Showing posts with label Jan-Philipp Sendker. Show all posts

Thursday, April 2, 2015

A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Paperback: 388 pages
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Publisher: Polygon 2014
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentence: 'The deep blue morning sky was clear as a bell the day my life lurched off course'.
Favourite Quote: ''Not all truths are explicable and not all explicable things are true'',he once told me.
Review Quote: 'This is the kind of stunningly perfect novel that changes lives' --Claire Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author
My Opinion: .A sensitive and beautifully told story

I have been looking forward to reading this sequel to the touching love story that was 'The Art of Hearing Heartbeats' and it certainly has not disappointed me. The author has written a novel that will entertain and also make you think about the very meaning of our modern life style as it mixes Eastern and Western cultures. I was truly transported back to the wonderful country of Burma/Myanmar as I was in the previous novel.

A sensitive and beautifully told story about the protagonist Julia's quest for happiness, as despite a successful career as a lawyer she has much unhappiness in her private life. Niggling questions about her lifestyle play on her mind, leaving her feeling mentally and physically exhausted. With the help of a girl friend Julia decides that she should return to her father's homeland of Burma, which she had last visited ten years previously. Reunited with her half brother U Ba, she sets out to find answers to her many questions about life and love, that are manifesting themselves as voices in her head. Julia is very disturbed and it is some time before she reveals her worries to her brother. His way of helping her is to take her to visit a village elder and have her listen to the tragic story of her sister. An uncertain future, certain death and a tale of woe that gets under Julia's skin but helps her in her own search for peace of mind.

I found the romantic spiritualism in this book moving but if you are at all sceptical you may find this aspect of the story spoils the novel for you. Read with an open heart for this is a truly moving and sensitive tale, set in a place I have found to be as magical as it sounds on paper in real life.

My review of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats can be read here

Author Profile

Biography/Interview Courtesy of Amazon

Jan-Philipp Sendker, born in Hamburg in 1960, was the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he published 'Cracks in the Great Wall', a non-fiction book about China. 'The Art of Hearing Heartbeats' is his first novel. He lives in Berlin with his family.

*Can you describe your book in 10 words or fewer?
A story about the magical power of love.

*Where did the idea for the book come from?
Very often people ask me how I got an idea. I always say: The ideas get me. I seriously don't know where they come from. That is part of the magic and mystery of being a novelist. Writing for me is like an adventure, a journey I take myself on hoping to learn and discover new things along the way.

*The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is your first novel. Have you always wanted to be a novelist?
Yes. Even as a thirteen year old school boy it was my dream to become a novelist. I wrote poems and started at least ten different novels when I was a teenager, never got beyond page 20. Discouraged I took a break for almost twenty years and started writing The Art of Hearing Heartbeats when I was 37 years old.

*Which writers do you think influenced you?
Many. Among them are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Albert Camus, Arundhati Roy, Thomas Bernhard.

The biographical information and photo used in this post are with thanks to the following websites, where you can also find more information about the author and his writing.

Amazon Author Profile Goodreads Author Profile YouTube - The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

Jan-Philipp Sendker - Official Author Website

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker

Paperback: 325 pages
Genre: Romantic Fiction
Publisher: Polygon 2013
Source: Tywyn Public Library
First Sentences: 'The old man's eyes struck me first. They rested deep in their sockets and he seemed unable to take them off me'.
Favourite Quote: 'A daunting realization was creeping up on him. Might there be, parallel to the world of shapes and colours, an entire world of voices and sounds of noises and tones? A hidden realm of the senses, all around us but usually inaccessible to us? A world perhaps even more exhilarating and mysterious to the visible world?'
Review Quote: 'A magical tale to capture your imagination' -- My Weekly
My Opinion: A really tender, touching story of true love.

Initially I was drawn to this book because it is set in Burma. Then when I saw the cover well there went my theory about never judging a book by its cover, a beautiful silhouette that reminds me so much of a bridge in Mandalay. My attraction to Burma or Myanmar as it is now known is another story, not for here but for my Travel Tales blog, it is the most amazing place. I probably never would have chosen to read this had it not been for my recent trip there but I am so pleased I did as this novel is a treat to read. A really tender, touching and sensual story of true love. The location is just as important as the story itself, immerse yourself in the surroundings and different beliefs to truly feel what this novel has to offer.

The love affair took place in 1950's Burma between a young blind boy Tim Win and a beautiful crippled girl called Mi Mi and is related to his daughter Julia Win by U Ba a Burmese man she met on her arrival in Kalaw. Now why is Julia Win in Burma listening to this story? Well having lived all her life, she thought happily with her parents in New York, Julia is trying to discover why her father disappeared without trace four years ago. It is an unsolved mystery but when Julia discovers a love letter written by her father many years previously to an unknown Burmese woman, she becomes intent on finding out the truth. Travelling to Burma she meets U Ba and slowly unravels the most improbable story of adversity, determination and real passion, that will affect her deeply.

You really do need to read this for yourself to appreciate how love between two people despite all odds being against it can be so magical. One of the most interesting aspects of the book, for me anyway, was how Tin Wins auditory senses were so highly developed, amazing! Recommended to anyone that has experienced, or thinks they have, true love.

Do spare five minutes to watch this YouTube video of how Burma inspired this novel.