A well-crafted guide for bettering one’s inner life in order to better serve mankind.
Stories and lists aimed at helping readers redirect their focus and follow a path of benevolence.
Jaensch (co-author, The Lost Heart of Medicine, 2013) tells the story of a young beggar wandering aimlessly through China. He comes upon a monk who explains the path away from suffering and gives the beggar a new name: Shi Yin Fu. The beggar then separates the beans that generous people have given him into two bags—one full of yellow beans, and one of black. He hangs a third bag around his neck, and whenever he commits a crooked deed, he places a black bean in it; for every good deed, he places a yellow bean instead. This tally becomes his ledger of good and evil that trains him to choose to do good. The author traces the paths of Shi Yin Fu and other men he encounters; all stumble at first, but all find ways to fill their bags with yellow beans. Each pursues a search for his “Heart,” or metaphorical “Centre,” and when they do so with a clear conscience, untethered by the pursuit of personal gain, they find enlightenment; the goodness acts a catalyst, as others witness their deeds and strive to act as they do. Jaensch partners these instructive narratives with two lists, one of 100 “diseases” and another of 100 “medicines.” The diseases include such concepts as such as “[h]aving good intentions but then doing wrong”; however, by following the list of medicines, such as “helping the commoners with your power and position,” one can prevent them. Jaensch writes these parables in a stark manner, which leaves room for the lessons within them to shine. Each of the tales builds upon the last, forming a sort of circle that radiates outward, and the book ends on a hopeful note for humanity: “[Y]our study, observation, contemplation and inevitable cultivation creates a human being who faces the fast-flowing river at peace….Now you are free to swim!” Unfortunately, few women are mentioned at all in these stories, let alone given any focus. That said, the author does provide an informative set of lessons with tangible dedication and a deft hand.
A well-crafted guide for bettering one’s inner life in order to better serve mankind.Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1941736463
Page Count: 88
Publisher: Book Venture Publishing LLC
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
