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Summary: sandrine 21years from france (Pau in the south)
Review: I really love this book of Danielle Steel. The first time i saw the title, i have told me that it would be probably very hard and sad...But it is more!It's a lesson of life and it's very proud of Danielle Steel to reveal us her family life. BYE Sandrine
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Summary: This sensitive subjuct book really hit home
Review: Danielle Steele really outdid herself in this emotional/sensitive book about her son. I could not put this one down...His Bright Light hit me so hard, it hurt!!!
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Summary: This was one of the best books I've ever read.
Review: His Bright Light really gave me an insight on Danielle Steel's life and her son's hardships growing up with manic depression. It touched me and I cried most of the way through it-especially at the end. It made Danielle Steel seem more like a real person rather than just an author.
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Summary: A Wonderful Tribute To Her Son!
Review: I have read all of Danielle Steel's fiction books,but this is her BEST ever!! It is such an inspiration, especially to people like myself who suffer from mental illness. This is one of the first books to make me cry. I hope this book has helped others suffering from mental illness to seek help. A powerful tribute to a courageous son who fought so hard to live with such a debilitating illness. I have so much praise for Danielle Steel!
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Summary: Intensley Profound
Review: Danielle Steel is able to relive one of the saddest moments in her life and share with the world her own personal agony. I am grateful to have read the book although it leaves the reader with a sense of hopelessness and despair. My son is Bi-Polar (age 14) and I understand enough to know that all the love in the world can not necessarily save him, but I have to keep trying no matter what. The more informed we are about this disease, the better choices we are able to make. A personal comment regarding DS not wanting to invade her son's privacy by reading his diary, if it takes invading my son's privacy to save his life, I will most certainly do it, especially because he does not communicate with people but does express himself and true feelings in writing. Read this book if you live with a manic depressive person, or know one. It makes you realize that all the money in the world for the best medical care does not make a difference, nor does all the love you have in your heart as a parent. What was saddest was Nick saying that no matter how much money he put in the bank every day, he still woke up broke.
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Summary: Book From Which Patients Can Relate & Supporters Can Learn
Review: Much like "An Unquiet Mind" and "A Brilliant Madness," this is a story of which sufferers of depression and bipolar disorder can relate, and thereby realize they are not alone in their symptoms and related behavior.Supporters will also recognize the symptoms and symptomatic behavior of their suffering loved one. This is beneficial because it helps friends and relatives to better understand the brain disorder, and realize that it is a biological disorder of the brain and not a character flaw. Aside from being a touching and well-written story, Steel is helping to diminish the stigma of mental illness by educating the public using the tragic tale of her son's life. This is a valuable book for families struggling to help a loved one with bipolar disorder. I recommend this book to all my readers.
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Summary: The best book I've ever read!
Review: Danielle Steele is a very talented writer, and her talents are expressed at best in this novel. You feel each intense emotion, as you read. I'm sure Nick would have been a very talented writer as well, if he had lived. I've never cried reading a book before, but when I finished this book I felt as if I had lost someone as well. Nick was an amazing person, and I wish I had had a chance to meet him.
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Summary: A beautiful story of a Mothers unconditional love
Review: This book has helped me understand. I have always thought that suicide is an error of judgement at the time. However, after reading this story I no longer believe that this is so. We hold our childrens hands for just a little while, their hearts forever. This is a book about love. Rest easy Nick.
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Summary: A brilliant tribute !!!
Review: This was the first DS book I ever read and was so deeply moved by it. Danielle wrote this book so everyone would love Nick as she did, not to capitalize on his death (as one non reader wrote). She certainly did what she thought was right at the time, and her choices were her own to live with, not to be judged. (To the reader who called her obsessive-compulsive, I suggest you look up this disorder in the DSM IV as you are confused on what behavior constitutes obsessive-compulsive disorder) In reading this book I could barely put it down, I came to love Nick and understand him and even more importantly, I came to understand suicide which I had very strong opinions on before. This was a powerful tribute to a son that DS loved dearly. To say she wanted to make money from Nick's death, as if she needed the money, be realistic. I think DS wanted us all to know her son and love him as she did. Well after reading this book, I did. I have passed it on to many who have also loved Nick upon reading this story. Anyone who posses even an ounce of empathy should read this book. It touched me and I will have a hard time forgetting it. Good for you Danielle, I hope this helped you heal, if only a little bit.
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Summary: Poignant, powerful, captivating.
Review: I think it takes a lot of guts to share such intimate family and personal experiences and relationships. Although I enjoyed this book very much, I have mixed feelings about it. Nick's story is a delicate, inspiring, and sorrowful one. My heart ached while following his ordeal with the disease. Nick was essentially a good soul. He had a lot to deal with from the start. On one hand, fighting this terrible mental illness while trying to live to his mother's expectations. He obviously struggled very hard to become closer to her and not to lose her affection and respect. I guess, she was there for him the best way she knew. At some points, I felt that his mother's expectations of him were much too high for someone battling this illness at such a young age. He was too young to be left alone to handle the self-discipline and demands that his illness required for treatment and medication and to deal with the demands and temptations fame imposes on talented people. He was certainly not a monster nor a deliberately bad person. His journal entries are so very insightful of the dilemmas, concerns, and "demons" he had to battle daily! He had a warm and caring heart. Danielle describes quite honestly her joys and tribulations in bringing up a manic depressive son(I know by experience that living with a manic depressive person is extremely demanding, scary, and taxing. It can wear you down so easily!) However, at some points, I found it hard to empathize with her. She seemed to try to make excuses for herself not being as much "there" for him as he needed her to be as his mother. I got the impression that she was more concerned with her career and personal life than actually grasping the tragedy her son was enduring. It is true that the responsibility to keep the illness under control ultimately lies on the person affected by the illness. This might be reasonable to expect of adults but not so of a teenager who was also dealing with his father's abandonment, among other issues. However, she was not exactly sure what she was dealing with. Perhaps, at the time this was happening to her, there weren't many resources to research about this illness nor other sources of guidance and support for families and patients. Could this tragedy have been prevented? Although God is the only one who could accurately answer that, I would like to believe that it could have. Bipolar Mania is inherited but treatable. Manic depressive people can live a normal, successful, long life and pursue their dreams AS LONG AS THEY TAKE THEIR MEDICATION! (read A Brilliant Madness for further insight) Unfortunately, the problems arise and intesify when some of them refuse to take their medication. Nick Travis' story is definitely worth reading, especially his journal entries. I would have liked to have read a book whose content were mostly his journal entries.
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