in later life basho turned to zen buddhism and the travel sketched in this volume relfect his attempts to cast off earthly attachments and reach out to spiritual fulfillment the sketches are written in the haibun stylea linking of verse and prose the title piece in particular reveals basho striving to discover a vision of eternity in the transient world around him and his personal evocation of the mysteries of the universe nnu ego is a woman who gives all her energy money and everything she has to raising her children leaving her little time to make friends the second of trollopes palliser novels introduces its title character phineas finn a talented but naive doctors son from ireland with parliamentary aspirations he must make numerous practical and ethical choices regarding his career his political beliefs and his romantic life in hopes of emerging with his character reputation and prospects intact