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ONLY HUMAN

Name: ONLY HUMAN
Author: Norbert Soski
ISBN: 978-1-5356-1443-6

GUIDE TO OUR INTERNAL HUMAN OPERATING SYSTEM AND ACHIEVING A BETTER LIFE

by Norbert Soski ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

An involving and enthusiastic call to listen to the better angels of our nature.

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A wide-ranging spiritual interpretation of human nature.

Most people misunderstand what human nature is, maintains Soski in his nonfiction debut. Often people use the idea as an excuse for failings (“What do you want from me? I’m ONLY HUMAN!!!”). This, he says, is the source of much of the frustration and misdirection in life, since a clear understanding of what makes up human nature is a prerequisite for success and happiness. The book attempts to clarify it by differentiating it from its side effects: “how much have human beings ourselves really improved, changed, or evolved?” Soski asks. “Not the circumstances of our life, but our humanity?” In part to answer such questions, the author devises a “Human Operating System”—the common aspect that all humans share even when their personality traits, abilities, and experiences differ—and traces how it affects every aspect of human life. Soski, a self-described engineer who has a consultancy and coaching company called Straight-Up Soulutions, sees this system as having two complementary halves: the “Primitive Soul,” which governs the actions of the body, and the “Angelic Soul,” which, he says, “motivates us to search out a purpose and meaning for our life that is bigger than us as individuals.” In clear, easy-to-follow prose, accompanied by bullet points, charts, and illustrations, the author anatomizes the interconnected workings of the two souls in ways that will be invitingly familiar to readers of mainstream New Age spiritualist texts. The book puts a strong emphasis on the division between the real and the illusory, which leads to advice to temper the Primitive Soul and encourage the Angelic one. Still, some readers may wonder at the amount of anti-scientific thinking in this book, especially coming from an engineer, as when Soski writes, “It is believed that all living things contain a common life force that defines our existence, identity, and capabilities,” or when he asserts that “Mind does not physically exist. The mind is the manifestation of the soul.” Nevertheless, even the most hardheaded readers may agree with the sentiment behind the idea of an Angelic Soul.

An involving and enthusiastic call to listen to the better angels of our nature.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: 978-1-5356-1443-6

Page Count: 233

Publisher: Straight-Up Soulutions

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2018

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.