An introspective plan for those looking to break the cycle of failed relationships.
In his seventh book, Saint Rain (4 Tools of Emotional Healing, 2012, etc.) aims to help readers reconsider what they’re searching for in a loving relationship.
Relationships fail because we look for emotional and physical attraction, the author writes, but if we train ourselves to look for virtues we admire, we can develop better, more intimate connections. The book contains three parts, each previously published as books, and the first focuses on the connection, and disconnect, between emotions and virtues. The author argues that people have a hard time teasing out what their own emotions mean and end up in relationships that have shame, fear and neediness at their core. The solution, Saint Rain writes in the second part, is to heal oneself before looking for that next relationship; by using honesty, forgiveness, compassion and faith, one can take a sobering look at one’s own life and complete oneself. Only then, in part three, does the author suggest that readers start training themselves to recognize virtues in others and to seek out a relationship. At first glance, this self-help book seems by the numbers, but what Saint Rain offers is a thorough demonstration of how emotions act in the background of one’s life. It’s easy to dismiss the idea that shame or fear lurks in one’s relationship, but the author shows the subtlety of these emotions by using analogies and examples from popular culture, such as princess-themed movies and other popular love stories. Despite all this emotional dissection, however, the author’s tone remains friendly and conversational, and although the title suggests strong religious overtones, the author only incrementally weaves in ideas of spirituality, drawing strong connections between life and God without alienating readers.
An introspective plan for those looking to break the cycle of failed relationships.Pub Date: May 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-1888547542
Page Count: 284
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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