Kifle Bantayehu Reviews

Added August 14, 2004

The Healing Conscious

Author: Kifle Bantayehu
Publisher: Lulu Enterprise, Inc
Available At: www.lulu.com
Publishing Date: July 2003
Genre: Nonfiction: Poetry
Format: Trade Paperback and Ebook download
Price: $13.00 paperback, $6.35 ebook
ISBN: 1-4116-0077-0
Author Email/Website: www.thehealingconscious.com
Reviewer: Patti Fleishman

Opening this book of poetry gave way to shivers - the likes I've not known before. Kifle Bantayehu has written about a remarkable journey - one filled with happiness and sorrow, a mixture of day to day living and hours spent in grief and longing. Looking back now as I sit and type my review for you to read, I can only hope that I will do this young man justice. It's not every day that one is touched in this way. To feel voiceless when I need to speak and wanting to express what I feel inside when no thought can possibly convey the emotions in the proper way - that is how I'm feeling right at this moment.

The Healing Conscious is not your ordinary book of poetry. This is a complete story of a young Ethiopian immigrant boy who grows into a man right before our eyes, his family, and his cultural spirituality...from birth until death...and what his life has meant to him written in simple verse which can be easily understood. The simplicity, though, is what is so captivating and powerful. Each word is packed with grit and fulfillment - reaching out to draw you inside the life of this simple yet complex man.

The first poem, DEATH AND REBIRTH, is absolutely wondrous. It's a moment of reflection - about feeling the peacefulness of death, looking back on how you've lived, and the rebirth we all join in through the miracle of birth and the science that's involved in it.

Each poem is a slice in this man's life. His travels to new countries, how he moves his wife and family, how he grows in maturity, how becomes the man that he is upon his death. It's not a tale of sorrow yet there is sadness woven in the words. It's the beauty that comes with living that Mr. Bantayehu is trying to have us all see and feel.

FULL CIRCLE is a wonderful poem. It's about a daughter who has grown and is now being asked for her hand in marriage. The father will say yes, it's most certain, as the man comes to his home bearing gifts with his proposal.

This is a book that speaks about customs and the rights that we all have to live each day as fully as we can. We are given the chance to enjoy the successes and the births, the trials and tribulations of family, and the freedom that comes with being a human being.

I am most touched and humbled by this young man's words. He has given me reason to think and appreciate everyone and every thing around me.

Thank you, Mr. Kifle Bantayehu, for a highly thought out book. Your accomplishment is magnificent. You have done justice to the man whose spirit lives inside these pages. I'd also like to share with everyone the kind of man Mr. Bantayehu is. Because of his love of people and his desire to help others - part of the proceeds of this novel are distributed to many wonderful organizations. Please visit his website, www.thehealingconscious.com/pages/1/index.htm where you can read a bit more about this remarkable young man.

Return to top of page.

This page was last updated on January 1, 2008

This page and all its contents are Copyright© 2002-2008 In the Library Reviews and the individual reviewers. Except where noted, all graphics are Copyright© Eos Development and are used with permission. All book covers are Copyright© their respective publishers and are used with permission. The In the Library Reviews logo is Copyright© 2002 by In the Library Reviews/Sharyn McGinty. Site maintained by In the Library Reviews.