Helpful Score: 1
Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-art-of-hearing-heartbeats.html
The original novel was published in German and became successful in Europe. This is the English translation.
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is as story within a story. It is the story of a daughter attempting to understand her father and the life of the man before he became a father. The story travels from New York to Burma.
Julia's father is a well respected lawyer in New York, but one day, he simply disappears, leaving his daughter devastated. The only clue she finds is a love letter written by her father to a woman named Mi Mi in Burma. So, she travels to Burma to solve the mystery and find some closure.
In a small Burmese village, she meets U Ba, a gentlemen who knows her father and who has his story to tell. Thus, the book moves into the story of Tin Win and Mi Mi. Tin Win is the young boy who suffers through many calamities while young. Yet, he finds love and flourishes. Mi Mi is a young woman handicapped by a physical disability but embracing life with joy.
What brings them together and tears them apart and the concept of unconditional love is what this story is all about. What Julia learns about her father, herself, and her world is what brings the story back to the present.
The story of Tin Win and Mi Mi often reads like a fairy tale or a fable. Certain details are not developed and certain questions are not resolved. For example, how is Julia's father able to walk away from his daughter? Why do Tin Win and Mi Mi accept what happens without question? Why does so much time pass with Tin Win not returning? Many questions; yet, the writing and the way in which the story is told surpasses those questions.
My reaction to the book can perhaps be best described in the author's own words. As the book is a story within a story, the author talks about the impact of stories: "Can words sprout wings? Can they glide like butterflies through the air? Can they captivate us, carry us off into another world? Can they open the last secret chambers of our souls?" If you are willing to suspend your disbelief about the unresolved questions, this story does.
The original novel was published in German and became successful in Europe. This is the English translation.
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is as story within a story. It is the story of a daughter attempting to understand her father and the life of the man before he became a father. The story travels from New York to Burma.
Julia's father is a well respected lawyer in New York, but one day, he simply disappears, leaving his daughter devastated. The only clue she finds is a love letter written by her father to a woman named Mi Mi in Burma. So, she travels to Burma to solve the mystery and find some closure.
In a small Burmese village, she meets U Ba, a gentlemen who knows her father and who has his story to tell. Thus, the book moves into the story of Tin Win and Mi Mi. Tin Win is the young boy who suffers through many calamities while young. Yet, he finds love and flourishes. Mi Mi is a young woman handicapped by a physical disability but embracing life with joy.
What brings them together and tears them apart and the concept of unconditional love is what this story is all about. What Julia learns about her father, herself, and her world is what brings the story back to the present.
The story of Tin Win and Mi Mi often reads like a fairy tale or a fable. Certain details are not developed and certain questions are not resolved. For example, how is Julia's father able to walk away from his daughter? Why do Tin Win and Mi Mi accept what happens without question? Why does so much time pass with Tin Win not returning? Many questions; yet, the writing and the way in which the story is told surpasses those questions.
My reaction to the book can perhaps be best described in the author's own words. As the book is a story within a story, the author talks about the impact of stories: "Can words sprout wings? Can they glide like butterflies through the air? Can they captivate us, carry us off into another world? Can they open the last secret chambers of our souls?" If you are willing to suspend your disbelief about the unresolved questions, this story does.
