The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

by Jan-Philipp Sendker

I borrowed this book from my sister, who recommended it.  I loved it!  It has a graceful beauty that is soft, gentle, and endearing.

Even though it wasn't a book I owned I still made good use of marking passage that caught my attention - I used book darts and left them in the book.  For me, one of the treats of reading a book is to look back and reread the phrases I marked.  Sometimes they merely remind me of moments in the story and other times they take on greater meaning after the story is finished.

This passage is beautiful in its sadness, eloquent in its sense of loss.It's odd, Julia, but a confession, a disclosure is worthless when it comes at the wrong moment.  If it's too early, it overwhelms us.  We're not ready for it and can't yet appreciate it.  If it's too late, the opportunity is lost.  The mistrust and the disappointment are already too great; the door is already closed.  In either case, the very thing that ought to foster intimacy just creates distance.

These passages are spoken by a young, blind man to a woman with club feet who is unable to walk.

The true essence of things is invisible to the eyes.  Our sensory organs love to lead us astray, and eyes are the most deceptive of all.  We relay too heavily upon them.  We believe that we see the world around us, and yet it is only the surface that we perceive.  We must learn to divine the true nature of things, their substance, and the eyes are rather a hindrance than a help in that regard.  The distract us.  We love to be dazzled. 

It is rage that blinds and deafens us. Or fear.  Envy, mistrust.  The world contracts, gets all out of joint when you are angry or afraid.  There is only one thing that is stronger than fear.