The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker is a wonderful tale that I felt I could best relate to with the fact that love can withstand time. J has been deployed, he has been on isolation tours and away for long periods of time for classes and training. Because of all our time apart I can well understand what Tin Win and Mi Mi must have felt. Their love stood the test of time.
When I first jumped into the pages of this particular book I was exclaiming what a rogue Tin Win was to be so fickle with his affections. But was he? No, he knew love and he knew that love can be felt in different ways and with different people. I know that this is very true. There is the person that deploys, the soldier. I have to treat my husband very differently when he is a soldier. I must not upset him with every day events that make it seem like I can't handle being alone. Then there is the guy that I married, the civilian, the guy that comes home from work each day and wants to be bothered with the trivial aspects of marriage. Our love is different from how we are apart.
I can't help but wonder that if Tin Win felt able to dishonor his father figure distant cousin if he would have been extremely happy with Mi Mi or if he would have felt the boredom that can grow with taking one's spouse for granted. The fact that they were apart for so long, not unlike the times I've been apart from my husband but just not for as long as the fictional couple, might have kindled the romance even more. When apart from J I often would gloss over the bad parts that are there in the every day life and don the rose colored glasses of the newness of relationships. Though I do slip those glasses on when he leaves I remember to take them off when he comes back. It is the reality that is the true test of love, the real love that can withstand the test of time.
As a member of From Left To Write I received a free copy of this book to read and write a personal review for my blog. All of the opinions stated in my blog are of course my own.
When Julia travels to Burma to search for her missing lawyer father, she discovers much more than she expected.
Join From Left to Write on February 1 as we discuss The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker.
