Crenshaw's Books & Decks

Although the world is full of people who will tell you who you are, what you are, and what you are to do and not to do, they wander amid their unaddressed confusion, fear, and need for consensual belief to still their own anxious journey (locs. 83-85).

The last book by Hollis is perhaps the most accessible didactic and approachable book he has ever written, and the one I would recommend to anybody who wants a shortcut to his work. In Living an Examined Life, Hollis has somewhat put aside his usual erudition, academic writing, psychologist jargon and complexity of thought, and made a serious effort to address those points of his discourse that I've always found a bit vague or difficult to understand for the lay reader. However, no sacrifice has been made regarding content, and you will still find his usual depth of thought, understanding of human suffering and nature, his compassion for human nature and weakness, his analysis of preconditioned inherited ancestral behaviour and complexes. There is, as usual in his work, a call to live our own live with purpose, taking responsibility for it, to honour our true nature and live authentic and genuine lives, to work vocationally because our vocation is the expression of our soul not just something we do doe fame, money, power and social accolades.

This book is is not a book with solutions to our problems, waw waw waw, but sound advice on how to overgrow them by changing our attitudes, behaviours and way of  seeing them, by going inside ourselves and taking responsibility for our deeds, and changing anything that stops us from being who we truly were born to be. It demands sitting with our discomfort and asking it which message is bringing to us. It demands from us doing what we fear the most, learning to love our unlovable parts and scrutinise our inherited values and decide which ones are meaningful to us. In a way, we are asked to become medieval-alike post-modern warriors, and go in search of the evil dragon inside us to free our true self.

The book is structured in twenty short easy-to-read chapters, which Hollis recommends reading one per day to let the material sink in. I did so, but, if you have read most of his books, I don't think that is necessary. Otherwise, by all means.

SOME OF MY HIGHLIGHTS
There are so many paragraphs and comments that really made the reading very fulfilling and satisfying to me. Herewith a few of them:

>> Chapters 10, What gift have you been withholding from the world? is beautifully profound, yet simple; it speaks to the soul without the need of calling any gods, and it is a call to authenticity and honouring our  true selves.

>> Although Hollis devoted a whole book to the Shadow, nothing comes nearly as clear to a definition as the one he provides in this book:

The shadow is not synonymous with evil, though great evil can surely come from our shadows. Rather, I would define the shadow as those parts of us, or of our groups and organizations, that, when brought to consciousness, are troubling to our concept of ourselves, contradictory to our professed values, or intimidating in what they might ask of our timid souls (locs 1379-1382). 

The second half of life is not a chronological moment but a psychological moment that some people, however old, however accomplished, however self-satisfied in life, never reach. The second half of life occurs when people, for whatever reason — death of partner, end of marriage, illness, retirement, whatever — are obliged to radically consider who they are apart from their history, their roles, and their commitments. Every  (Locs. 402-405).

>> Hollis almost-utopian parenthood model is utterly beautiful, like a step ahead of our times, perhaps; something that, if I had children, I would try to implement so that my unborn children would be whatever they wanted to be, to shine their light or perhaps their inner crap without judgement, if that is even possible. My mother, an almost illiterate very traditional lady, very restrictive in many ways, always told me to do what would make me happy, and that despite her condition of submission to parental, fraternal and marital figures. That is the most empowering thing that my mother did for me.

>> Hollis' call to re-evaluate our life authorities is perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of his work, and also one of the things that gives me the most comfort. It makes me realise that we all live in the same existential mess and forces me to be more compassionate with myself and others:  "Tiny in a world of giants, we reason that surely the world is governed by those who know, who understand, who are in control. How disconcerting it is then when we find our own psyches in revolt at these once protective adaptations, and how disillusioning it is to realize that there are very few, if any, adults on the scene who have a clue as to what is going on." (locs. 155-157). Growing up requires that we accept that no one out there knows what is going on, that they are as much at the mercy of their complexes and unconscious mechanisms as the least of us, and so now we must figure it out for ourselves. (locs 1699-1701).

>> Hollis munching about happiness is precious; he debunks happiness (the pop version), I know, I know, nothing we would like to hear when we are reading a book to help us with our problems. However, Hollis' focus on seeking meaning, instead of happiness, because that's more important for the soul. He says that meaning is an organ of the soul. Amen! But perhaps meaning is the new happiness.


SOME QUERIES

>> Given the definition Hollis makes of Second Half of Life, I wonder why he and other psychologists keep using Second Half of Life, repeating something that, for what he says, it is totally imprecise and misleading. Why not turning the tables and using a clearer truer term, like, for example, True Maturity, True Adulthood or anything of the like? Second Adulthood, which he uses at times in the book is also misleading because some people only become adults after a crisis, so that is their first psychological adulthood no?  I know people in their 40s that are still as immature as their teenage selves and resist to grow no matter what happens to them.

>> I found myself munching about the following statement:

I wonder, if we have a true self that is specific and intrinsically us, call it our inner nature or character, compensate some of those impediments? I mean, obtrude our advance despite not having much baggage, or making us jump hurdles easily?

>> Regarding his ideal model of parenthood, I found myself questioning if different family structures and ways of relating, as those we see in different parts of the world (say, for example, Anglo-Saxon, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, West-African) can do this in different ways that are still healthy for the psyche but coming from different cultural backgrounds?  

>>  Hollis is very keen to remind us of the wonders of therapy and how therapy can change our life, but, as I have said in other reviews of his books, it is not possible for everybody wanting to grow up, evolve or resolve our problems to pay for therapy. I understand that Hollis does not want to spend his time to teach us something impossible, to become therapists by reading a book. However, I still think that he would be able to provide with a bit of more exercises to allow us to go inside and get more juice of his teachings. Just saying.

>> Hollis bluntly states that rites of passage are missing in our contemporary culture. I consider that true if we talk of passage rituals as seen in traditional cultures and the times of our elders. However, I consider some young people's wild behaviour as rites of passage, it is just that it does not come associated with meaning and an integration in society, these rites are mostly of separation from the nest and assertiveness of the self with regards to parental and authority figures.  On the other hand, women had rarely had rites of passage in traditional cultures, as the rites of passage were for men and those traditions considered women like second-class humans, souls and brains. So, in a way, many women have only male rituals of passage to imitate. I wonder whether young women behaving wildly, as wild as men, these days are just taking on passage rites that once were male because they don't have a substitutive that brings power and meaning to their lives. On the other hand, I also wonder whether we have new female passage rites, meaningful and specific to the needs of women, aren't just also a passage rite for many women. I don't mean any fanatic feminism, I mean real meaningful feminism, the one that allowed women to vote, get equal salary, and be able to access jobs that were just only allowed to men, and so on. I would love to hear Hollis thoughts on this. You are welcome :)

IN SHORT
Living an Examined Life is a book easy to read, meaningful, thoughtful and very comforting, but also a bit repetitive and impractical at times. Not a book with cookie-cutter solutions or rosy advice. I can only say that I always come back to my highlights of this book when I have a bad day, feel awkward for being myself, and find myself immersed in misery and stuck in ways of being that I know don't work for me. Hollis is ready waiting for me, with a hug to comfort me, a whisper to my ears to wake me up, and slap on the face for me to react to. Are you up to the task? For whatever reason, I think this book is especially suited to introverts, who are naturally seekers of introspection and depth.    

"I feel inexpressibly melancholy without my work to distract me, as you will understand, and I must work and work hard, I must forget myself in my work, otherwise it will crush me."

This book devoted to Vincent Van Gogh --part of the Delphi Classics series of art masters-- is what one expects a book aimed to the general public to be: affordable, informative, comprehensive, and most importantly, true to the artist. The book  has 4000+ pages and everything you need to know, to get to know and know better the Dutch artist.
  

The first section of the book contains a selection of Vincent Van Gogh's renowned paintings, with some extracted images of details in them, and a  brief introductory commentary to each one; the whole list of paintings by Vincent,  chronologically ordered and grouped by the different places where he lived and painted, follows; an alphabetical list of his paintings completes the first section of the book. The second section contains the complete unabridged correspondence of Van Gogh, 800+ letters, chronologically organised, translated into English by her sister-in-law Johanna van Gogh-Bonger in 1914. Just having the complete correspondence blows my mind. The book ends with a biography of the artist written by Johanna as well. All of this for less than three bucks on Kindle format. That is a loud wow.   

Overall, this a very satisfying book for the general public, who won't be expecting or demanding a polished translation, a comprehensive study and edition of the texts, more in-depth analysis or further commentary than that already there.  Through the extensive catalogue of paintings one  obtains an overall view of the themes, palette, people, and techniques that Van Gogh used. Through his correspondence one gets to know the real man behind the popular artist, a fascinating human being who, at least to me, was as good as a writer as a painter, a man with a great depth, soul and humanity, a human being not the pop-star artist he has come to be.

Although I really recommend this book to the general public, I would like to point out a few things that you should know before you purchase it:

 > This is not a complete collection of Vincent's artworks, just of his paintings, as none of his sketches (which are some of my favourite pieces), are included.
> The quality of the images in the Kindle edition goes from very good to bad and everything in between. One can individuate each painting by double tapping the image; yet, it is not always clear, neat or of good quality. I would have loved having the images in bigger resolution and occupying a bigger portion of the page.    
> Some of the paintings were forever lost during WW2, so the only thing remaining are the black and white photos we have in the book. 
> Vincent's correspondence, although complete and readable is full of French sentences and expressions that aren't always translated.

> It would have been great having some of the paintings mentioned in the letters cross-referenced and linked back and forward to the images on this book, but they are not.   

 > It would have been great having those letters with sketches in them, which are many, being reproduced with the sketches, or at least the sketches reproduced separately and linked to the letters, but they are not.

 

I would suggest, if a second edition of this book is going to be prepared on Kindle, the following things:
> I would love having higher resolution images, and each image being reproduced in a larger format on each page.
> Preparing an analytical index of the correspondence.
> Placing the alphabetical list of paintings at the end of the book.
> Work on the lateral menu on Kindle for Android, which, in its current format, is not usable because of the huge amount of information listed there. To be usable, it should have been produced in more collapsible structured format, a big epigraph with a sub-epigraph and a sub-sub epigraph etc. Many things that should not be in that index are there.
> Prepare a short glossary with a synopsis of each of the main people mentioned in the correspondence and/or  repeatedly painted by Van Gogh. 

 

 Laurie Nadel, a psychoanalyst pioneer in the mind-body relation and intuition, wrote this book in 1990, but it feels as relevant, fresh and serious in year 2017 as it was then. The edition I am reviewing is the re-edition of 2006 in audible format.

Sixth Sense is structured in four parts. The first part tries to define intuition and discusses the difference between intuitive knowing with precedent and without precedent.

The second part offers many examples on how intuition enhances our life, problem solving, health recovery, learning and creativity, and what to do to favour intuition.

The third part discusses how different parts of the brain relate to different parts of our being, and how they manifest in our daily behaviour and thinking and the way that intuition works. There is a strong focus on letting readers recognise how intuition speaks to them, specifically, with many exercises to facility just that.

The fourth part examines the cutting edge of the science of intuition and Consciousness, and discusses at length Remote Viewing, Psychotronics, intuitive consensus, some of the experiments carried out by the Institute of Noetic Sciences among other things.

The epilogue or appendix, added in 2006, updates some of the things said in the first edition. 

The title of the book is somewhat deceptive because its main aim is not just to help us recognise and develop our intuition, but also to integrate all the parts of our brain and facilitate intuition so that logical thinking and intuition get integrated in our daily lives in an organic way.

Core Premises of the Book

We have multiple intelligences as our brain is structured in different sections, all of which contribute to generating knowledge. Our brain is like a triptych: the reptilian brain creates patterns, habits, routines and instinctive behaviour as well as our sense of territory and safety. The limbic system is where all the emotions come from. The neocortex is divided into left and right hemisphere or brains, the right part being devoted to creativity and intuition, and the left to logical and analytical thinking. Intuitive and rational thought are both natural abilities and functions of the brain, they work together (but in different ways) to provide us with different types of knowledge if we let them both speak to us and if we develop both of them. Intuition connects different parts of the brain, it is scientifically measurable, it is custom-made (i.e. each person experiences intuition in different ways), and is part of us, even if we don't believe it exists or is helpful or produces knowledge. Some people are naturally more intuitive than others, but we can all develop our intuition. We should strive to use all capabilities of the brain instead of doing what has happened until now in our culture, i.e. that one part is good and the other is useless or nonsensical. 

Yummy Nuggets

> Our brain is like a computer screen with four open windows and software devoted to different tasks depending on what we need to do. We switch from window to window depending on what we are working on. What separates a normal person from a genius is the ability to move across all the windows/parts of the screen/brain with easiness, not our IQ.
> First impressions are gut feelings too.
> People with similar professions tend to have similar brain profiles.
> It is important to let a child know that being intuitive or intuition are all right, that they aren't weirdos just because they are specially intuitive. Intuition, after all, is another life skill. 
> The main element to favour our intuitive process when we are stuck is basically physical and/or and relaxation activities.
> The main characteristics or qualities that an intuitive person has vary from person to person. To develop your intuition we need to become aware of which elements are specific to us, in which forms and parts of the body or the mind our intuition shows up. Some of the qualities associated with intuitive people are curiosity, being open to new experiences, willing to experiment new things, being adventurous and decisive, acting on what we know without knowing, but there are many others. Nadel provides us with a long list of qualities, a data-bank, from us to go through and choose from, because some qualities will resonate more than others with us, and they are the way we experience intuition individually.

> Our world is heavily sided on the use and development of left brain, when it should be balanced in the use of both parts of the neocortex.
> There is a direct correlation between the change in the functioning of the nostrils and the changes in the functioning of the brain,  between the side on which we sleep and changes in the activity of our brain. That is scientifically proven. It blew me away!
> There are ways for us to recognise which parts of our behaviour and daily life show different parts of our brain at work: the reptilian brain, the limbic system and the neocortex. Discovering my reptilian me gave me great pleasure!
>  Learning can be favoured and increased by the use of both logic and intuition.
> The scientific study of Consciousness is directly related to that of intuition, as intuition is part of consciousness.
> The mind is not limited to the four dimensions of space-time, that's why the mind is capable of knowing things that the brain's sensory system does not pick up. Spice and time are bounded by our ability to conceptualise them but, as the right neocortex does not measure space and time, it isn't impossible that our brain's intuitive abilities can function outside the space-time continuum that only our left neocortex perceives. That would explain, for example, premonitory dreams or premonitions in general. Uber-cool.

The Exercises

There is a good number of exercises in this book, but chapter 13 (17 in the audible format) is totally devoted to exercises and journaling. I found the exercises very good, easy to do on our own, and many of them new to me. Many of the exercises try to get you to connect different parts of the brain to intuition, therefore, they are not "divinatory" in nature. Herewith a list of some of the exercises provided in the book: ➞ Inner resource exercise. ➞ Visualise yourself in the future exercise. ➞ Take a picture of your imagination exercise. ➞ The room of your mind exercise. ➞ The switch exercise. ➞  Find your reptilian energy exercise. ➞ Your sanctuary exercise. ➞ Love yourself exercise. ➞ The voice of reason exercise. ➞ The voice of intuition exercise. ➞ Intuition store exercise.  ➞ "What I am" exercise. ➞ "I trust myself because..." exercise. ➞ "Love your reptilian self and have a reptilian day" exercise. ➞ Locating a lost object using your reptilian intelligence exercise. ➞ Your limbic-emotional brain exercise. ➞ Make your limbic music library exercise. ➞ I 'want' exercise. ➞ Associational  word exercise , ➞ Decision making exercise. ➞ Visualise intuition exercise. ➞ Intuition hall of fame exercise, ➞ Mind-mapping. ➞ Make your treasure map aka vision board.

So-so

Something I didn't like in the book was the number of examples given, especially in the first and second part. Too many for my taste and not always needed. I would have rather devoted that space to exercises or to discuss some other things at length. 

Research on the brain and Consciousness has developed greatly since the book was first written. Even the addenda in the 2006 edition falls short. Nowadays, scientists seem not to be so focused on the differences between right-left brain, and some people even call it a myth. See this article, for example. 

The Audible Version

I read this book in audible version because it is not available in Kindle format. I try to avoid academic and scientific books on Audible in general, and especially if they aren't narrated by professors or teachers, who have a clear understanding of how their energy, enthusiasm and voice inflections help to convey a given message, not matter how complex it is. I have mixed feelings about the narrator David Stifel, an actor by trade. On one hand he has a very clear diction, performing abilities, so he can switch voices and play different people. He is also very good at reading in a way that sounds as if he was the author, and as if he was speaking not reading a book. That is great. I also like the tone of his voice, which is very soothing. I found him especially good when reading the footnotes, that is a lot of talent you need so make something as boring sound interesting and clear, if you want to take some notes. Perhaps the pace and energy weren't there for me, and the inflections of the voice not well marked, so I felt sleepy quite often despite the book being quite interesting.  I think the narrator would be great for fiction, for academic or scientific reading he is just all right.

In Short

This is a very good helpful book to understand intuition. One of the best I have read. The book will please those people, like me, who want to approach intuition with an open mind but without having to swallow tons of New Age religious spiritual mumbo-jumbo to explain something that is really natural and devoid of whohas. I would recommend getting the hard copy, to benefit from the figures, consult the notes, and bookmark the exercises; although you can bookmark the text in Audible,  their bookmarking system is not as good as one might wish. The book is certainly not up to date with the latest research on brain and consciousness. This is year 2017, the book was written at the beginning of the 1990s, and science and research haven evolved and improved, and the study of the brain has given us amazing surprises. Yet, if your interest is intuition, the book is still very good. If your interest is the functioning of the brain in general, perhaps not as much.   

Ami, The Child from the Stars, is a spiritual New Age fable disguised as an adventure for young adults and adults.

Pedro, a boy holidaying in a coastal town meets Ami, who arrives in a flying saucer and spends the night with Pedro showing him some planets and teaching him the principles of the Universal love, solidarity and spiritual growth.

The book, initially written in Spanish, has been translated into different languages, English included and has sold millions of copies throughout the world since the year 1989, when first published. The book is part of a series, that continues with Ami Returns, Ami 3,  and Ami and Perlita, the latter being a proper children book.

The Authors

Not much is known about this Chilean-Venezuelan writer Enrique Barrios. I had difficulties finding  any independent professional references about him or his work, except for a short bio in a Spanish New Age site called Nueva Gaia. His website is blank. This being the case, I considered appropriate including a few notes about him, translated from his bio page. Barrios is a traveler by nature, having lived in different countries and traveled the world. He sought spiritual answers since his youth and was the disciple of an unnamed New Age guru or teacher who helped him to expand his consciousness in the 1970s. Eventually, Barrios distanced himself from his teacher and focused more on developing and finding ways of teaching his spiritual philosophy, the spread of Universal love, the principle by which he lives by. Although he always wanted to write, two elements contributed to his becoming a writer and writing the Ami series. The first, was a personal incident occurred in 1984, when he was assaulted by a gang; he was going to be killed, but all of the sudden and inexplicably the delinquents, knife in had, run away and disappeared; Barrios had a sort of epiphany. The second event happened on 17/8/1985, a strange light appeared in the sky in the central region of Chile, and stayed there without moving for several hours until it suddenly vanished; although the Press reported the fact, no satisfactory explanation was ever given. This was, precisely, the inspiration for the Ami series.

The illustrators of the Spanish version (Eliana Judith Temperini  & Marcela García)  created a lovely set of illustrations for the book. There are two defined styled, one that I really like, that is painterly and very ethereal, that applies mostly to the description of the interstellar trip; the other images are  "chunkier" more illustrative than painterly, related the parts where Pedro & Ami are in Planet Earth and  in the spaceship, and they are less of my liking.  Who is who? I don't know! 

The Message

Ami: Child from the Stars is a spiritual New Age fable full of wisdom, which conveys very powerful environmental, social, psychological and spiritual messages for young adults and adults. The message that Barrios conveys is heartfelt, and is as valid in 2017 as was in 1989, probably more so in 2017 because of some of the issues we are having with the environment, social injustice, violence, religious extremism, racism, war, and other sins of our modern world.

This is a very New Age book that presents all the beliefs that New Age Spirituality is known for: ↪ Belief in reincarnation as a path to spiritual evolution and growth, and in Karma (boomerang effect) as part of a cosmic justice. ↪ It has a holistic view of the Universe in which everything and everybody fits like puzzle piece and is intricately connected, and also a holistic view of  divinity that permeates the whole Universe. ↪ It has a powerful environmental, ecological and peace message. ↪ There a strong focus on compassion, solidarity, non-violence, diversity, acceptance, inner growth, and on spirituality not religion. ↪ The ultimate aim is a planetary order based on global unity, freedom and collaboration, self-regulated organised societies where everybody has what its basic needs covered and they can focus on their inner development. That world is not based on economic, social, racial, gender, nationalistic or regional differences but on being humans, "earthians" and part of the Universe.
All of these teachings and views of the world are in  Ami: Child from the Stars. Perhaps Barrios' main contributions are, first, his belief that  God created the Universe, and that any manifestation of love is God, and God infuses everything in the Universe through love. His second main contribution is the emphasis on emotional intelligence, as he pairs intelligence not with IQ but with smart living and relating, with solidarity and inner goodness.

Teaching young adults those things is very important, no matter the reader's religious background. Many of the things taught in the book are principles that I live by myself even though I'm agnostic. Some of the messages in the book, are priceless, these are the pearls of wisdom that resonated with me the most:

⧪ Not everything that one considers ugly is bad, and not everything beautiful is good.
⧪ When the scientific level of a world supersedes its level of solidarity that world destroys itself.

⧪ Life would have no meaning if we knew the future.
⧪ Those things we fight to get will always be more appreciated than those we get without any effort. Those who were born without problems or have had an easy life can't  adequately appreciate what they have.
⧪ Busy yourself in improving yourself not on paying attention or worrying about what other people do or seem to be.
⧪ The belief systems of the past, based on "what is unknown or different is dangerous", are still alive and reflected in laws, customs, social and economic systems that encourage or tolerate division, competition, selfishness, superficiality, dishonesty and mistrust among people, organisations and peoples. (loc. 1300-1303, Spanish version) 
⧪ Feelings need to be enlightened by the intellect to become wisdom, and the intellect needs to be enlightened by the emotions to become true intelligence.
⧪ People harvest what they sow.
⧪ Ami explained to me that when the spoken language is insufficient to express what we feel, we need of other forms of communication; then we resort to Art. (locs 3791-2, Spanish edition)
⧪ We should consider all human beings on this planet, all ethnicities and human conditions part of the same family, the human family and, therefore, we should live like a fraternal family, where everybody participates of the efforts and benefits equally,  and where each one is protected, loved and harboured. (locs 3890-3 Spanish edition).
⧪ The higher the level of evolution of an individual, the more s/he is like a child. Also, the higher the level of evolution the lesser is the power of the ego and he higher the level of solidarity.

I specially loved the Utopia Barrios creates in Planet Ophir. I thought it was very modern, very wise, interesting, peaceful, sustainable and liveable. It is certainly idyllic, but why not focus on invented worlds that are full of goodness instead of those dark, contaminated and full of wars?

✋ Although I like the message of the book, the aim of the story is to spread a spiritual message not to entertain. The book is mostly a series of monologues by Ami with some "ahas", questions and realisations by his disciple Pedro. There is some adventure, but it is more a sort of watched passive adventure than proper adventure. There are ways of conveying philosophical and spiritual messages in a novel and creating a narrative that is engaging and entertaining at the same time; in that regard, I felt that this book hadn't achieved a good narrative balance, and found myself bored at times despite the subject being of my interest. It wasn't engaging enough.

✋ The book insists over and over on the fact that God does exist and God is the creator of the Universe and that those who deny it are somewhat lesser souls. Although Barrios mentions that it is better to be a good person and not religious than a very religious but bad person, the insistence on God as creator annoyed me. It is, after all, what creationists teach, isn't it? If you are one, this would certainly speak to your heart. However, there are millions of people out there for whom this sort of preaching be a put off. 

✋ Although this is fiction, it shocked me to find a fallacy. We are told that the planet Ophir's sun is 400 times bigger than our sun, but then the planet has a similar atmosphere to ours, similar kind of people, beautiful green areas. Really?  It doesn't matter if this is fiction, for fiction to be credible needs to be based on things that are possible or might be possible, this is would be impossible. 

In Short

This a clearly New Age spiritual tale, which wonderful messages for young adults and adults, but certainly not for children, unless it is read by an adult to the child. Despite the clear New Age impromptu, the book reads well no matter your creed, and there is nothing that contradicts the basic principles of any major religion. Overall, the message is constructive and good-hearted. If you are looking for a science-fiction book, this is definitely not for you as this is a spiritual fable, the aim of which is to take you in a inner journey not into an adventure. The aim is to enlighten not to entertain, and that is, perhaps, the weakness of the book, and the thing that prevented me from fully enjoying it. The book, if you read it in Spanish, is well written, with a classic Spanish that would please most Spanish speakers around the globe, although I found some expressions unnatural in certain Spanish speaking areas that might be common in Barrios' native land.

At mid-life we come face to face with our failures and losses. As we age, each of us is confronted by limitations, threats to our capacity to control outcomes, and deflations of our presumptions of omnipotence. (p. 49). "we are called upon to examine the 'truths' by which we live and even to acknowledge that their opposite also contains truth." (p. 15) "The reluctance to face our own shit is very strong." (p. 217-218).

Living Your Unlived Life is a short Jungian book that synthesises and develops many of Johnson's previous books on shadow work, dreamwork and active imagination, and mixes them with some reflections on archetypes, complexes, and Depth Psychology from Rhul. The narrators use the first person, so one cannot distinguish what comes from whom. However, the book feels whole and coherent. Johnson's impromptu is clear, especially if you have read others of his works. Like in most of Johnson's books, a Greek myth is used as conductor of the study, in this case the story of Castor and Pollux. You might ask why myths are still relevant for our Western Culture, and the answer is: 

"Mythic stories tell us holistic, timeless truths, as they are a special kind of literature, not written or created by a single individual but produced by the imagination and experience of an entire culture. (...) Mythic stories, therefore, portray a collective image— they tell us about things that are true for all people." (p. 8).

THE NUGGETS

The second part of life or middle age is a period of time when we seek authenticity, to be true to who we are and to express ourselves in ways that connect us with our inner truth. This is also a period of upheaval and reflection when, more than ever, we start seeking for meaning to get a sense of inner fulfilment. The main quest in the second part of life is the seek for wholeness, which means to be "hale, healthy and holy" and to honour our higher self, this understood as "the propensity of psyche to dynamically seek greater levels of integration, organisation, relationship, and creative expression" (note 2).

Johnson & Ruhl's advice to achieve wholeness and authenticity is not based on fluff, it is based on serious inner work:
1/ We have to 'be' more and 'do' less, or just to alternate 'being' and 'doing' more frequently.A Zen approach to life, basically.
2/ We need to make the unconscious conscious.
3/  We have to apply meta-consciousness to our thinking and behaviour so we aren't acting on autopilot and repeating behaviour patterns that are not good for us and are even harmful. The requires that we pause and reflect instead of doing what we usually do, i.e. leave our unconscious to run its hidden agenda. To disarm a complex you must learn to move your ego into a position of witness  (...) the goal is not to eliminate patterned thoughts and behaviour but rather to loosen them up sufficiently(p. 62).
4/ We need to learn to separate which parts of us are not really us but a by-product of our culture, country of birth, gender and social class or just a projection of our families.
5/ We must live our unlived lives (those parts of our character and psyche that we consciously or unconsciously repress, which are both luminous and dark) by doing shadow work, dream work and through active imagination We also need to start asking ourselves the right questions: instead of What should I do to get rid of this wrong thing in me?” we should ask “Why is the right thing in the wrong place?” (p. 103) instead of asking "What’s in it for me?” we should ask “What is needed at this moment for greater wholeness, integration, and creative expression? What serves the greater good?” (p. 179).
6/ We need to learn to look at the world with less polarity, with less duality, with less judgement, more through a coloured lens and less through a black and white one. There is no list of virtues that cannot be contradicted; this is a truth that can be liberating and frightening at the same time. We need to synthesise the opposites tempering one with the other and accept that both are valuable and necessary to live a balanced life.  

7/ We need to keep a balance between the archetype of the Eternal Youth and the archetype of the Wise Elder, by using an attitude of tinkering, discovery and play. Without the Eternal Youth we become morally rigid, dogmatic, judgemental, and authoritarian, but if we are too attached to the Eternal Youth we may exhibit immaturity, narcissism and an inability to grow and achieve psychological maturity.
8/ Let's  get a  new mindset, as the old solutions to our problems won't work and our automatic habits will work against us the older we become.  

9/ Let's have strong ethics and walk the talk. People who behave ethically are those who make an honest effort to conform their behaviour to their values. When your conduct is at odds with your essential character, it reflects a fragmentation of the personality. Shirking of ethical responsibility deprives us of wholeness. (p. 125). Amen!
10/ We need to do some work to improve our capacity of response to the challenges we face, so we do so with more flexibility, passionately and in a powerful way.

This book is full of wisdom, with some philosophical and spiritual reflections that are wonderful to ponder on,  no matter the stage you are in life. I actually think that this sort of book should be read by people older than 25 so that  they can start doing  something with their lives to have less neurosis and more fulfilling lives when they are, say, in their mid 30s.

My favourite chapter is number 10, Returning Home and Knowing It for the First Time. This chapter is very thought provoking, very touching and lyrically spiritual, and also very confronting in a way. This won't be an easy read if you are a hardcore Christian or very attached to any established creed; however, the chapter will be like a fragrant breeze for those of us who are more spiritual than religious. In a way, this chapter is a call to arms, to  the true spirit that lives in all of us, to break free from the chains that constrict and restrict our soul even if those are part of a set of religious beliefs and structures. Besides, this is the only chapter where old age and death are considered. The chapter is a call to the return to the divine, to walk into oneness, and to reclaim our personal paradise, as heaven lives within us:

"Paradise exists, but as a level of consciousness, and it is available to you when you are ready to receive it. (...) The very idea that the material world is separate from some other “higher” existence is itself an error of duality. Reality is not dual, though our current level of awareness perceives it that way. (pp. 225-227).

If you have never read a book by Johnson, this might intrigue you enough to read more detailed approaches to shadow work, dreamwork and active imagination. If you are into Jungian and Depth Psychology, you will find wonderful applications of Jung's teachings to the challenges that your psyche  and life face, no matter your age.

THE SHORTCOMINGS

~~ Although the book has great wisdom and is well written, it might  disappoint the general public, who will come to this book because "the second part of life" in its title. They might expect precise concise answers on how to solve or face mid-age issues, but they won't find but challenging inner work.  

~~ The structure of the book  makes the message confusing or not clear enough. To me, they should have started explaining what an unlived life is, specifically, and how it affects our life. "To live our unlived lives" is repeated ad nauseam, but "unlived life" is never clearly defined. I would have explained how to access that unlived lives (shadow work, dreamwork, active imagination, archetypes in this precise order) and how to deal with our oldest years if we get there alive.  I think in this way the whole book would have conveyed the same message in a more clear way. Just my opinion, of course.

~~ Except for some parts, this book is not specific for people in the second part of life. The bits about old age are truly so, but most of the book focuses on doing things that are beneficial for people of all ages and are interested in inner work. 

~~ I have a problem with vague talking, in this case with the expression "the second part of life". What is that supposed to mean? My grandmother died old and wretched in her 40s, so her second part of life was in her 20s. Depending on the country or area of the world we live in, we have a longer or shorter life expectancy and we marry and settle sooner or later. So I would like to know, exactly, how do we know we are in that second part of life as we don't know how long we are going to live. Is it an age? I is a state of mind? Is it having a job and a routine life? Is a state of the soul?  Is being settled in life? What exactly?  

MIND

>>  Although the language is accessible, the book reads better if you already have an understanding of basic Jungian concepts, like ego, shadow, projection and archetypes.  The authors have a specific reader as a target, so if you aren't one of those, you  might get lost without the help of a teacher or mentor.

>> Although Jungian Psychology is very much Christian and spiritual, there is a good deal of elements that could conflict with orthodox Christian beliefs because, beyond the concept of psychological soul, the book is infused in Zen, Eastern philosophies and Antiquity Greek religion. Therefore, the book might not be for readers who have a set of values deeply ingrained in established churches and religions, and believe in the value and importance of right and wrong, good and bad, light and dark. 

EXERCISES IN THE BOOK

 > Unlived lived inventory (adapted from the Roland Evans' model, quite interesting and surprising.)
> What are you stuck at? (good)
> The Doing/ Being Shuffle (good)
> Who am I? (good, needs of partner or conductor).
> The living symbol (not practical, need of partner or conductor who knows what s/he is doing.)
> Talking it over with yourself  (interesting but it would be great if an expert did it with you the first time so  we learn.)
> Dream tending (excellent.)
> Follow what you love (OK.)
> Dissolving the split perspective  (truly interesting and fun!)

 Some of the exercises are great if you happen to have a guide, a psychoanalyst or mentor who has a mastery on those,;otherwise, they might  lead you nowhere. Also, some of the exercises were somewhat odd, like asking yourself about the unlived lives of your parents. Some things came to mind for my parents about things they said they wanted to do and couldn't because of poverty or their specific circumstances. Yet, I am not my parents' psychoanalyst, so there must be many things inside them that they are never expressed, of which they don't want or can't talk about, or simply don't know they exist.

RENDERING FOR KINDLE

I find upsetting paying for a short digital book to find that the notes are not linked to the text they relate, that the index is not linked either, and that some of the links do not work either. It doesn't cost much fixing that in the e-book, so I always wonder why editors don't give a damn.

WHAT?!

As a tool to remember and note down your dreams, the authors recommend a "voice-activated tape recorder also can be handy (p. 142)." Time to wake-up, most people would have a smart-phone with a voice recording app included, tape recorders died, like a few decades ago, no? Tape recorders are an obsolete technology, no longer in use, unless you happen to have one of those. In year 2016 you can still find voice recorders, digital, but they are expensive, and one needs more a mobile than a VR, so using an app, free or paid, or just the VR feature that comes included in some smartphones is the easiest cheapest way to do that in year 2016.

“The world is full of wrongs upon wrongs, so there’ll be something else that he can apologize for.” (loc. 1277-1278). 

At Least we Can Apologize (사과는 잘해요) is a Korean short novel by one of Korea's  more original contemporary Koran writers -- Lee Ki-ho (or I Ki-ho).

Si-bong and Jin-man, best room-mates and partners in suffering, are released from a horrific mental asylum after the abuses perpetrated by the Superintendent and his nephews "the caretakers" are discovered. Jin-man has forgotten who his father is and don't know where to go, so he ends at Si-yon's (Si-bong's sister). After a time of idleness, the pair decide to get some money by doing something they learned to do in the asylum -- to apologise for the wrongdoings of other people. To do that, Si-bong and Jin-man will also learn how to spot wrongdoings or how to "create" them so that they can cash on them. 

At Least we Can Apologize is narrated in the first person by Jin-man.  He and Si-bong look at the world with surprise, bewilderment and innocence, in a primeval sort of way. They show a quite Zen way of being as they live mostly in a succession of present moments and the pair seem to accept what life throws at them, adapting the best they can, but don't hold a grudge towards anything or anybody. They can see people's wrongdoings, the bad things done to them, but they seem to accept the harshness of life with matter-of-fact stoicism, without fighting back actively, but also without labelling or judging other people for their actions, not even those who mistreat and abuse them. This also happens when they are trying to find wrongs with other people to act as mediators and cash on their wrongdoings. At the same time, there is playfulness and naughtiness in their spotting of other people's wrongdoings, in creating wrongs for other people, and in the way they endure the reactions of the recipients of the apology.

The narration is very charming and filled with a not-overly-expressed tenderness. The reader soon learns to care and love the two friends, no matter their wrongs because, although innocent and simple-minded, they look at the world with insight and a sense of care. Despite them being mental ill, they show a sense of awareness and openness towards humanity that makes them more sane and human than anybody else in the story.  

\

~ Life has no meaning or purpose.
~ The main characters are controlled or menaced by exogenous forces on which they don't have any control. In a way, they are like puppets on a string.
~ The presence of a pseudo-couple or interdependent pair (in  this case two: the two caretakers and Si-bon & Jin-man).
~ The presence of some repetitive elements of language that create a cadence in the reading. In this case, the endlessly repeated "on account of". I found it more rhythmic than reiterative and has a narrative value because because every time the narrator uses the expression he is justifying his thinking, his view of the world, as if he were alien to life and were discovering the world at every second.     

Despite the apparent absurdity and funny moments, the novel digs down into the nature of apology and poses embedded questions to the reader:
~ What does mean to apologise?
~ How should apologies be dealt with?
~ Does apologising and receiving an apology mean the same to everybody?
~ Are apology and forgiveness linked together?
~ Is the apology valid if instead the person doing it is a mediator or representative? ~ Does giving an apology mean that the pain, distress and wrongdoings done should be forgotten or forgiven by the recipient of the apology?

  “An apology means that you say you’re not going to do the same thing that you did before. That’s all it is. There’s nothing we can do about your feelings, sir.” (loc. 837-838).

~ Does apology equal repentance?
~ Is an apology recompense enough for the hurt and damage caused?
~ Would be ethical apologising beforehand and then doing the wrong apologised for?

 There was only one bill in her pocketbook, but we still took it and left. That was on account of having already apologized for doing it.(loc. 981-982). 

~ If the recipient of the apology thinks that no wrong was done should the apologiser apologise?

 “But if the woman really thinks that it’s not a wrong then what are we supposed to do?” “Then you have to keep making her think it’s a wrong!” (loc. 1271-1272).

~ Is apology necessary with our love ones?
~ Is love apology free?
~ Is acceptance and compassion sufficient to forget other people's wrongdoings?

 He then added that, as a family, we should laugh together when we were happy, cry together when we were sad, and in the case that even one person did something wrong, we should all take responsibility together. (loc. 505-507).

There is this exchange between Jin-Man and Si-bong in the book that I found very moving and thought-provoking at the same time:

After a long time, Si-bong spoke. “Hey.” I looked at Si-bong. “You know, if there’s anything you want to apologize to me for, I mean, later on . . .” “Then what?” “Just apologize to yourself.” “To me? You mean the apology for you?” “Yeah.” He cracked a half-smile and nodded his head. “How’s that?” “Well, ’cause you can accept the apology for me.” I nodded and told him, “Same to you.” (loc. 1337-1342)

~ Is the apology valid if the person apologising doesn't feel true regret?

Although the characters are not fully developed, and we don't know much about their past, they feel very real, the sort of people one could find amid depressed suburbs  around the world, the sort of relationships, behaviours, and life of the pariahs of the world. The mental institution depicted in the book is quite realistic, perhaps more typical of the first half of the 20th century than of the 21st, a brutal place where interns are treated worse than animals and the asylum staff lack humanity.

At Least we Can Apologize's ending is a bit disappointing but, in a way, makes sense. Yet, I wanted a bit of closure and wanted to see the odd couple to have some hope. Also, at the beginning of the book, there is an alternation between the life inside and outside the asylum, but that stops at a certain point; I would have loved that to continue so that we can come to fully understand the background on the evil characters or are they just psychopaths?

I found the translation excellent, and completely forgot this was a translation, so I could focus on the story and the characters. 

NOTES

> First published in Korean in 2009.

> First translated into English in 2013.

> Translator Christopher Joseph Dykas.

I PROTEST
I hate the covers of the whole series. Why not keeping the covers of the originals, some of which are really nice and eye-catching? The cover looks fit for a book on Mathematics.

Beautiful is a black and white graphic novel that successfully explores the popular saying "beauty is the inside" through the character of Lily. She is a young woman who wantd to be different from who she is to be considered beautiful and more lovable.  The book has a few chapters, each preceded by a motivational quote on inner beauty.

D'Abreo's drawing style is a very polished and minimalist BW with a predominance of white, therefore, very airy and luminous. There is a minimal but effective use of backgrounds and some fantasy-like elements, like the description of the true self or the inner critic, which are resolved with great imagination. However, this simplicity is an artistic option, as D'Abreo can truly draw.

Most of the story in Beautiful happens in Lily's head, i.e. it's Lily's endless mind chatter. However, there is also some human interaction, mostly with her best friend, the cool Tag. Lily is a likeable character, mostly because you have had that sort of chatter sometime in your life, you have it right know, or you know somebody who has it. Like most teens and young women nowadays, Lily lives under the tyranny of being photo-perfect for social media and for men. The fashion industry and the Media help to convey the idea that you need to be perfect, have better looks, better hair, better clothes, less kilos, more kilos, a different attitude, a fake pose, or simply to be different from who you really are, to be liked, loved and appreciated.

The story is great at presenting the self-talk that comes with this dysfunctional look at the self. However,  it is not merely descriptive, as it shows  how to recognise the negative nagging voice and how to destroy it.   In that regard, the ending is great, and coherent with the message of the story -- When you are yourself and aren't afraid of showing it, people see your beauty, and you don't have to change anything about you.   

Beautiful is easy to read and very charming, and I find it particularly good for pubescent and teenage girls; not only for them, for any woman with self-image and insecurity issues. 

Charming and right to the point, I read the book in a sitting.

Written by one of the most renowned writers in Korea, Lee Seung-U (or I Seungu),

The Private Life of Plants tells the story of a dysfunctional family narrated by the youngest sibling Kihyon. Uhyon, the oldest brother, a former photographer, develops a rare post-traumatic disorder after getting his legs amputated and becomes hyper-sexualised, psychologically self-destructive and locked inside. His younger brother, Kihyon, the narrator of the story, has to deal with some of his brother's needs and problems, his sense of guilt, feels alienated from his family, and keeps an active interest on his brother's former girlfriend Sunmi. Their parents seem to be also alien to each other; they barely speak to each other or spend time together, and seem to ignore Kyhon. This is the starting point of an exploration of Kyhon's psyche and view of the world, and an in-depth approach to the complexity of human relationships and of the world we perceive.

The Private Life of Plants is a beautifully written book -- very lyric, poetic and artistic at times, but very rough, sad, and confronting others. The characters are inquisitive, soulful, complex, and very human. There is a good dose of han in the book, that melancholy so specific of the Korean people. There is more to them than the beginning of the story makes one think. The story takes you to the same places where Kyhon is heading, and those places are a wonderful exploration of the nature of love, desire, family and the magic in everyday life.

THEMES

There are several prominent themes, masterly weaved, in the story, dialogues, and overall conception of the novel.

|~v|v~| We all have our point of view, we perceive, think and feel subjectively. The book makes very interesting reflections on the objectivity of the photographic camera, and the eye in front of behind the camera. Nobody is totally objective: 

"Nadie puede ser totalmente objetivo. Todo documento refleja necesariamente el punto de vista y la posición de la persona que lo ha elaborado. De igual modo, el que hace fotos expresa su punto de vista y su posición mediante el ángulo y el enfoque del aparato fotográfico." (loc. 562-566)
 [Nobody can be completely objective. Any document necessarily reflects the point of view and the standpoint of the person who makes it. In the same way, a person who makes a photo expresses their point of view and standpoint through the angle and the focal point of of the camera.] 

The eyes are the mind, and the mind is a coloured lens. The more people live in their head the less they can know other human beings, who have an existence outside the other's mind. The Private Life of Plants shows how difficult can be to connect with other people's souls, to get to know their real selves, to understand them, even if that "other" is a member of one's family. Kyhon's eyes are ours, uninformed and judgemental, because, like a photographer with a camera, he has a focal point, a framing and an angle. Like Kyhon, sometimes we just decide that our parents or siblings are something, without having anything to support the idea. We fabricate our views unintentionally; but sometimes we are lucky enough to be confronted with a reality that does not match what we believe about other people. People are sometimes something else or something more. Kyhon gets to know his family at the same time we do, page by page. 

"Esa faceta de mi padre era muy emotiva y desconocida para mí. Ahora me daba cuenta de lo poco que lo conocía. Y no sólo a mi padre. Me preguntaba también cuánto conocía a mi madre y a mi hermano, y tuve que admitir que los conocía muy poco." (loc. 1022-1024).
[That facet of my father was very emotive and unknown to me. Then, I realised how little I knew him. Not only my father. I asked myself how much I knew my mother and my brother, and I had to admit that I didn't know them much either.]

|~v|v~| Love has many faces, people can love and express love in many different ways. We see the different way Kyhon, Uhyon and their parents express love. Perhaps the most moving is that of the father, which takes the reader aback because is the most pure and unselfish of them all and the least obvious. Love is presented as the union of two parts of a soul. Love is powerful, the fuel of live. Love is also blind. Seung-U succeeds at showing what is infatuation and what is real love without preaching that one thing is better than other.

“Hay muchas maneras de querer”, me dije a mí mismo. El contenido del amor puede ser igual, pero la forma de querer es múltiple y diferente. Cien personas tienen cien diferentes formas de amar. Sólo los amores excepcionales se parecen. (Loc. 2820-2822). 

[There are many ways of loving, I told myself. The content of love can be the same, but the way of expressing love is multiple and different. One hundred people have one hundred different ways of loving. Only exceptional love stories are similar.]

"Aristófanes dice que el amor es el deseo de ser, en dos, un solo cuerpo. Eso mismo dice Platón en el Banquete —respondió ella." (loc. 1722-1723).
[Aristophanes says that love is the wish to be, in two, one  only body. The same says Plato in his Banquet, replied her.]

|~v|v~| Sexuality is an expression of the self and of the soul. There is a good deal of reflection about the nature of sexual desire in the novel. Kyhon feels repulsion at Sunmi engaging in a sexual relationship that does not fulfil her as the man uses, abuses and disrespects her; Sunmi feels inside that she deserves it and lets this man do that to her. Uhyon channels her inner pain through a "violent" sexuality, self-destructive, and anti-erotic because it is an expression of his inner pain and wounded soul. Soh channels her deep love for the man of her life through her sexual union with him in a magical pure and spiritual way, which  shows the state of her soul. The dichotomy we are presented with is not manichean -- all of these experiences are expressions and manifestations of the same thing -- The body, even the erotic one, is a connector with our inner life and and expression of the state of the soul. 

|~v|v~| Everything in Nature has a soul with which we can connect, plants and trees included. Uhyon tries to soothe his deep pain through a lyric connection with trees, as he sees them as soulful beings, connectors of earth and even, sustainers of time, and communicators between the human and the divine. He wants to heal his pain and his soul by becoming a tree. In a way, the book reminds me of The Vegetarian where we find the same obsession to unite with trees and Nature through the physical body. His father has a very similar reverence towards plants, which he considers living creatures with which one can communicate if speaking from the heart and with honesty. Kyhon initially has a view of the forest a la "Hansel & Gretel", therefore, dark, dangerous, untrustworthy, the home of witches and nasty beings. However, the more he gets to know to Uhyon and his father, the more he starts seeing the spirit of the trees as connectors of the human and the divine; eventually, he comes across the palm tree in Namcheon and understands what his brother feels and Kyhon experiences the true interconnectivity of the world.

The almost-Universal theme of the symbolic tree, the soulful tree, the tree of knowledge, and the personified tree is part of beliefs, cosmogonies, mythologies, legends and religions of different cultures around the globe: from the Bible to the Druids, from the vast cultures of Antiquity in the Mediterranean and the Middle East to the Celtic people and the Nordics, from the Aborigines of Australia to the Native Americans and beyond. Besides, this subject is very dear to the Korean collective psyche and culture.The link is found in the Korean shamanistic tradition of Musok or Musok-kyo, which is based on the belief that animals, plants and rocks have a spirit, that humans can communicate with them. What is more, there is a strong reverence to trees, who are believed to have individual personalities. The Private Life of Plants melts and fuses all of these elements in an organic way. However, there is a strong explicit emphasis on Greek mythology.

Mi padre dijo, en un tono suave, que los árboles también eran seres vivos, también tenían sentimientos, y añadió: La superficie de la planta percibe tu corazón a través de tu mano  (loc. 1461-7). Las plantas saben leer la mente del hombre.(loc. 1472-1473). Las plantas sienten como seres vivos. Son capaces de sentir dolor, tristeza y felicidad. Saben distinguir instintivamente si el hombre miente o dice la verdad. Un amor falso no provoca una respuesta. Para estar en comunicación con las plantas, hay que ser sincero, como cuando se trata con las personas (loc. 1475-1477).
[My father told me, in a soft tone, that trees are also living creatures and have feelings, and he added, "The surface of a plant perceives your heart through your hand. (...) Plants know how to read the mind of a man. (....) Plants feel as living creatures do and are able to feel pain, sadness and happiness. They can instinctively know whether a man is lying or saying the truth. A fake love doesn't provoke an answer. To be in communication with plants one has to be sincere, as when one treats with people."]

¿Habría algún bosque que no fuera sagrado? Todos los bosques guardan en su seno la génesis primera. Los bosques fueron el primer templo divino y algunos árboles de ese templo fueron adorados por sus propiedades divinas. (loc. 1330-1332).
[Is there any forest that is not sacred? Every forest keeps in its bosom the primeval genesis. Forests were the first divine temple and some trees in that temple were revered for their divine properties.]

|~v|v~| Reality and dream are weaved in myriad ways and the world is just both. The borders that separate them aren't clear or defined. On the contrary, the more they mingle, the more magical reality is and the more real the dream becomes. Although the theme is barely present at the beginning of the book, it becomes stronger and more defined as the story advances, and becomes prominent in the last fourth part of the book, when we see dream and reality connect in very tangible ways. When they connect, we see the characters moving from a world of hatred, guilt, repression, disconnection and pain, to a world that, although it is strange and inexplicable, feeds their soul and lets them know themselves, to communicate, to soothe their wounds and to heal. The story about the palm tree at the edge of the cliff in Namcheon and Sunmi's dream in the car are really beautiful and very lyric and a depiction of that.

"Su presencia lo hacía todavía más irreal, pues no es que ella entrara en el sueño, sino que ese espacio se convertía en un sueño gracias a ella. Mientras ella soñaba, el mundo de su sueño se agrandaba y en él se establecía ella como la heroína." (Loc. 2446-2448)
 [Her presence made it even more unreal, because it is not that she had entered the dream, but the space had become a dream thanks to her. While she was dreaming her dream's world was becoming larger and she was becoming the heroine in it.]

 "Le dije que ya era un árbol, porque el que sueña con ser árbol es el que posee el alma del árbol, y el que posee su alma, ya es un árbol." (loc.2709-2710).
[I told him that he was already a tree because somebody who dreams about being a tree is somebody who already has the soul of a tree, and somebody who has its soul is already a tree.]

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO...

The Private Life of Plants,  in the end, is a meandering walk towards wholeness and communion with the world, the Universe, and with Nature of which we are part. The characters start walking toward that wholeness, in different ways. Uhyon wants to heal his soul by connecting with his soul but since he can't do so directly he tries to connect with trees' soul. Kyhon wants to be one with his brother and with his family, to be seen, to be loved and be one with them . People become one with their lovers and their bodies become one. Kyhon's eye detaches from the mind and sees the world in its complexity and wholeness embracing the others for who they really are. Wounds start to heal and healing is becoming whole. Soh revels her secret and becomes true to herself and fully honest with her family, so she becomes whole. The family makes an effort to communicate better, so they are walking towards wholeness. Trees become personified, and one with the humans they merge. Dreams and reality fuse and integrate. Plants and humans talk to each other as they are part of the same. The Universe is one. Wholeness is oneness, union, integration and communion. Union with your self, with others, with reality, with Nature, with your dreams, with the magic we are and we are surrounded by.

TRANSLATION

I read the book on Kindle in the Spanish translation because there is no Kindle edition of this book in English. The translation into Spanish is wonderful, and one really forgets is a translation. The Spanish used is classic and elegant and I think will be enjoyed by both Latin-American and Spanish readers. Just a couple of sentences kept me munching because they sound a bit thick, or perhaps a bit surprising, and found the use of some capitals (or lack of them) and long dashes confusing, but that is just me being a picky reader.

RENDERING FOR KINDLE

There are just a couple or footnotes in the book, but they are misplaced and change position when changing the sizing of the font. Footnotes work best in Kindle when placed at the back and are properly linked, so one doesn't find them in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, it seems that the conversion into digital book came with a large number of typos derived of improper linking and unlinking of words, and some unnecessary spacing between full stops. Some of the typos I noticed are:

~ inuti-lizada (Loc. 2498).
~preo cupara más. (Loc. 2217).
~ahora?. .”  (loc. 2107).
~arrastra do (loc. 1865).
~men-tido (loc. 1227).
~comprender lo. (loc. 1204).
~per-seguido (loc. 1193)
~sonrisadulce (loc. 1079). 

~ juego . Me (loc. 1033).
~ abstraí do, (loc. 777).
~ con-secuencia (loc.  729).
~ obstácu lo (Kindle Location 660).
~ canciónse (Kindle Location 647). E
~ el respal do (loc. 511).
~ insen-sata (loc. 417).
~ confir-marlas. (loc. 399-400).
~ ve-hículo, (Kindle Location 73). 

IN SHORT

The Private Life of Plants is a great little book -- Lyric but confronting, complex but beautiful, The characters are walking into wholeness and into more fulfilling lives and emotions. The way Seung-U looks at the world in this novel is original, complex, mysterious and very soulful. You can this novel as a straightforward novel and and forget about it when you close it. In my case the book has stayed with me. because reminds me of some experiences I have had with some areas of the world, pieces of land, parks and trees -- an inexplicable but deep sense of connexion and attachment to something that is out of me. At times, when I read some books, I experience a deep sense of connection with the writer, as if the words had been written for me, and this is the case here. Nature has a voice that sings to us... sometimes through books and writers. Seung-U deserves more attention and accolades in the West than he has 

had so far. What a great writer.

NOTES

> The novel ends with a note by the author himself, where he briefly explains how he came up with the idea of the story and what he has trying to do with the characters. I find that sort of notes wonderful, because they are a pinhole into the mind of the creator, how a simple image of two trees can give birth to a wonderful story like this.  
> The Private Life of Plants was originally published in Korean in the year 2000.