Since 1995 Jan-Philipp Sendker has visited Myanmar (Burma) dozens of times, and while doing research for his novels The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and A Well-Tempered Heart, he encountered numerous folktales and fables. These moving stories speak to the rich mythology of the diverse peoples of Burma, the spirituality of humankind, and the profound social impact of Buddhist thought. Some are so strange he couldn’t classify them or identify a familiar moral, while others reminded him of the fairy tales of his childhood, except that here monkeys, tigers, elephants, and crocodiles inhabited the fantastic lands instead of hedgehogs, donkeys, or geese. Their morals resemble those of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen, illustrating how all cultures draw on a universal wisdom to create their myths.
The Long Path to Wisdom’s evocative stories run the gamut of human emotions, from the familiar to the shocking, and are sure to delight fans of The Art of Hearing Heartbeats as well as those newly discovering the magic of Sendker’s incandescent writing.
Author
Jan-Philipp Sendker
Jan-Philipp Sendker, born in Hamburg in 1960, was the American correspondent for Stern from 1990 to 1995, and its Asian correspondent from 1995 to 1999. In 2000 he published Cracks in the Wall, a nonfiction book about China. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, his first novel, is an international best seller. He lives in Potsdam with his family.
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Lorie Karnath
Lorie Karnath is an author, explorer, and lecturer. She was the 37th president of The Explorers Club, and founded The Explorers Museum, a not for profit entity dedicated to preserving and fostering exploration and discovery. She has written numerous books and articles on the sciences, exploration and the arts.
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Jonathan Sendker
Jonathan Sendker spent a gap year in Myanmar, traveling, doing volunteer work and collecting stories for this book. Upon his return home, he assisted in compiling and formulating the manuscript. Jonathan now studies Liberal Arts & Sciences in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
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