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You Are a Bird
Embark on a transformative journey in the pages of You Are a Bird, recipient of both the Christian Indie Award and the Literary Titan Gold Book Award.
Drawing inspiration from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poignant poem, “Sympathy,” author Breezy Van Lit invites you to join the extraordinary odyssey of a bird who wonders if it was created to do more than cling to a perch and watch others live.
Narrated in the intimate second person perspective, this novella places YOU at the heart of the bird’s struggle, yearning for liberty while facing the dismal reality of life in a cage.
“A captivating allegory of the soul's desire to be free.” ★★★★★ —Richard Hindmarsh, MD
Launch into a flight of imagination and insights as you read this unique story and experience its profound message of freedom.
"Refuse to be caged." —Breezy Van Lit
Drawing inspiration from Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poignant poem, “Sympathy,” author Breezy Van Lit invites you to join the extraordinary odyssey of a bird who wonders if it was created to do more than cling to a perch and watch others live.
Narrated in the intimate second person perspective, this novella places YOU at the heart of the bird’s struggle, yearning for liberty while facing the dismal reality of life in a cage.
“A captivating allegory of the soul's desire to be free.” ★★★★★ —Richard Hindmarsh, MD
Launch into a flight of imagination and insights as you read this unique story and experience its profound message of freedom.
"Refuse to be caged." —Breezy Van Lit
143 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 2, 2022
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2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 6, 2023
Transcendence without Easy Answers
In You Are a Bird, Breezy Van Lit pulls off one of the hardest feats to achieve in literature: he has presented an inspirational tale without being sentimental. Written in a second person narrative, the novella so tightly gives the reader the perspective of a caged bird that the challenges become shared burdens.
Alluding to Paul Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy,” this allegory about our limits allows the reader to envision the restrictions both connected and disconnected to race. From the narrator’s very limited bird’s eye view, we enter a room with an amusing, cynical cat Kaz, a meticulous and controlling puzzle artist, and multiple iterations/generations of a troubled fish trapped in a bowl.
The moral ambivalence throughout is heightened by the occasional appearances of Viv, the artist’s granddaughter. Set in a time of inkwells and oil lamps, You Are a Bird manages to reveal time passing in a timeless way. Van Lit keeps the goals appropriately modest, especially in the context of the slow realistic suffering of the bird. Indeed, the physical and emotional injuries of closed doors keep this novella grounded, an appropriately ironic dynamic in an environment requiring flight.
To give away the devilishly clever climax would be unfair: let’s just say its an apotheosis worthy of this allegory. Still, I cannot finish my praise without offering a commentary typical of the work: the bird must overcome his “inability to fly beyond the shape of the cage.” Such nuanced thought is what makes You Are a Bird transcendent, as it eschews easy answers and embraces challenges that have often proven intractable.
In You Are a Bird, Breezy Van Lit pulls off one of the hardest feats to achieve in literature: he has presented an inspirational tale without being sentimental. Written in a second person narrative, the novella so tightly gives the reader the perspective of a caged bird that the challenges become shared burdens.
Alluding to Paul Dunbar’s poem “Sympathy,” this allegory about our limits allows the reader to envision the restrictions both connected and disconnected to race. From the narrator’s very limited bird’s eye view, we enter a room with an amusing, cynical cat Kaz, a meticulous and controlling puzzle artist, and multiple iterations/generations of a troubled fish trapped in a bowl.
The moral ambivalence throughout is heightened by the occasional appearances of Viv, the artist’s granddaughter. Set in a time of inkwells and oil lamps, You Are a Bird manages to reveal time passing in a timeless way. Van Lit keeps the goals appropriately modest, especially in the context of the slow realistic suffering of the bird. Indeed, the physical and emotional injuries of closed doors keep this novella grounded, an appropriately ironic dynamic in an environment requiring flight.
To give away the devilishly clever climax would be unfair: let’s just say its an apotheosis worthy of this allegory. Still, I cannot finish my praise without offering a commentary typical of the work: the bird must overcome his “inability to fly beyond the shape of the cage.” Such nuanced thought is what makes You Are a Bird transcendent, as it eschews easy answers and embraces challenges that have often proven intractable.
January 12, 2023
Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a caged bird? In You Are a Bird you will experience the longing, hope and frustration of a bird that desires more than its metal confines. This is a thought-provoking novella with a unique concept. It is written in the second person and the writing transports you into a world we think little about, despite being surprisingly similar to our own in many ways. Throughout the book, the reader feels what the bird feels as it observes its unnatural environment and fights to live as it was intended- to spread its wings and be free.
What seems like a simple book at first, contains so many different angles. First of all, it is an eye-opener for anyone considering owning a pet bird. As humans, we often think we are caring for our pets when, in fact, we are doing the exact opposite. We laugh at our pets’ funny habits, not knowing the real message they are trying to convey.
You Are a Bird also serves as a metaphor for our lives and as inspiration to never give up hope of realizing our dreams. No matter how low or out of touch with reality we feel, we must maintain optimism. Author Breezy Van Lit cleverly ties everything into a simple, yet highly emotional book. Some parts of the story are upsetting, but these are also stark reminders of the damage we are capable of inflicting upon others.
You Are a Bird is unlike any other book I have read before. This evocative novella had so many different layers to it, that I wouldn’t hesitate to heartily recommend it. The ending of the book is beautiful and left me with a strong motivational feeling. I would urge readers to overlook any initial doubts about the unconventionality of the story, as this is certainly worth the read.
What seems like a simple book at first, contains so many different angles. First of all, it is an eye-opener for anyone considering owning a pet bird. As humans, we often think we are caring for our pets when, in fact, we are doing the exact opposite. We laugh at our pets’ funny habits, not knowing the real message they are trying to convey.
You Are a Bird also serves as a metaphor for our lives and as inspiration to never give up hope of realizing our dreams. No matter how low or out of touch with reality we feel, we must maintain optimism. Author Breezy Van Lit cleverly ties everything into a simple, yet highly emotional book. Some parts of the story are upsetting, but these are also stark reminders of the damage we are capable of inflicting upon others.
You Are a Bird is unlike any other book I have read before. This evocative novella had so many different layers to it, that I wouldn’t hesitate to heartily recommend it. The ending of the book is beautiful and left me with a strong motivational feeling. I would urge readers to overlook any initial doubts about the unconventionality of the story, as this is certainly worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews