[Buddha-l] Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh's debut novel.

[Jo]

http://tinyurl.com/7pefy5p 

Book review: 'The Novice: A Story of True Love'
September 04, 2011|By Thane Rosenbaum, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Excerpt:
A Vietnamese legend is the root of Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh's
debut novel. With its gender disguise and message of forgiveness, it may
remind readers a bit of 'Yentl' mixed with the Sermon on the Mount.

And yet that's what Vietnamese Buddhist Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has done
with his first novel, "The Novice: A Story of True Love." Hanh, who is also
a poet and the bestselling author of "Peace Is Every Step," was nominated by
the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1967 for a Nobel Peace Prize for his
efforts to reconcile the peoples of North and South Vietnam.

The true story upon which "The Novice" is based has become part of
Vietnamese folklore. Hundreds of years later, Hanh has adapted the legend
into a novel. And yet this is a curious adaptation, because the story about
a woman who disguises herself as a man to become a monk, suffers enormously
but is filled with infinite forgiveness, is very much Thich Nhat Hanh's own
story - except for the gender disguise.

Kinh Tam is a beautiful young woman who wishes to live the life of a
Buddhist monk. At the time, however, there are no roles for women in
Buddhism. She ends up as a bride in a loveless marriage with a spineless
husband. At one point, his parents falsely accuse her of trying to kill
their son. She refuses to admit her guilt and is sent back to her own family
in shame. [read on]

Posted by Joanna K.