That’s hate. I think everybody knows that what separates love and hate is but a thin line, as thin as a strand of hair. Meaning, anybody can cross that thin line in a blink of an eye. From love to hate and maybe vice versa. Hmm… that would explain why other people are capable of killing someone they really love when that someone cause them pain; they easily took the other side of love.

This fact has been beautifully portrayed by the characters of Jacqueline Briskin’s The Other Side of Love. The story was actually plotted in the midst of chaos and heartbreaks brought about by World War II. Any reader could ultimately conclude that the title would mean that the characters are torn between the two fighting sides of the war, one being a German, the other a Jew. Yes, that could be true as well. But I’m actually pushing for a much deeper and much evocative meaning here.

I’m not much of a Briskin fan, but The Other Side of Love is the 5^th book that I’ve read from her collection (I think she’s got more or less a dozen books published). Anyways, I find her books really educational since it dwells in history, specifically the war during the Hitler regime (characters are fictional but the dates and the events are more or less factual) and the stories behind Hollywood glamour and elegance. Her characters are quite smart and witty as well. I like picking up intellectual quotes and phrases from such intellectual books.

Going back to the subject at hand, you might say, “Yeah, I know there’s a thin line between love and hate”. But well, it’s not as easy as saying it and thinking you understand it. One has to walk through the maddening line before one understands this concept. It is when one finds herself being pulled strongly on both directions that she can feel herself ripping apart that she can truly grasp the meaning of this. Yup, I’ve been through the other side of love, a couple of times, so I more or less know what I’m talking about. I suggest you don’t venture there…