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My Heart Sutra: A World in 260 Characters
By Frederik L. Schodt
271 pages
5 hours
Description
The Heart Sutra is the most widely read, chanted, and copied text in East Asian Buddhism. Here Frederik L. Schodt explores his lifelong fascination with the sutra: its mesmerizing mantra, its ancient history, the “emptiness theory, and the way it is used around the world as a metaphysical tool to overcome chaos and confusion and reach a new understanding of reality--a perfection of wisdom. Schodt's journey takes him to caves in China, American beats declaiming poetry, speculations into the sutra's true origins, and even a robot Avalokiteśvara at a Kyoto temple.
Buddhism
Philosophy
Personal Memoirs
Meditation and Stress Management
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My Heart Sutra: A World in 260 Characters Paperback – 15 December 2020
by Frederik L. Schodt (Author)
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The Heart Sutra is the most widely read, chanted, and copied text in East Asian Buddhism. Here Frederik L. Schodt explores his lifelong fascination with the sutra: its mesmerizing mantra, its ancient history, the "emptiness theory, and the way it is used around the world as a metaphysical tool to overcome chaos and confusion and reach a new understanding of reality--a perfection of wisdom. Schodt's journey takes him to caves in China, American beats declaiming poetry, speculations into the sutra's true origins, and even a robot Avalokitesvara at a Kyoto temple.
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Print length
248 pages
Review
Like the Heart Sutra itself, Schodt's words are prismatic--stories of a lifetime of personal encounter with this ancient sacred text are set alongside historical, cultural, and linguistic commentary, each facet both intriguing in itself and an invitation to further inquiry.
--Lion's Roar
The very personal nature of My Heart Sutra is what gives this book its readability, especially to the uninitiated.
--Books on Asia
Schodt's obsession with the sutra and expertise as a translator shows in his ability to decode academic conversations and practical religious concerns into accessible language."
--Publishers Weekly
My Heart Sutra is a love letter to the Heart Sutra, as well as a trip through time, and to the far corners of the Buddhist world where it's popularity remains unabated.
--Maryse Cardin, The Pacific Rim Review of Books
Unique...an engaging read to anyone with the slightest interest in the subject.
--Nikkei Asia
Schodt has found the Heart Sutra to be the most transformative spiritual influence in his life, and this book is his tribute for others to experience the scripture's magic for themselves.
--teahouse.buddhistdoor.net
"This is not merely a book about the Heart Sutra. It's about the stories that grew up around it, its journey through human civilization like a self-replicating meme, a scrap of wisdom whispering in temples, shopping malls, and movies."
--Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China
Reading My Heart Sutra, I imagined pulling a loose thread at the end of a one-page sutra and unraveling enough yarn to weave together a life, with enough left to make a new robe for the Buddha.
--Red Pine, author of The Heart Sutra: The Womb of Buddhas
"Frederik Schodt has created a magical weaving of two stories of wonder: how the Heart Sutra arose from somewhat fantastic origins to become the most recognizable Buddhist scripture in China and Japan today through new forms of expression, and how the enigmatic teachings of this "sutra concerned with negating everything" has served as a kind of moving goalpost within the author, challenging, inspiring, and guiding him as his religious consciousness unfolds."
--Mark L. Blum, professor of Buddhist Studies and Shinjo Ito distinguished chair in Japanese Studies, University of California, Berkeley; editor of Cultivating Spirituality, Rennyo and the Roots of Modern Japanese Buddhism, translator of The Nirvana Sutra, vol. 1
I am not sure I have read another book in which the author is as sensitive as Schodt to the quality of the spoken or chanted version of [The Heart Sutra].
--Leanne Ogasawara, Kyoto Journal
"Frederik L. Schodt skillfully weaves together personal anecdotes, details of Buddhist teaching and history, and many other facts and stories, giving readers a compelling reason to study the Heart Sutra and make the wisdom of Emptiness part of their lives.
--Daigaku Rummé, Sōtō Zen priest at the Confluence Zen Center St. Louis
Schodt has found the Heart Sutra to be the most transformative spiritual influence in his life, and this book is his tribute for others to experience the scripture's magic for themselves.
--teahouse.buddhistdoor.net
About the Author
Fluent in Japanese, Frederik L. Schodt is an author and translator of impressive breadth. He has written extensively on Japanese pop culture, technology, and history. His books include Dreamland Japan, America and the Four Japans, and Native American in the Land of the Shogun, which was a Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title in 2005. In 1998, Schodt translated and annotated Japanese immigrant Henry Kiyama's The Four Immigrants Manga, one of the first American original comic books; graphic novelist Will Eisner called the book "a treasure [that] belongs in every library."
In 2009, Schodt was awarded the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by the Japanese emperor for his contribution "to the introduction and promotion of Japanese contemporary popular culture in the United States of America. He is also a recipient of the Japan Foundation Award for 2017.
Schodt has lectured at venues worldwide, including San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, the Smithsonian Institution's Freer Art Gallery, Temple University Japan, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Tokyo University, Stanford University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in San Francisco.
Paperback : 248 pages
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is a writer, translator, and conference interpreter based in the San Francisco Bay area. He has written widely on Japanese history, popular culture, and technology. His writings on manga, and his translations of them, helped trigger the current popularity of Japanese comics in the English-speaking world, and in 2000 resulted in his being awarded the Special Category of the Asahi Shimbun's prestigious Osamu Tezuka Culture Award. In the same year, his translation of Henry Yoshitaka Kiyama's 1931 pioneering graphic novel,_The Four Immigrants Manga_, was selected as a finalist in Pen West USA translation award. In 2009, Fred was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, for his work in helping to promote Japan's popular culture overseas. Also, in the same year he was awarded the "Special" category of the Ministry of Foreign Affair's 3rd International Manga Award.
Fred's WEBSITE-- http://www.jai2.com | TALKS-- http://www.jai2.com/ABE_Talks.htm | BIBLIOGRAPHY-- http://www.jai2.com/Mybiblio.htm
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Top reviews from other countries
Richard D. Provost
5.0 out of 5 stars Opens a window to Buddhist philosophyReviewed in the United States on 7 March 2021
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I've had no particular fascination with Buddhism, although as a teen I made a half-hearted attempt to pursue enlightenment by chanting at a scroll on my bedroom wall. Five-plus decades and a little bit of wisdom later, My Heart Sutra has inspired me to look into Buddhist philosophy again.
The Heart Sutra is a philosophical statement of such profundity and inscrutability that it’s been translated, recited and studied more than any of the hundreds of sutras (teachings of the Buddha). The author weaves engaging personal anecdotes with a history of Buddhism and its sutras, and an exploration of the Heart Sutra’s vast popularity in particular.
There is a fascinating history of the Heart Sutra’s most widely-accepted translation – the “master copy.” Schodt tells the story of a Chinese Buddhist monk named Xuangzang who, 1,400 years ago, traveled across China and India visiting sacred Buddhist sites. He returned home with hundreds of sutras and dedicated the remainder of his life translating them from Sanskrit. To ensure their preservation, Buddhist monks literally carved the sutras into stone (a stele with Xuangzang’s translation of the Heart Sutra was discovered in 2016).
Schodt approaches the subject from several additional angles, including a hotly-contested theory about provenance, the differences in how the same text can be read and spoken, and how the Heart Sutra manifests in different cultural environments. All of which adds up to piquing my interest for more.
Unlike many other books attempting to explain the Heart Sutra’s meaning, Schodt makes it clear that his book isn’t an attempt to provide insight beyond what it means to him; what he finds in himself when he recites the mantra. What he finds is objectively good, and something I suspect may be shared by many others – which is motivation enough for me to revisit Buddhist philosophy from an adult perspective, as I’m now spending more time reflecting than anticipating.
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F&M
5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book to endure a Corona lockdownReviewed in the United States on 13 January 2021
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This is an absolutely delightful book, and very “enlightening” in so many ways! It’s primary focus is the Heart Sutra, a canonical Buddhist text, but instead of giving us a dry scholarly treatise or an esoteric attempt at interpretation, author Fred Schodt, with plenty of wit and humility, invites us to accompany him on his long personal quest of making sense of and forging a lasting bond with this important text. The book gives the reader just enough historical insight to make sense of the sutra in its socio-linguistic context, but by way of personal anecdotes and insightful observations, Schodt manages to keep us engaged and to illustrate just how relevant the sutra is to people all over the world. Schodt has much expertise on Japan and is a fluent speaker of Japanese (I tremendously enjoyed his other books on Japan), but in this book, Schodt also takes the reader to the ancient Silk Road, 1960s California, present-day Hong Kong and, of course, Japan.
For those who are genuinely interested in understanding the Heart Sutra, this is a great book to start --- it provides translations and interpretations, and it discusses the reception of the sutra in different places and different times, including fierce unresolved scholarly and clerical debates over its ultimate meaning. However, the book is just as well suited for people who have some prior knowledge of the sutra (as I did) and who want to be taken on an intriguing journey through time and space that touches as much on the orthodox interpretation of the sutra as it does on its personal application and its lasting relevance to anyone who gets drawn under its spell. My Heart Sutra came out during the Corona-pandemic and for me, there could not be a more perfect book for this challenging time.
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Free Spirit
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!Reviewed in the United States on 5 April 2021
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A lot of research went into this little book. Very personal, most informative and inspiring. I am so pleasantly surprised.
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Jeffrey A. Dym
5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasurable and insightful readReviewed in the United States on 25 February 2021
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Frederick Schodt's My Heart Sutra is a pleasurable and insightful journey into the Heart Sutra. Though it is his mostly about his relationship with the sutra it is all very relatable and illuminating. The book also delves deeply into the history and cultural place of the sutra in many parts of the world (USA, Japan, China). If you are captivated by the Heart Sutra and the power and mystery of its 260 characters, then definitely check this book out.
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Books on Asia
Oct 10, 2020Books on Asia rated it it was amazing
Shelves: buddhism, japan
All over Asia the Heart Sutra soothes minds and eases the burdens people encounter in their every day lives. In Japan, one might catch its rising timbre across a graveyard as a Buddhist Priest chants to the departed in a memorial ceremony honoring the family’s ancestors. A tourist might stumble upon followers at a temple standing and reciting from pocket accordion books, their steady synchronic chant punctuated with the ding of a bell. Grieving spouses go to the local temple to practice writing the 260 characters of the sutra, a practice said to help their loved one’s gain smooth entry into the afterlife. Others trace the letters to accrue merit for their own afterlife. This sutra copying is called shakyo. And yes, American author Frederik L. Schodt tells us, there’s an app for that.
In My Heart Sutra: The World in 260 Characters, Schodt introduces the well-known Buddhist text by tracing his own fascinations with it, starting with his first remembrance of a recitation by Alan Ginsberg in Los Angeles May, 1974.
Later, working from a scroll copy of the Heart Sutra he picked up during his travels, we learn about its origins, history, interpretations, translations and controversies. Over the course of the book, Schodt’s calligraphic existentialist Heart Sutra transforms itself from a mere pretty wall hanging to a parchment imbued with magic, meaning and intrigue.
"It was written in brush and ink on ordinary washi paper, and I later had it mounted as a scroll on Japanese silk fabric backing. When the wind blows through the open window of my room, the wooden rod, or weight, at the bottom of the four-foot-long scroll often rattles gently against the wall. Because of this, over the years the scroll has developed a few creases and a tiny tear, but it is still remarkably unfaded, and its defects add what in Japan might be called a wabi-sabi aesthetic, which values imperfections and transience."
The sutra was originally brought from India to China by Xuanzang (Genjō in Japanese) and is universally recognized across Asia, permeating most sects of Buddhism. It embodies “perfect wisdom” and “enlightenment.” It is 1,400 years old.
Some Asians can produce the sutra from rote, and most can chant at least parts of it from memory. English speakers may recognize oft-translated sections such as “Form is no other than emptiness, Emptiness no other than form. Form is only emptiness, Emptiness only form.” Yet few people claim to understand the profound meaning of the Heart Sutra. And in fact, some believe it is impossible to do so. There is even a belief that understanding the sutra would detract from its dynamism. Rather than focus on its meaning, the author encourages us to instead concentrate on the significance of its sounds, healing powers, and its many esoteric conveyances.
The very personal nature of My Heart Sutra is what gives this book its readability, especially to the uninitiated. Schodt describes how the sutra was introduced to the West via poets, writers and Buddhist Priests: Gary Snyder, Alan Ginsburg, D.T. Suzuki, and Shunryū Suzuki (who arrived in the U.S. in 1959 and became the first head of the San Francisco Zen Center). The author, a translator himself, touches on translations of the sutra into English by Samuel Beal (1863), F. Max Muller (1881, who used an ancient extant copy written on palm leaf), D. T. Suzuki (1935), Edward Conze (1958), the 14th Dalai Lama (2005) and Thich That Hanh (2014).
The author takes us on a wild chase down the Silk Road as we follow the Heart Sutra from it’s Sanskrit origins in India to Cave 17 in the Mogao Grottos of China, then across the seas to the British Museum, and the sutra’s appearance in the Clash’s CD: Combat Rock. The author ruminates on the Chinese version vs. the Sanskrit, ponders whether it is more a sutra, an incantation, or a spell and weighs in on one scholar’s suggestion—deemed scandalous by some—that the sutra may be a back translation from Chinese to Sanskrit. Schodt, known for his books on manga, anime and robots, is quick to clue in readers to the sutra’s modern mellifluous renditions such as those by the musician-priest Kanho Yakushiji that the Buddhist priest posts to his popular YouTube Channel.
Its always a plus when a book’s content is true to its title, and although there is one rather long scholarly section, the book is nonetheless a highly personal and entertaining read. Schodt even appeals to the inner tourist in us by telling where we can find the largest Heart Sutra (hint: Somewhere in Hamamatsu), “see” Genjo’s skull (hint: Somewhere in Saitama) and interact with the Heart Sutra robot (hint: Somewhere in Kyoto).
Schodt asks the reader to think of the Heart Sutra as a “magic spell” meant to be felt rather than understood, that it be hailed for it’s lyricism and ability to compel deep thought through the vehicle of sound. Schodt suggests that the mantra has meaning because it has power and it has power because it has meaning. And that this power is derived from the Buddha and the verity of the sutra’s influence over 1,400 years. (less)
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Savita
Nov 16, 2020Savita rated it it was amazing
Shelves: japan
This book is a memoir about the author’s relationship with the most frequently read and recited texts, the Buddhist Heart Sutra. Author Frederik L. Schodt explores its history, popularity and place in the modern world. He explains how “sutra” is an ancient Sanskrit word meaning thread or rule, but today we might think of it as a mnemonic device that helps us remember a text. Here, the heart or core of the text helps us remember the Buddha’s teachings. This book concentrates mainly on China and Japan, despite the sutras popularity in other Asian countries. The justification is that the author has considerable language skills in Chinese and Japanese and that it is the Heart Sutra translation by the Chinese monk Xuanzang that is typically the source material for others, including those in English.
He examines the calming, cleansing effects chanting the Heart Sutra has for those who have taken the trouble to memorise it. Memorising it and comprehending the meaning has layers of difficulties, depending on what translation you are using. Comparisons of texts and rhymes may come close to what was originally written in India in Sanskrit, but today nobody can be certain of how the original text was pronounced. Despite these challenges, the Heart Sutra “remains a sonic bridge among diverse languages and cultures, one that has survived nearly intact for 1,400 years.” Those who study language or work in translation today will appreciate the struggle between attempting to capture the original sound while also maintaining the sutra’s profound meaning. Futurists might enjoy how these aims have found new life in Japan’s robotics industry.
As an expert Japanese translator with extensive experience living in Japan, he describes how the sutra is woven into local daily life. Travellers to China or Japan would benefit from being able to recognise the sutra, as he points out how all manner of Heart Sutra merchandise is often available and how often one might hear it. Drawing on his knowledge of pop culture, he brings this ancient mantra into the present by describing how many anime series have been inspired by the sutra, the life of the translator Xuanzang and the epic classic Journey to the West. The book also includes many photos of calligraphy, sculptures and locations in the United States, China and Japan. I especially enjoyed the photo of the printed Japanese tea towel which helps you memorise the sutra through a series of images of daily objects.
He dives in deep into academic feuds over whether the Heart Sutra really came from a Sanskrit original or if the Chinese version is the original. Many translators would refer on the Chinese translation by Xuanzang, but add a dash of ‘authenticity’ by referring to the Sanskrit version. The debate over whether Xuanzang’s version had been translated from a Sanskrit original in India and the backlash scholar Jan Nattier experienced for suggesting this might not be the case was fascinating. The controversy in Japan also revolved around Western researchers from putting “too much emphasis on the study of Central Asian languages” and a belief that Chinese sources are superior. Many of these academic squabbles also occurred due to mistranslations between Japanese and English contemporary academic articles. It’s interesting as that many academics / practitioners strongly desire the Heart Sutra to have a ‘authentic South Asian pedigree’ while at the same time they seem to deride a deep study of Sanskrit. As one source explained “there are far more important and accurate documents in Chinese.’ Do the practitioners want some India, but not too much India?
This book, like the Heart Sutra itself, offers solace to the reader. Completed during the start of the 2020 global pandemic, he describes how familiarity with the sutra cleanses his brain and serves as a north star during troubled times. As the author points out, an entire forest of trees has likely been lost to printing guides to the Heart Sutra. This book offers the perspective of an individual who does not identify as ‘religious’ or as an academic and therefore brings an original and relatable voice to the field. The reader may find solace and stability in learning about the sonic bridge that has connected so many hearts.
This book was provided for a review by Stone Bridge Press. (less)
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Karen Axnick
Nov 29, 2020Karen Axnick rated it really liked it
This is an amazing treatise on an ancient, esoteric Buddhist teaching, the Heart Sutra (also known as the “Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra”). The author takes us on a dual journey – the first one of his personal relationship and experience with it and the second of his extensive research into its origin and use over thousands of years in multiple cultures. It has been said by many teachers and scholars that it is best not to try to understand the Sutra, but rather to chant it, copy it, or contemplate it as a regular practice and allow it to work in consciousness.
Having lived in Japan and being fluent in Japanese, the author seems most comfortable with this version/translation of the Sutra. He has been engaged with the Heart Sutra since his early twenties and has had a scroll with the Sutra posted over his bed for over forty years. As a personal practice, it has ushered him into a self-described “world of faith.”
Furthermore, he makes the disclaimer that, unlike most authors on the Sutra, he is not affiliated with any specific religion, nor is he an academic. Yet much of the content reads as a thesis on the topic and, unfortunately, this was not what I was expecting when I requested the book. In fact, I am among a group that the author highlights; he points out that the word “heart” is often interpreted in English as a “Christianized or romantic” version. He notes that it is more accurate to think of the “essence” or “core” of the perfection of wisdom.
I greatly appreciate the depth of the commitment the author exhibits in both his (almost life-long) study of the Sutra and his exploration of its history and meaning. The book just didn’t meet my personal need.
My thanks to the author, Stone Bridge Press, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing a digital ARC in exchange for an independent, honest review.
This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication. (less)
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Leanne
Dec 26, 2020Leanne rated it it was amazing
From my review at Kyoto Journal:
In addition to Alex Kerr’s book this year, writer and translator Frederik L. Schodt has written a memoir titled, My Heart Sutra: A World in 260 Characters. A well-known figure among translators of Japanese, especially in the world of manga, Schodt was awarded in 2009 the prestigious Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, by the Japanese Government for his contribution “to the introduction and promotion of Japanese contemporary popular culture in the United States of America.” He was recognized both for his translations and his scholarly work—both talents which are on full display in his new book—which is WONDERFUL!!!
From his first encounters with the sutra in the 1970s continuing down to the present day, we follow along on Schodt’s path of ever-deepening understanding of the sutra and its place in his life.
The Heart Sutra is one of the most recited Buddhist texts of the Mahayana tradition. There are two versions. The long version became incorporated into the Tibetan canon; while the short version, which is our concern here, was translated in 635CE by the Chinese monk Xuanzang and is recited in many of the East Asian Schools of Buddhism. In Chinese, it is a mere 260 characters, while the English translation scarcely fills up page. The Heart Sutra is best known for the way it pulls the epistemological rug out from beneath our feet. The sutra defies summarization. But its core message is that the outer world is illusory. Nothing is real. Even now, over a thousand years after Xuanzang made his translation, people grapple with its core message that:
FORM IS EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS IS
FORM 色不異空。空不異色.
Schodt first came to Japan in his adolescence. The son of diplomats, at the end of his parents’ tour of duty in the country, he decided to stay on to finish high school. Interestingly, he has no memory of ever encountering the Heart Sutra in his school days, nor even later when he returned to Japan to study as a college student. His initiation in the Heart Sutra happened not in Japan at all, but in California where he came to know the work of poets Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg. The 1970s were a unique time to be living on the West Coast, where alternative lifestyles and anti-war, anti capitalist resistance movements had found a home alongside various philosophies and religions from Asia.
In the early pages of the book, Schodt tells a wonderful story about Allen Ginsberg traveling in India with Gary Snyder and his then-wife Joan Kyger. Entering one of the cave-temples at Ellora, Snyder plopped down on the ground and began chanting the Heart Sutra in Japanese. Needless to say, the sonorous chanting which reverberated off the rock-cut walls made a profound impression on Ginsberg, and this in turn deeply affected Schodt’s own life. It wouldn’t be until much later, when he became deeply unsettled on a plane undergoing mechanical difficulties, that he committed himself to memorizing and chanting the sutra.
As with Kerr’s book, Schodt keeps his attention focused on the short version of
the Heart Sutra Neither provide textual analyses of the text based on religious studies, nor are they self-help books providing insights that people in the West can use in their self-improvement projects. Rather, both books are deep dives into the living practices revolving around the Heart Sutra in East Asia. From China and Japan to Taiwan and Hong Kong, Schodt takes us on a lively tour of the temples, major works of art, music, architecture, sutra-copying practices, and even the sutra-chanting robots which form the wondrous universe of the Heart Sutra in today’s Asia. Being an expert on the Japanese robot industry, not to mention Japanese popular culture, Schodt is comfortable placing high technology alongside the more ancient practices of sutra-copying and recitation. Surprisingly, since he is such a renowned translator, Schodt decides not to offer his own English translation, and instead delves deeply into existing translations, analyzing Sanskrit vocabulary and Chinese characters, so that we can perhaps choose wisely among them, or maybe even cobble together a translation of our own. I am not sure I have read another book in which the author is as sensitive as Schodt to the quality of the spoken or chanted version of the text, particularly the last line which can be said to function as an incantation or spell: gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha Most translators, follow the legendary Xuanzang and leave the last line as a mantra in Sanskrit.
But Schodt reminds us that Allen Ginsburg rendered the last line: “All gone, all gone, all over gone, all gone sky high now old mind soul, ah….”
I loved this book so much! (less)
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Rolando José Rodríguez De León
Nov 08, 2020Rolando José Rodríguez De León rated it really liked it
This book goes far away from the Schodt book I have read. Said that, is a good book, love the historic part and how the author levels it to a layman's level.
Is a book that I'm glad I have read, cuz it's way out from my confort —reading— zone, and probably wouldn't have pick it otherwise. I learned a lot from it in a field away from my normal investigative self and for that I'm glad.
Also did a spanish review here:
https://pananime.com/LeAn/Entries/202... (less)
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