Free from the bottom

Top reviews from Germany

• Berthold Weber
• 5.0 out of 5 stars A mystical path of initiation
• Rated in Germany on November 16, 2024
• Formatting: Kindle
• Many readers and reviewers, after reading *The Bleeding of the World*, will find themselves asking: what was the book actually about? Which level, which reality, which narrative thread or style was significant? Is there an authentic, true story behind the fiction, or isn't every one of us Marina and Marike, Linda and Luise, not everyone a Karl or Franz, or an unknown chauffeur driving a car into a world that few have explored?
  Only an adept can grasp the path Renata Vivace leads us on; the narrow ridge that divides duality. Rationality on the right, irrationality on the left; reality on the right, fiction on the left; white on the right, black on the left; feeling on the right, intellect on the left; sober on the right, drunk on the left—truly, he who walks the ridge is always both at once. No longer thesis and antithesis, but synthesis alone. And only synthesis overcomes the confusion and devastation, chaos and construction, with which the master tests her student.
  Now I want to place Renata Vivace in the same category as William Shakespeare (John Dee), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Hermann Hesse, Gustav Meyrink, and Aleister Crowley. They all looked behind the scenes and were knowledgeable, initiated, and teachers of humanity. Often misunderstood, because the comedian craves applause and only accepts what he himself understands; mistaking the stage set for reality.
  Like a true sage, Ms. Vivace throws us crumbs, which we eagerly peck up. A true master prioritizes the experience of her students over the abstract transmission of knowledge. In this sense, these crumbs are genuine gold nuggets, accessible through practice and meditation and leading to enlightenment.
  What would my claims be worth if I couldn't prove them? Not even the black stuff under my fingernail! Here are my reasons:
  The publisher granted me permission for a telephone interview with the reclusive author, who lives near Freiburg under an assumed name and prefers not to reveal her identity. I was able to elicit from her the admission that she knows what I'm talking about and that she has undergone an initiatory path. Unfortunately, Ms. Vivace did not share the name of her mentor with me. Therefore, I can only offer circumstantial evidence to support my claims.
  Already on pages 24 and 308 of the pre-publication excerpt, the author opens the door to this perspective and understanding. Mu's answer to a koan like "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?", which goes beyond a simple "woof-woof," points to the adept. With her footnotes, she rubs this connection in our faces: "Did death mean infinite negation or absolute non-being? I didn't think so. My visions seemed more plausible. Mu presents herself in the forest. An eternal passing away and becoming." and "If Mu is given as an answer, it can be interpreted as Mu being both answer and non-answer, because the question arises from a dualistic mind, and thus any answer would be possible." Even at this point, the discerning reader wonders which path the author has followed. Is it yoga or Zen? Or perhaps a Western initiate like Rudolf Steiner, Franz Bardon, Bo Yin Ra, or Ram Dass?
  Another koan on page 309: ‘From the sharp crack that had entered my world with Marike’s shot, there was the clapping of a hand, echoing through eternity. I break through the barrier.’ How does the Zen Buddhist answer the question, ‘What does the clapping of a hand sound like?’ Perhaps the average person with the number of bras they own?! Ms. Vivace lifts her protagonist’s amnesia! A brilliant move, followed by the direct path to enlightenment she had previously announced. What barrier is meant here? Naturally, the one that prevents her from being one with everything. In the best (KO) Schmidtian style, the poet recounts the merging with unknown beings on alien planets. In a vision, the first-person narrator becomes a methane-breathing dwarf, then a clumsy giantess who tramples planets and stars and sends galaxies plummeting into the abyss. Ms. Vivace freely mixes these images with insights from the time after awakening and merging with everything that is.
  Finally, I'd like to mention the experiences of the "student" Vivace, who has mastered mind-altering drugs. Aleister Crowley emphasizes the importance and approach in Equinox. He chronicles and recounts "The Psychology of Hashish" over many pages. Similarly, in the chapter "Laughing Buddha," the author takes us on a journey to the animalistic self, which, before its death, experiences the benefits of the drug mix cocaine and marijuana. Simply delightful reading. And please, dear readers, let's not get carried away. This is about the instinctual, physical, and also (body-)conscious self, and not about an actual dog! The author is certainly an animal lover!
  Renata Vivace certainly considered the exposure of sexual violence important, but equally so the pleasure that results from respectful interaction. And so I would like to conclude my review with the following quote from the prologue: “But if the goal is perpetual ecstasy, no victim can want to remain a victim; rather, the abused or raped person will transcend the usual victim-perpetrator dynamic and strive for higher thought, a higher existence.”
  
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• Martine H
• 4.0 out of 5 stars A play between real and surreal
• Rated in Germany on October 23, 2024
• Formatting: Kindle
• In "The Bleeding of the World," the frivolous side of life is portrayed, including seduction, eroticism, and sexuality. However, the true theme is abuse, rape, violence, and suicide. How can this be "wrapped" into a book that one can bear without turning away from these horrors? By subjecting the story to dualism, performing the tightrope walk of immersing oneself in both worlds: that of lust and desire, and that of abhorrent violence and abuse, giving space to everything within them. By allowing the real and the surreal to merge, giving the reader time to catch their breath, yet seducing them into a unique world where they, too, risk losing themselves. And yet, afterward, they don't regret having confronted it all.
  
  Right up to the end, the question remains whether the written word, the entertaining immersion in fiction, mythology, and historical events, and above all, the narrative thread itself, can be connected at all. The foundation is that of an almost banal love story between two strangers who meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. But it's about something deeper, something more significant. Like sexuality, violence and abuse leave an inexhaustible mark on our bodies, our souls, our lives. Throughout entire family histories, eras, and historical periods, both litter the path and leave behind victims who may never be able to recover. They are left only with the search to somehow come to terms with what they have experienced, without losing themselves in the dark side, that of the perpetrator, the addict.
  
  With a two-page explanation of her narrative style, embedded within the 362-page narrative, the author paves the way for a deeper understanding, lending the whole work further depth. How important it is that books like this exist! Whether one finds the written narrative construct commendable or objectionable is a matter of taste. Lovers of Asian storytelling à la Murakami will certainly recognize a similar scenario, in which the real and the surreal, in constant interplay, nevertheless harmonize and create a framework that imprints the story with a stamp of exceptionality.
  
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Roman Cepaliga

5.0 out of 5 stars, captivating and exciting :)

Rated in Germany on November 3, 2024

Formatting: Kindle

An exciting opening that made me empathize because I could relate to the situation. The protagonist's thoughts constantly create new arcs of suspense, and it's enjoyable to be guided by his slightly psychotic yet ultimately reflective nature.