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Kunma
The myths and legends of the Tibetan Book of the Dead come alive in this brilliant first novel by the world-renowned director of stage and opera.
Laurel Hunt walked into the office of David Sussman enveloped in a grave beauty that took his breath away. And then she announced that her husband, who was currently in a mental institution, was not crazy but in the grip of something monstrous.
Dr. Sussman had ministered to his patients' fantasies, neuroses, and psychoses for a good number of years; he'd studied in India and Tibet; he'd seen and heard it all before. Or so he thought.
This case would take him, against his will and in the face of every scientific law he held dear, into the realms of reincarnation and Buddhist myth. But these realms were not the bottom of this mystic enigma-only in the Tibetan Book of the Dead would David Sussman begin to find the answers he sought. As murder and madness stalk him, the evidence leads David to a conclusion his sanity refuses to accept . . . until the mists of Time and Space open to reveal the monstrosity that has come to claim him as its own-the Kunma.
A stunning first novel that takes the reader deep into the unknown regions of mind and soul and into the very heart of the darkness that lives in every human being.
Laurel Hunt walked into the office of David Sussman enveloped in a grave beauty that took his breath away. And then she announced that her husband, who was currently in a mental institution, was not crazy but in the grip of something monstrous.
Dr. Sussman had ministered to his patients' fantasies, neuroses, and psychoses for a good number of years; he'd studied in India and Tibet; he'd seen and heard it all before. Or so he thought.
This case would take him, against his will and in the face of every scientific law he held dear, into the realms of reincarnation and Buddhist myth. But these realms were not the bottom of this mystic enigma-only in the Tibetan Book of the Dead would David Sussman begin to find the answers he sought. As murder and madness stalk him, the evidence leads David to a conclusion his sanity refuses to accept . . . until the mists of Time and Space open to reveal the monstrosity that has come to claim him as its own-the Kunma.
A stunning first novel that takes the reader deep into the unknown regions of mind and soul and into the very heart of the darkness that lives in every human being.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2003
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April 16, 2012
I found this one at the library, liked the cover, Tibetan Book of The Dead was mentioned on the jacket, so I was intrigued. In all fairness this was not a terrible book, it just wasn't a very good one. The author (I really should have read all of the dust jacket) is a theatre/opera person and the book actually reads as it had been written by one. It's got a certain unnecessary and overdramatic weirdness. The pacing was pretty good, it was a fast read and I really enjoyed the background part of the story, but in the end it was the lack of sympathetic characters that's to blame for the 2 star rating. Seriously annoying bunch of snooty overprivileged and slightly catoony characters. Decent for a first effort, but not great. Recommended maybe to folks interested in buddhism history, reincarnation, etc.
Displaying 1 of 1 review