by Norbert Soski ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
An involving and enthusiastic call to listen to the better angels of our nature.
A wide-ranging spiritual interpretation of human nature.
Most people misunderstand what human nature is, maintains Soski in his nonfiction debut. Often people use the idea as an excuse for failings (“What do you want from me? I’m ONLY HUMAN!!!”). This, he says, is the source of much of the frustration and misdirection in life, since a clear understanding of what makes up human nature is a prerequisite for success and happiness. The book attempts to clarify it by differentiating it from its side effects: “how much have human beings ourselves really improved, changed, or evolved?” Soski asks. “Not the circumstances of our life, but our humanity?” In part to answer such questions, the author devises a “Human Operating System”—the common aspect that all humans share even when their personality traits, abilities, and experiences differ—and traces how it affects every aspect of human life. Soski, a self-described engineer who has a consultancy and coaching company called Straight-Up Soulutions, sees this system as having two complementary halves: the “Primitive Soul,” which governs the actions of the body, and the “Angelic Soul,” which, he says, “motivates us to search out a purpose and meaning for our life that is bigger than us as individuals.” In clear, easy-to-follow prose, accompanied by bullet points, charts, and illustrations, the author anatomizes the interconnected workings of the two souls in ways that will be invitingly familiar to readers of mainstream New Age spiritualist texts. The book puts a strong emphasis on the division between the real and the illusory, which leads to advice to temper the Primitive Soul and encourage the Angelic one. Still, some readers may wonder at the amount of anti-scientific thinking in this book, especially coming from an engineer, as when Soski writes, “It is believed that all living things contain a common life force that defines our existence, identity, and capabilities,” or when he asserts that “Mind does not physically exist. The mind is the manifestation of the soul.” Nevertheless, even the most hardheaded readers may agree with the sentiment behind the idea of an Angelic Soul.
An involving and enthusiastic call to listen to the better angels of our nature.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5356-1443-6
Page Count: 233
Publisher: Straight-Up Soulutions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by William Strunk & E.B. White ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1972
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
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
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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