The Art of Hearing Heartbeats: A Novel

This was an absolutely lovely book. I enjoyed it very much. It was hard to put down. I learnt so much about the Burmese culture from this book. It is a love story between two characters who have not let their adversity prevent them from loving each other. I won't spoil it for you by telling you the issues they faced, its well worth the read to find out. Its not the typical nauseating love story, about the guy with the chiseled body who saves the beautiful girl by falling in love with her. None of that "romance" here. The themes of loyalty, courage, dedication and of course love run through this book. I was held captive by the storyline and the style of writing from the beginning. Despite being a love story, there is a tinge of sadness, but as one of my favourite quotes from this book says "Life, ..., is a gift full of riddles in which suffering and happiness are inextricably intertwined. Any attempt to have one without the other was simply bound to fail".

Edited bc html didn't translate!! Overall, a great book and a great read. There were a few issues, but overall I really enjoyed it. I typically do not read books that are touted as "poignant" and "inspirational" ... least of all "love story." Even less, a book where someone is discovering the hidden life of someone they love, which *apparently* (according to the back) involves infidelity, and which involves "the power of love to move mountains." brrp. sorry just threw up in my mouth a little. Yeah. so, not my kind of book. But it's a book group book, so I give it my full attention and an open mind. And it was GOOD. From the beginning. It drew me in and kept me there. It's a fast read and an engaging plot. Let me describe it a little: Meet privileged family, in big city in America, at sudden disappearance of the father (Tin Win) of the family. Understand that the family knows nothing of the father's first 20 years of his life and that it seems to be some kind of grand mystery. Know that the father is a very successful lawyer who hails from some faraway foreign land. And then travel with the early-20s daughter (Julia), a newly minted lawyer herself, to Burma to discovery "the truth" of her father. Enter strange old man (U Ba) who seems to know every thought, emotion, and intimate part of Tin Win's life and the life of the woman he apparently loved from his mid-teens until approximately 20. And discover Burma and the Burmese, blindness and discovery, and struggle and heartache with Julia as she begins to learn "the truth" about her father. Sendker made Burma come alive, made the Burmese insistence on belief in astrology interesting, and made the reader desire to learn the art of hearing heartbeats. It was so **interesting**! It was so well paced and the characters were so well drawn! I loved the varying perspectives we managed to get. I loved the scenery and the thoughts. I loved the peripheral characters. I even liked MiMi and Tin Win and wanted to believe in their love. So what didn't I like? HUGE SPOILERS HEREIN: SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER: I did not like that U Ba not only knew the intimate (and I mean _intimate_) details of Tin Win and MiMi's lives, but that the *shared* them with Tin Win's *daughter*?! That was probably my biggest beef. But since we're on spoiler-alert here anyway, I also didn't like (_really_ didn't like!) that somehow Julia was just hunky-dory with the fact that her father supposedly had this undying amazing love for Mi Mi, somehow also loved her mother and his family, and that that was all just ok. I didn't like that Tin Win was selfish enough to find a new family in America, and selfish enough to hold so ardently onto his feelings for Mi Mi. And I didn't like that he was selfish enough to "choose" to die and leave his son, his daughter, and even his wife without any note, explanation, or apology. His only "note" was the story he told his other son, and that was supposed to be sufficient. And then they were celebrated?! I get that Julia was trying to recognize cultural differences and allow for more than 1 kind of love... but what he did to both of his sons and his daughter, not even paying any attention to the two women, I don't think that's loving. It's self-focused. SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER END SPOILERS But aside from not liking the PERSON all that much, and/or his decisions, I liked the STORY, and I thought it was well told. Very well told. And I definitely recommend the book! FOUR of five stars. This and other reviews can be found at AllBookReviewer.blogspot.com

Loved it, loved it, loved it! I resent when reviewers tell you the story. I will not. To reveal it would spoil the joy of embarking on a journey of discovery with a young woman in search of a father who, one day, inexplicably just disappeared, from his family, his very comfortable life and highly successful law career, and leaving no clue as to why. He just walked away leaving everyone and everything behind. All is a total unknown until his daughter, Julia, finds a couple of old letters written by her father that reveals a deep love and longing for the intended recipient at an address in Burma, to whom they were never sent. Julia, puts her own successful law career on hold and sets off for Burma to learn who the mysterious "Mi Mi" is, and whether it is she that her father has gone to find or return to, so many years later. Julia finds herself in the tiny rural village of Kalaw, where over a period of time she hopes to find some answers as told to her by a native Burmese man, U Ba. For the rest, I will leave it to you dear would-be reader. I hope you will enjoy reading, and unfolding this well written and well told story as I did.

Gran novela de 💛, hermosamente escrita, me mantuvo pegada al libro de principio al fin

Mesmerized by the story. Thanks for the beautiful story.

Ich habe die englische Ausgabe für meine Amerikanische Nachbarin geordert. Genau genommen beide Bände. Mir haben die Deutschen Ausgaben sehr gefallen. Es ist nicht die Geschichte an sich. Die ist auch nett und hat mir gefallen, schon weil ich im vergangenen Jahr in Myanmar (Burma) war. Insofern hatte alles noch einen besonderen Touch, ich kenne mehrere Orte und kann vieles nachempfinden. Das Buch (oder die Bücher - zusammen mit The Art of hearing Heartbeats - sind ja eine Geschichte) wurde für meine Begriffe von einer wunderbaren Sprache ausgezeichnet. Es war einfach nur schön dieser Sprache zu folgen. Poetisch, lyrisch, irgendwie sanft. Buch-Sprach-Empfindungen kann man manchmal schwer beschreiben. Ich kann nur hoffen, dass die englischen Ausgaben dieser Sprachfaszination gleich kommen.

Just a lovely and endearing book that I highly recommend reading once or even more in your life! Such nicely written that you won't be able to put it down!

Good story