than half the time taken for the 1st half.
The heroine - Jo Morgan, is obsessed in self preservation after watching a documentary about the Hiroshima nuclear bombing & its effects on the survivors. The sysnopsis on the back cover summarizes her nicely - "As a little girl, she stockpiled baked beans in case of a nuclear holocaust; now she works in accident prevention, trying to protect the world from conker injuries, killer-cosies and death by chocolate."
One day she got involved in an accident - a cyclist hit-and-run while she was crossing the road (yea... despite all her efforts in ensuring self-preservation). She was hospitalised and was in a coma (yet get to hear a lot of discussion around her). When she finally "woke-up", suddenly her view of life changed. She met an old retiree at the hospital who helped prod her towards taking more "chances" / "risks" that she'd not dare to before. In the process she got to know the grandson of the old man who had issues of his own. Rather than revealing too much in case you'd be interested to read the book, suffice to say, they ended up "healing" each other.
By the way, I got to know the terms for the many phobias out there. Each chapter interestingly starts with a type of phobia & its' definition. Thought of listing them all down:
1) Nucleomituphobia - Fear of Nuclear Weapons (who's not?)
2) Tyrannophobia - Fear of Tyrants
3) Ephebiphobia - Fear of Teenagers
4) Gamophobia - Fear of Marriage
5) Alliumphobia - Fear of Garlic (Dracula / Vampires ;p)
6) Gnosiophobia - Fear of Knowledge
7) Nosocomephobia - Fear of Hospitals
8) Russophobia - Fear of Russians
9) Nostophobia - Fear of Returning Home (so where do they live?)
10) Soteriophobia - Dependence on Others
11) Phengophobia - Fear of Daylight or Sunshine
12) Bibliophobia - Fear of Books (this will definitely NOT happen to me!)
13) Xenophobia - Fear of Strangers or Foreigners
14) Cibophobia - Fear of Food
15) Frigophobia - Fear of Cold Things (no ice-creams? oh no!)
16) Ergophobia - Fear of Work (who doesn't? Wonder if there's fear of lack of work?)
17) Ichthyophobia - Fear of Fish (hmm.... I had that in my 1st Trimester. Can't stand the smell of it!)
18) Potamophobia - Fear of Rivers or Running Water
19) Cenophobia - Fear of New Things or Ideas
20) Radiophobia - Fear of Radiation
21) Atychiphobia - Fear of Failure
22) Tachophobia - Fear of Speed
23) Syngenesophobia - Fear of Relatives
24) Melophobia - Fear of Music
25) Theatrophobia - Fear of Theatres (I'll miss knowing Phantom of the Opera!)
26) Dishabiliophobia - Fear of Undressing in Front of Someone
27) Illyngophobia - Fear of Vertigo
28) Xyrophobia - Fear of Razors (fortunately there's convenient cold wax now. Otherwise, will be very hairy indeed)
29) Dromophobia - Fear of Crossing Streets
30) Taphephobia - Fear of Being Buried Alive
31) Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of Peanut Butter Sticking to the Roof of the Mouth (Wow!)
32) Enochlophobia - Fear of Crowds
33) Optophobia - Fear of Opening One's Eyes
34) Pyrophobia - Fear of Fire
35) Oneirophobia - Fear of Dreams
36) Athazagoraphobia - Fear of Being Forgotten
37) Tropophobia - Fear of Making Changes
38) Euphobia - Fear of Hearing Good News (errr.... ???)
39) Doxophobia - Fear of Expressing Opinions (I know a couple of those... Storm?? *wink*)
40) Philophobia - Fear of Falling in Love
41) Ouranophobia - Fear of Heaven (and the person would rather go to Hell?!?)
Good to know huh? :D
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