Scan barcode
heidihaverkamp's review against another edition
3.0
Thoreau, Zora Neale Hurston, Bill Cunningham, Emily Dickinson - quite a variety of artists were solitary folks. Also, it's just fun to read about the life of Fenton Johnson and his parents, who lived down the road from Gethsemani Monastery, home of Thomas Merton, and had monks dropping by for dinner all the time. I connected more with some chapters than others. I confess I like his other books more, "Geography of the Heart" and "Keeping Faith," but this was still a good one.
rsyngh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
kellysmaust's review against another edition
2.0
Choosing to live and be alone is a super interesting topic, discussion of which is in short supply these days. It's a great idea for a book, but the author seemed to also be choosing solitude from an editor as he went on and on without really going anywhere or concluding anything.
bard4lyfe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Every once in a while a book finds you, rather than you finding it. This is that book. It either finds you or you buy it and find it useless. In any other part of my life this book would have had no effect. I do not believe in fate or destiny but this is by far an eerie calculus of probability. So, I hope this book finds you rather than you finding it. Cheers.
aarikdanielsen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
loloreid's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A beautiful and personal reflection on solitude not as pathology or antisocial dismissal of human connection but as a joyful calling that can be experienced in support of creative development and connection. Using his own experience and history to ground the discussions Johnson presents a variety of examples of historical creative figures to consider approaches that may have unfolded counter to societal norms or expectations but were honest expressions of personality and creative practice that led to personal and artistic vibrancy. Each chapter focuses and responds to a different creative figure, including Paul Cezanne, Walt Whitman, Zora Neale Hurston, Emily Dickinson. Johnson leaves the reader with the possibility of an expansion of social interaction and relationship dynamic that skillfully avoids a sense of defensiveness or rebellion that is joyful and inspiring.
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
2.0
What I wanted from this book was a pleasant discussion of solitude: what it is, what it's good for, why we (or some of us) love it, how we can find more of it. And so on.
Which is not what I got from this book. Not necessarily because it wasn't there, but because my mind went completely blank by the end of sentences like this one:
I've read that at least forty to fifty times and I still am not quite sure what it says.
Which is not what I got from this book. Not necessarily because it wasn't there, but because my mind went completely blank by the end of sentences like this one:
"And - with full and necessary and sorrowful acknowledgment of institutionalized religion's evils, horrors, and omissions - perhaps the exploded and fragmented nature of the contemporary developed world owes itself to the insistence of institutionalized religion and science alike that we subscribe to doctrine and dogma in service to their aggrandizement, instead of attending to the need to bring us together to acknowledge all that is sacred, in ourselves and in our world."
I've read that at least forty to fifty times and I still am not quite sure what it says.
jumbleread's review against another edition
5.0
Lovely and wise essays about solitude. Useful for thinking about how to think about shelter at home during the pandemic.