Review: One of Us By Vlad K Once Reminds of The Golden Rule?

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It is as old as "The Good Samaritan" and as new as the "One of Us" story...

Could it be that those of us who are older, or those of us who were taught differently in our homes or by others, are now seeing that our next generation is only now beginning anew to understand? I'm not talking about the generation that immediately followed us...I'm talking about the next one thereafter. I don't profess I know or have read a lot about Generation X and Y as opposed to Boomers, but I do know what we as Boomers saw in reality.

Remember the phrase, "Do unto Others As You Would have them do unto you?"

Well, for many of us, we saw the actions of many of those in charge, change from that philosophy and we all knew it wasn't good! We saw the loss of value of people as our friends and neighbors. Rather, they became just part of the bottom line, and if they couldn't contribute satisfactorily, then they were gone, no matter what had happened to that individual to result in lower production or poor attendance at work.

But now, after reading such books as Jerusalem Spring and One of Us, to name several recent books I've reviewed, we may begin to feel relief, a belief that the future may be better--in the important ways. 

One of Us is a relatively short novel about what is happening to an individual who is finding his own way. Vlad K. Once, indeed is doing research on what he calls Noetic Positivism. The simple, poignant presentation of his beliefs are shared in the above trailer. For many of us, we recognize it as the Golden Rule or some set of words or phrases from the past. It may have come to you through the beliefs passed down from father to father, or by some other method, but we learned early to love and forgive and accept people for who they were.

When we saw that disappear we were devastated.

But just as the perennial flower pushes up through the hardened snow-covered dirt, we can see that, perhaps, it takes that cycle for humans to once again, find that the wisdom we knew and automatically accepted--that perhaps having it disappear for awhile, might have made it that much more precious to be found again, to be studied and to pass it on...as...something perhaps called Noetic Positivism...

Tomas Kirschner was 12 when he got a real mountain bike. From that day on, it was perhaps the one main thing in his life that meant the most to him. Soon he was racing, soon he was professionally racing, and soon he was also the world champion! One of Us takes readers through those years of training, dedication and pain endured as one individual faces not only his own drive, his own desires, but those of others who want him to win.

The internal drama that faces the racer is real and draws readers in as he forces himself to drive through his own bodily fatigue and need to quit, to rest.

We can also experience the thrill of others rooting for him(us), nurturing in an unusual way our need to be liked by somebody, to have those individuals approve of our actions. At the same time, we learn of the agreement between he and his father about what his father was willing to support. Then later, his agreement with his trainer and peers in the races. He was not alone--he was one of us, the crowd, the team, the family...

But, with winning, also comes failure. Tomas learned that he could not depend upon his biking to take him forward in his life. He would need an education and he would need to study long and hard to ensure he was prepared to move beyond his love of biking... 

Though it took until he was 20 to realize that his parents had been right in setting up standards and priorities, he still had more to learn...

When Tomas met Kim, it was almost another world. She was used to fame and notoriety...her friends looked at him as a farmer and they were quite willing to warn her off...

Must each of us live until we face that point when we stand, naked, before the world and wonder--what happened? Vlad K. Once wants to help others through those and even worse times. Many of our young adults find themselves in this situation and many times feel alone. They don't know how to turn to someone and find the support...

Perhaps handing this book to them would be a start...to that which they must learn themselves... For, perhaps, it just must be that each person must realize it in his own time...hopefully, not alone.

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