The Eight Currents

Joseph Barbaccia

• 23 april 2011
• 9780615479651

Samenvatting:

Living in a lazy tropical seaside village, shy and sensitive, sixteen year old Jeddo is on the cusp of manhood. He was happy and content until childhood bullying forced him to retreat within himself. Now he stays at home, quietly painting canvas sails and sculpting figureheads for the local fishing boats. Though he finds this rewarding, Jeddo feels discouraged by the lack of work in the small village, and he yearns to create more and grander art. To make matters worse, his father is pressuring him to join the family fishing business. Jeddo's frustrations and isolation have begun to alienate him from family and friends.
Jeddo's need to avoid confrontation and his desire to develop his nascent artistic talent spark an impetuous journey to the "City of Dreams," where, he was once told by an itinerant and mysterious stranger, he'd reach his destiny of becoming a famous and wealthy artist. For the next year his travels take him over and under a great ocean, where, one by one, he comes upon the Eight Currents (Happiness, Sadness, Praise, Ridicule, Benefit, Destruction, Gain, and Loss. These extraordinary characters, embodying forces we all encounter in our lives, either hinder or help Jeddo in his quest. Jeddo's final realization is the most difficult for him to grasp and leads him to ask, "Is getting what I want only a matter of letting go of my desires?"