Official Review: Tanaka Chronicles by Tracy Kadungure

desantismt_17 · Post by **desantismt_17** » 25 Jun 2018, 16:13

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tanaka Chronicles" by Tracy Kadungure.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Tanaka Chronicles by Tracy Kadungure delivers, at its core, the following message: “When sexual energy is free and channeled consciously, there is no limit to our capacity for love.”

Tanaka Chronicles follows the journey of Tanaka as she reaches inward and discovers her inner goddess through tantric practice. At a week-long tantra retreat, Tanaka’s horizons are broadened. She learns about tantric sex—where sex is a divine act, which joins the lovers in the highest form of awareness. Attention is also given to the idea of living through the senses to experience life in the now, among other spiritual ideas. Over the course of this week, Tanaka learns much and is reborn in ways she never imagined.

I had a difficult time summarizing this book. The book does indeed feature Tanaka on her retreat. However, the retreat itself was dispersed around all the information about the different elements of tantra. The text feels caught between a fiction story and a how-to guide. Information about tantra is conveyed in the prologue and first chapter, almost in encyclopedic form. Chapter 2 introduces Tanaka, her friends, and the idea that Tanaka will go to the week-long retreat to discover tantra. Several chapters of more textbook-like information follow, and we don’t hear about the retreat again until Chapter 6. Much of the information given in the earlier chapters is then repeated by the retreat leaders. This made the book drag for me. It also resulted in many instances where my reading experience was interrupted. I would be neck-deep in a lengthy passage about spiritual healing (for example), only to have a statement from Tanaka’s first-person perspective be dropped in. This threw me for a loop every time, as it had been so long since I heard from Tanaka that I almost forgot she was there. If the book was meant to be a fiction story, having the information be given by the retreat leaders would have fed into the story nicely. If it was supposed to be a how-to guide, the lengthy chapters with information would have been the way to go. Regardless, I felt the book could have been cut in half lengthwise and still conveyed all it did in its current form.

The comprehensive information about tantric practice was also my favorite part of this book. While I felt there was too much repetition, the information itself fascinated me. Tantra is a topic I’ve heard of but never known much about. After finishing Tanaka Chronicles, I feel informed enough to decide whether tantra is something I wish to bring into my life. The book also appealed to me as a woman. Within tantra, the idea of woman is one of empowerment. I found the contrast between tantric woman and societal woman interesting. The female gender is the center of sexuality in tantra. Sex is a beautiful act, and there is nothing lovelier than the female body. This is in sharp contrast to the many societies and cultures where the female body is something to be covered. If a woman shows too much skin, she’s “asking for it.” If a woman engages in frequent sexual acts with multiple partners, she’s a “whore” or “slut.” In tantra, sex is about the journey, and multiple partners are encouraged. Even if I don’t want to fully embrace tantric practice, this book gave me a lot to consider about myself, both as a lover and as a woman.

With its positive messages (both about sex and mindfulness), Tanaka Chronicles would appeal to anyone well-versed in spiritual thinking who wanted to learn more about tantric practice. Liberated women or women who wish to be liberated may also enjoy this. I will say that a certain level of open-mindedness is required to consider the information in this book. Those not seeking to broaden their horizons might not enjoy this. This book is also not for young readers. There are detailed descriptions of masturbation, as well as different tantric sex practices. Readers uncomfortable with such descriptions may also wish to skip this one.

I rate Tanaka Chronicles 2 out of 4 stars. The uplifting perspective of female sexuality and the vast amount of information about tantra keep me from rating this book lower. As I said, the book lacked content editing. It also lacked a closer line edit. There were many errors throughout, perhaps as many as one per sentence on average. Misspellings, as well as misused or missing words persisted. There is a glaring lack of punctuation in places, which altered sentence meanings and left me having to reread passages to understand what was said. This combined with the narrative’s general lack of direction means I cannot rate this book higher. Overall, I feel this book has much to offer, but a thorough edit would improve readability greatly.

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Tanaka Chronicles
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Dragonfly6 · Post by **Dragonfly6** » 28 Jun 2018, 12:59

I am torn as to whether I may want to read this book or not, but at least I know what I am torn over, thanks to your detailed review! In reading your review, with the confusion of whether it was an informational book or a fictional tale, I thought it would be a completely negative review. However, discovering you found the information interesting makes it a book worth considering. I may not be able to get past the editing errors and the repetition though. Either way, thanks for a detailed review!

crediblereading2 · Post by **crediblereading2** » 28 Jun 2018, 14:31

Thank you for a great but I will pass on this book as I am not into tantric practice.

Dahmy 10 · Post by **Dahmy 10** » 28 Jun 2018, 15:44

Tantra; I haven't heard of that term before not to speak of coming in contact with the concept. But anything spiritual, I am down for it. I think this is a book I would like to read.

The fact that the book explored sexuality is also something I would love to look out for. It seems a special book already, one would only have to get ready for the many mistakes in it.

Thanks so much for this review...

Samantha Simoneau · Post by **Samantha Simoneau** » 28 Jun 2018, 18:51

I really appreciate your review. It was so informative, it answered all my questions about the book without my having to open it. Thorough reviews really save me from content I would rather avoid but might otherwise "stumble" onto. It's too bad the author didn't stick to one genre - non-fiction or fiction. It sounds like if it had been entirely one or entirely the other Kadungure's goal would have been better accomplished.

DathanReeves · Post by **DathanReeves** » 28 Jun 2018, 19:35

The book sounds confused to what it wants to be and from your review seems to go against certain principles I carry. I think I'll skip this one.

Kristy Khem · Post by **Kristy Khem** » 28 Jun 2018, 21:41

The topic of tantra is mesmerising, but I don't think I would enjoy this book because of the issues you described. Thank you for writing an honest review.