Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

A couple of reviews say that parents started reading this to their kids and stopped in the middle because of darkness, and they say the darkness is inappropruate. As someone who actually finished the book, I disagree. I had this story read to me as a young child, I read it again on my own when I was an older child, and as an adult I re-read it while thinking about sharing it with the next generation. This story lead me to think about empathy for people who hurt me, difficult moral choices, and forgiveness. It was a very good and positive influence on me. Parents, when a book's title translates to "The Tale of Despair," you can expect it to be a story that addresses despair. Parents, if you want to excercise your right to choose what media to expose your children to, you should look at the content BEFORE you start sharing it with your child. If you start reading this story and stop in the middle because the despair scares you, the message will be: "Life is hopeless. Bad things happen and they just get worse, and you should give up on the possibility of a happy ending." If you read the book all the way to the end, the message will be: "Even when you are surrounded by despair and darkness, there is value in reaching for the light." You can choose whether or not you want to share this story with your children, but choose one way or the other, don't expose them to the darkness and then deny them the light of the resolution. If you start, you have to finish.