Title: The Pond and The Three Masters
Author: Ruis Woertendyke
Publisher: Fulton Books
ISBN: 978-1-64654-666-7
Genre: Biography
Pages: 94
Reviewed by: Lily Amanda

Read Book Review

It is easy to get distracted with things including love, children, money, responsibility, and possessions. Being successful in a career requires focus; constant and continuous, to avoid the pitfalls life brings one’s way.

The Pond and The Three Masters is a biography of Ruis Woertendyke, an actor, director, teacher, and writer, detailing his life experiences from his earliest memory in his interest in acting and production.  It chronicles the challenges and struggles he passed through, and his eventual breakthrough in the cutthroat world of acting.

Ruis’ family moved from New York to Colorado. His father took odd jobs frequently and they had to keep moving from time to time. His father’s ever-busy nature and constant absence made him feel undeserving. He was a naive, isolated teenager who believed the constant change of neighborhoods made him so.

Due to his insecurities, he became involved in petty crimes that resulted in his parents paying hefty fines. His mother enrolled him in acting classes. He later joined a play which he performed exceedingly well, and as he continued performing before audiences, his shyness diminished, and eventually he grew a desire to look for a real master who could teach him professional acting in Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles that he encountered his three masters who had a profound role in helping him overcome childhood traumas as well as propelling his acting skills from an amateur to a professional actor and eventually a director.

The Pond and The Three Masters is a very engaging read and keeps the reader connected until the end. Each “Master” has something to teach, not only to Ruis, but also for every reader. Author Ruis Woertendyke maintains that finding the road to the field of emotions, which resides in our subconscious memory, is one of the key responsibilities of an actor of being. He believes that words have a source, and actors are to find out what created the words, what gave birth to that word, and why that particular word was used to express a particular emotion. My favorite quote was from Josie, a theater performer, referencing an actor’s emotional content, “We know everything we need to know. As human beings, there isn’t an emotion we haven’t experienced. Specifics may be different but there is no emotion we do not know.”

While exhaustive in its coverage and analysis of the author’s life, its lively, accessible tone will also enthrall interested laypeople. Author Ruis Woertendyke shows gratitude and warmth to those who helped him to become an accomplished actor and director. The pond and The Three Masters contain raw emotions; honest and thought-provoking, but also uplifting and enlightening as well. This book would easily make for a blockbuster movie due to the complexity of the biographical instances. I recommend this book to mature adults and especially those who would want to pursue a career in acting.