Flagellatory mea culpa from a reformed North Korean terrorist who, in 1987, blew up a South Korean airliner, killing all 115 aboard. By Kim Hyun Hee's account, North Korea may be the cruelest nation on earth, but not much is known about it in the West—and so the 31-year-old author's depiction of life there, and of her stern upbringing under the rule of ``Our Great Leader,'' Kim Il Sung, is both revelatory and shocking (``It is North Korean law that anyone who insults the Kim family is punished by being bludgeoned to death with an iron bar''). Distinguished by her high grades, Kim Hyun Hee was tapped at 19 to train as a spy. Her description of the grueling training regimen, and of her final exam—which included a nighttime infiltration of a mock foreign embassy built in nearby woods—forms the suspenseful highlight of her tale. It's almost matched by her account of her sole mission—the Mideast bombing of the airplane, an act aimed at scaring away the 1988 Olympics from its probable South Korean venue—and of her almost instant capture, during which she tried to kill herself by chomping down on a cyanide-laced Marlboro. The rest of her story isn't so compelling, with the narrative gauzed over by guilt as the author details her extradition to South Korea, where she was convicted of murder but pardoned on grounds that she, too, was Communism's victim; her conversion to capitalism as she witnessed the wealth and freedom of Seoul; and her longings for her parents. Presumably a big seller in Korea and Japan, but Kim Hyun Hee's dramatic yet self-absorbed memoir isn't likely to find a large audience here—though American readers will be glad to know that the author's proceeds are earmarked for the families of her bombing victims. (Twenty b&w photographs—not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-12833-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular...
A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.
Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”
A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8129-8840-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.
An analysis of our emotions and the skills required to understand them.
We all have emotions, but how many of us have the vocabulary to accurately describe our experiences or to understand how our emotions affect the way we act? In this guide to help readers with their emotions, Brackett, the founding director of Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, presents a five-step method he calls R.U.L.E.R.: We need to recognize our emotions, understand what has caused them, be able to label them with precise terms and descriptions, know how to safely and effectively express them, and be able to regulate them in productive ways. The author walks readers through each step and provides an intriguing tool to use to help identify a specific emotion. Brackett introduces a four-square grid called a Mood Meter, which allows one to define where an emotion falls based on pleasantness and energy. He also uses four colors for each quadrant: yellow for high pleasantness and high energy, red for low pleasantness and high energy, green for high pleasantness and low energy, and blue for low pleasantness and low energy. The idea is to identify where an emotion lies in this grid in order to put the R.U.L.E.R. method to good use. The author’s research is wide-ranging, and his interweaving of his personal story with the data helps make the book less academic and more accessible to general readers. It’s particularly useful for parents and teachers who want to help children learn to handle difficult emotions so that they can thrive rather than be overwhelmed by them. The author’s system will also find use in the workplace. “Emotions are the most powerful force inside the workplace—as they are in every human endeavor,” writes Brackett. “They influence everything from leadership effectiveness to building and maintaining complex relationships, from innovation to customer relations.”
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-21284-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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