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THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Name: THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT
Author: Troy Searle
ISBN: 978-1-5043-7117-9

by Troy Searle ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 21, 2016

An uneven fish-out-of-water story that doubles as a New Age enlightenment handbook.

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A novel about an English businessman’s adjustment to life in Austria that takes the form of a spiritual journey.

Robert Wallace has little to hold him in the United Kingdom when he agrees to take a management position at a firm in a town in the Austrian countryside. Although he loves his children, they live with his ex-wife and her new husband, so he looks abroad for meaning in his life. In spite of his very limited command of the German language, he soon develops a full life in his new home. Each chapter begins with a description of one of the tarot’s Major Arcana, whose meaning plays out in the story that follows. Many of the new people that Robert meets have spiritual lessons to impart, such as the ailing Mrs. Mueller—“Empress” in the tarot—who teaches him about the power of dreams. As Robert progresses from “The Fool” to “The World,” he navigates the complexities of friendship, romance, and parenthood, all intensified by the challenges of learning a new culture. Searle uses this episodic format to delve into a number of serious issues, including xenophobia, mental illness, and abusive relationships, as his protagonist becomes increasingly involved in mysticism and the occult via classes in reiki healing and psychic reading. Overall, though, Searle’s narrative sometimes feels slow and overly detailed. The prose style is often distractingly stilted, such as when Robert describes a woman at one of his psychic workshops: “He could see that she had carefully tended her long locks of hair, which shone in the light.” The work as a whole is also unlikely to convince those readers who don’t already have a firm grounding in concepts of New Age spirituality. That said, a number of Robert’s struggles will likely ring true to many, especially at moments when he ruefully recognizes his own fallibility.

An uneven fish-out-of-water story that doubles as a New Age enlightenment handbook.

Pub Date: Dec. 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5043-7117-9

Page Count: 436

Publisher: BalboaPress

Review Posted Online: April 24, 2017

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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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

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.