Contemporary Writing

If I were to describe this book, I wouldn't say it is about suicide. It's not. First of all, it is about how to deal with issues in our teenage hormone-unbalanced years. (Or a sentimental attachment to something when you are going through rough times.) Second, getting into a much deeper meaning, it's a book that knows how to relate to people. And through pathos, touches their emotions. 

As we well know, pathos is a form of rhetoric. If you were told to find an example of it in The Burn Journals, you would have no problem. Actually you would, but in finding logos. The reason why this memoir reaches us so much, is because it uses empathy in an extreme way. He confesses every single thing he felt when he got burnt, when he was treated, while he was in the rehabilitation center; everything. As you read the book it feels as if someone was harming a five-year-old boy and he was not aware of it, searching for a way to ask for help. Well, at least that is how I feel.

The confessions Brent makes, make us part of the book. He tells us everything that goes on in his dirty mind. As soon as we read the word "penis" our mind immediately recognizes the word as being bad, thus leaving us astonished and freezed, for a while. We process the fact that he just said the word and we continue reading having unconsciously rated the book from one to ten already. That is, for people that have never read an honest, real book before. 

Exceptional literature contains these type of things that are socially unacceptable and submitted. By Brent opening up, he digs a big cave inside us in which we despise him and appreciate him more and more each time.