In The Illusion of Separateness, award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells the haunting and luminous story of how one man's act of mercy on a World War II battlefield changes the lives of six strangers across time and place. From wartime Britain and Nazi-occupied France, to modern-day Los Angeles, the characters of this gripping novel - inspired by true events - include a child on the brink of starvation, a blind museum curator looking for love, a German infantryman, and a humble caretaker at a retirement home in Santa ...
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In The Illusion of Separateness, award-winning author Simon Van Booy tells the haunting and luminous story of how one man's act of mercy on a World War II battlefield changes the lives of six strangers across time and place. From wartime Britain and Nazi-occupied France, to modern-day Los Angeles, the characters of this gripping novel - inspired by true events - include a child on the brink of starvation, a blind museum curator looking for love, a German infantryman, and a humble caretaker at a retirement home in Santa Monica. Whether they are pursued by old age, shame, disease, or regret, these incandescent characters remain unaware of their connection until seemingly random acts of selflessness lift a veil to reveal the vital parts they play in each other's lives.
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Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.02, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Harper.
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The cover has visible markings and wear. The dust jacket is clean and undamaged. The pages are in Good condition but show signs of gentle use! Codes or product keys that accompany this product may not be valid. Fast Shipping in a Standard Poly Mailer!
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.03, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Harper Perennial.
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Book is considered to be in good or better condition. The actual cover image may not match the stock photo. Hard cover books may show signs of wear on the spine cover or dust jacket. Paperback book may show signs of wear on spine or cover as well as having a slight bend or curve to it. Book should have no writing inside or highlighting. Pages should be free of tears or creasing. Stickers should not be present on cover or elsewhere and any CD or DVD expected with the book is included. Book is not a former library copy.
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.24, good condition, Sold by Books For Life rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Laurel, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Harper Perennial.
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Book is in good condition. Minimal signs of wear. It May have markings or highlights but kept to only a few pages. May not come with supplemental materials if applicable.
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.75, good condition, Sold by Gulf Coast Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Memphis, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Harper Perennial.
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.78, good condition, Sold by Seattle Goodwill rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Harper.
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Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.86, good condition, Sold by Goodwill rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brooklyn Park, MN, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by HarperCollins.
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.97, good condition, Sold by Goodwill of Colorado rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2022 by HarperCollins.
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This item is in overall good condition. Covers and dust jackets are intact but may have minor wear including slight curls or bends to corners as well as cosmetic blemishes including stickers. Pages are intact but may have minor highlighting/ writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have slight wear overall. Digital codes may not be included and have not been tested to be redeemable and/or active. Minor shelf wear overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $1.97, fair condition, Sold by Goodwill of Colorado rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Harper.
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Fair. This item is in overall acceptable condition. Covers and dust jackets are intact but may have heavy wear including creases, bends, edge wear, curled corners or minor tears as well as stickers or sticker-residue. Pages are intact but may have minor curls, bends or moderate to considerable highlighting/ writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have heavy wear. Digital codes may not be included and have not been tested to be redeemable and/or active. A well-read copy overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!
Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness: a Novel to cart. $3.00, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2014 by Harper Perennial.
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Add this copy of The Illusion of Separateness to cart. $3.00, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Harper.
The doctrine of dependent origination is at the heart of Buddhist teachings of all schools. It is a profoundly difficult teaching in its implications. In the Suttas, the Buddha rebukes even the most learned of his disciples for thinking they understand dependent origination. Broadly, dependent origination teaches that persons and things lack substantiality and fixity and are invariably changing. There is nothing substantial, fixed, and independent in, for example, personal identity; rather things and persons are inextricably interconnected to each other, with one thing flowing and changing from another. The Buddha also tries to teach a way to break the cycle of interconnectedness through the Four Noble Truths.
Although Simon Van Booy's novel, "The Illusion of Separateness" (2013) does not mention dependent origination, Buddhism, or the Buddha, at least part of the teaching pervades the book, as Van Booy says in a short oral presentation on the book that may be found here on the Amazon product page. In addition, the book opens with an epigraph from the Vietnamese Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh: "We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness". Born in Wales but living in the United States, Van Booy has written novels and stories with a strongly philosophical bent and has also edited three books of philosophical essays.
Van Booy's novel gives a novelistic account of the "illusion of separateness" by showing the interconnected character of the lives of people apparently separated in place, time, and culture. Each of the short chapters of this short book focus on one of six individuals: Martin, Mr. Hugo, Sebastien, John, Amelia, and Danny. With the exception of Amelia, a young blind woman who works as a curator in a New York City art museum and who speaks for herself, the events in the lives of each character are recounted in the third person. The individual chapters at first appear episodic and the characters separated. As the story unfolds, the connections among them gradually become clear.
The story centers upon events in France in 1944, shortly after the allied landing at Normandy. The characters include a severely wounded German soldier and an almost as badly wounded American fighter pilot and a French family of resistance fighters that protects a Jewish baby boy. In addition to the WW II settings, chapters of the book describe the subsequent lives of the characters, and of others who become connected with them, in Britain and America.
The book is beautifully written in a spare, minimalist style. Van Booy tells his story with a great deal of skill that reveals the relationship of his protagonists to one and another with a great deal of writerly cunning. Much of the book is moving and convincing. In places, the coincidences in the book seem jimmied together and forced.
Van Booy writes thoughtfully in a way that encourages readers to reflect of the ties and commonality that people share with one another. The book also has a degree of sentimentality. It lacks the toughness and depth that might come from a fuller consideration of the Buddhist teaching of dependent arising, which stresses a profound path out of everyday life's character of dependence.
