About Crystal Meth

“It’s a broken world.” My brother works in Los Angeles, and that is his favorite line.

“Tie two birds together and though they have four wings, they cannot fly.” On the other hand, “A horse has no udders and a cow can’t whinny, and up is down and sideways is straight ahead.”

I prefer these lines from the movie Circle of Iron to describe the same worldly brokenness and the perplexing human predicament in which we find ourselves. The words are softer and more playful. Although we are talking about the same brokenness, when stated in this manner, the words naturally induce a smile rather than a frown. They seem to create a sense of hope despite the fundamental truth that our world is indeed broken.

In reading J. Matthew Nespoli’s book entitled Broken, I find myself staring at the depths of human despair and desperation in the city of Los Angeles. The author opens the story by introducing the reader to shocking psychological and existential realities, both past and present, by writing personal narratives of some of the main characters as they reflect upon the people and events that surround them. As the story progresses and more characters are added, these narratives continue to offer us very clear insight into the thoughts, motivations, and personalities of the protagonists.

In the movie Collateral, the main character, a cold-blooded killer played by Tom Cruise, comments on how sprawling and disconnected Los Angeles is and gives the example of a man who died while traveling in a public transportation train, passing an entire day before anybody noticed his dead body.

The movie Crash also takes place in Los Angeles, but in this case, although it may seem as though we are randomly disconnected, we are nonetheless very connected. That is to say, our thoughts and actions do make a difference in the lives of others and the community as a whole.

Likewise, Broken portrays the cold reality of living in the large metropolitan area of Los Angeles and the sometimes difficult task of finding the basic human needs of friendship, family, love, and community. As we follow the thoughts and lives of the fourteen characters that constitute this novel, this becomes very evident as they try to avoid personifying that familiar oxymoron–the lonely crowd. Each character must confront his or her frightening past and grapple with that ever-present human longing known as loneliness.

The author very skillfully brings these characters together in ways that surprise the reader. For example, he uses miscegenation, or the mixing of the blood. Amber, a black woman, was raped by a white man, and her close friend Ron, who originally betrayed her but eventually grew to love her, witnessed his mother being raped by a black man. Both of them had to rise above prejudice, forgive, and finally love. Amber had to love her child Kimberly, the offspring of the evil white man who raped her, and Ron had to love his mother in spite of watching her sexual experience with a black man as a child.

Even more interesting is how the author identifies the common cause of emotional pain for these two as rape. In this case, the man’s suffering was tantamount to that of the woman’s. It is the equality of this pain that allows Amber, a professed lesbian, to find the ability to love Ron, a white man. To the average reader, many of these details may go unnoticed, but the author should be commended for his portrayal of these details throughout the novel. He very cleverly uses heterosexuality, homosexuality, drug addictions, organized crime, race, religion, anorexia, violence, suicide, sexual crimes and perversions, human pride and vanity to delineate our connection with each other.

In the case of Jackson, outside of his desire to swallow the next pain pill, his true longing lies with his mother. When she dies, he then goes to find Beth, the mother of his child. As the saying goes, “A man cannot love a woman until he leaves his mother.” Jackson was finally ready to truly love Beth and his child, but unfortunately it was too late. Kelly had already arrived.

In Skye we find an attractive woman with beautiful musical talents, but her past has left her terribly scarred and emotionally wounded. People want to love Skye and be her friend, but the heroin addiction prevents this from happening time after time. As many of us know, something as simple as eating less chocolate or drinking less beer or coffee can seem like an insurmountable endeavor. Through Skye we are able to see the incredible amount of pain that addictions can cause, both for the individual and the people close to them.

The novel is not completely dark, however. There are both humorous and touching moments. As a result, the story moves quickly as the narrative passes from one character to the next. It leaves the reader constantly anticipating the next paragraph to see how they resolve their personal problems and to see how these characters are eventually connected.

The novel is also teeming with pithy sayings and witty comparisons that offer a clear view of contemporary America. My favorite one was “…the metabolism of a cheetah on crystal meth.” Although it was an entertaining novel on many different levels, I still feel that this is an evolving author. That is to say, some of the similes and metaphors could have been better, and although the characters in this novel were brought together extremely well, I believe there was room for slight improvement.

I believe that there is a deeper message here: the world is broken by human imperfection and sin. These sins have consequences. If we abuse the laws of nature, we eventually cause our own suffering. It is not so much that we are punished for sin, but rather that we are punished by sin. Drug use, sexual perversion, violence, and even casual sex can lead to pain and suffering in one form or another. It is also important to understand that this pain is easily passed on to subsequent generations, as seen in this novel.

More importantly, through the character of Paul, the novel manifests the reality that human sin exists everywhere, and that human beings are equally capable of doing great good or great evil.

It has been said that great literature provokes thought and critical thinking. Broken accomplishes this task. Many profound essays could be written about this novel. It can be examined on a psychological level, a religious or spiritual level, and a societal level. Are these characters psychologically broken, spiritually broken, or is it, in fact, the fault of the environment that one finds in Los Angeles?

We all understand the physical, realistic fact that if you tie two birds together, they are unable to fly. But the characters in this novel and human beings in general are always trying to deny this truth. TJ and Dylan are trying to connect with Skye. Later, TJ connects with Flora. Flora connects with TJ. Jackson tries to connect to his mother and then Beth. Dr. Salazar tries to connect with Flora. Amber connects with Ron. Ron connects with Amber. You get the picture.

There is a very deep, human need to connect with somebody, despite the fact that we understand the risks involved and know that it will limit our individual freedom. This human longing continues because we know that it is a way to hide from and temporarily forget about the brokenness and human sin that exists in the world. As we walk through life, all that we really have is each other. We are all broken, and the sense of love and community helps us to face and overcome the challenges created by that brokenness.

This was definitely a novel worth reading.

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