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jonscott9's review against another edition
3.0
"I did not see anything because I was so caught up in an inner dialogue. So, stop and see. Become more sensitive, more aware, more alive to our own humanness, to the humanness of each other."
Frederick Buechner always does me right. I turn to his writings again and again for comfort and joy, for textual healing. Others such as Glennon Doyle, who quotes him in Untamed (currently reading), feel much the same.
Now 95, Buechner migrated from his beloved Vermont to Florida, last I knew. We exchanged notes in the post about 15 years ago, as a friend had somehow obtained his address. I was thrilled at that, and treasured the card I received back from him. (Oh how I yearn to find it among some stored-away boxes.) A Presbyterian minister in part, a vocation he hardly expected when younger to fall into, Buechner reminds me of my favorite spiritual leaders over time—from a profanity-happy pastor during my college years to, well, my own father, who was a Protestant pastor until I was about 10 years old and whose vintage, pocket-size portrait circa 1979 I used as a bookmark while reading this tiny, tender book.
Among my favorite parts of this read are Buechner's memories of an unlikely though beautiful friendship with Maya Angelou. He thought they could not be more different. And yet, as Angelou shared with him, their stories are the same in remarkable ways. Pain, tragedy, grief, beauty, love, resilience—these are the shared human story. The passages with Angelou are alone worth your time, and for those who read faster than me, the book itself probably can be read in one sitting.
Buechner was a Pulitzer finalist for Godric, which is a masterpiece of fiction. The writing can be a bit repetitive and flowery at times when he does nonfiction and dips into autobiographical, sociological and theological territories. At the same time, such intra-book reminders can be a good thing. (Repetition of message, right?)
This is where I leave you with another morsel of goodness:
“So we are told to love. We are told to listen. We are told to look. But a lot of the time we don’t because we choose damn well not to, and because only a saint could do it all the time, I think. You have to choose who to listen to because if you listen to everybody and you look at everybody—seeing every face the way Rembrandt saw that woman’s face—how could you make it down half a city block? You couldn’t. If you listened to what everybody says to you, how could you survive a day? But we can do more than we do—more than we do, surely we could do that.”
Frederick Buechner always does me right. I turn to his writings again and again for comfort and joy, for textual healing. Others such as Glennon Doyle, who quotes him in Untamed (currently reading), feel much the same.
Now 95, Buechner migrated from his beloved Vermont to Florida, last I knew. We exchanged notes in the post about 15 years ago, as a friend had somehow obtained his address. I was thrilled at that, and treasured the card I received back from him. (Oh how I yearn to find it among some stored-away boxes.) A Presbyterian minister in part, a vocation he hardly expected when younger to fall into, Buechner reminds me of my favorite spiritual leaders over time—from a profanity-happy pastor during my college years to, well, my own father, who was a Protestant pastor until I was about 10 years old and whose vintage, pocket-size portrait circa 1979 I used as a bookmark while reading this tiny, tender book.
Among my favorite parts of this read are Buechner's memories of an unlikely though beautiful friendship with Maya Angelou. He thought they could not be more different. And yet, as Angelou shared with him, their stories are the same in remarkable ways. Pain, tragedy, grief, beauty, love, resilience—these are the shared human story. The passages with Angelou are alone worth your time, and for those who read faster than me, the book itself probably can be read in one sitting.
Buechner was a Pulitzer finalist for Godric, which is a masterpiece of fiction. The writing can be a bit repetitive and flowery at times when he does nonfiction and dips into autobiographical, sociological and theological territories. At the same time, such intra-book reminders can be a good thing. (Repetition of message, right?)
This is where I leave you with another morsel of goodness:
“So we are told to love. We are told to listen. We are told to look. But a lot of the time we don’t because we choose damn well not to, and because only a saint could do it all the time, I think. You have to choose who to listen to because if you listen to everybody and you look at everybody—seeing every face the way Rembrandt saw that woman’s face—how could you make it down half a city block? You couldn’t. If you listened to what everybody says to you, how could you survive a day? But we can do more than we do—more than we do, surely we could do that.”
nicholaspoe_'s review against another edition
5.0
There's a line in this book that I think completely sums up what it is:
"You had to pretty much speak what sounded at least perhaps as the truth, if only the truth of your own feelings about religious matters. It was a wonderful thing"
I think Frederick Buechner is author I never knew I was missing. And this book is the start of a wonderful journey that I cannot wait to take.
"You had to pretty much speak what sounded at least perhaps as the truth, if only the truth of your own feelings about religious matters. It was a wonderful thing"
I think Frederick Buechner is author I never knew I was missing. And this book is the start of a wonderful journey that I cannot wait to take.
leevoncarbon's review against another edition
4.0
An eye-opening, deaf-defying book. One sample of many memorable lines: "I wish God would talk sometimes so I could hear him. I wish, as Woody Allen wonderfully jokes, that sometimes he would just clear his throat. But just enough whispers in the wings, the strange coincidence, the miraculous happenstance, the right saint coming by at the right time, to me means that the stillness of God is the stillness he has to preserve, because if he were to speak, it'd blow everything sky high".
cwileygo's review against another edition
2.0
I was severely disappointed in this book. Maybe my expectations were too high? Maybe I thought it would cover “how to stop, look and listen to life” as it’s written on the cover?
Anyway, I found this to be a depressing short book delivering neither courage nor inspiration.
I recommend Brother Lawrence’s “The Practice of the Presence of God.”
I’m just so sad this was underwhelming. I doubt I’ll pick up another one of this author’s novels, no matter how good-intentioned they are.
Anyway, I found this to be a depressing short book delivering neither courage nor inspiration.
I recommend Brother Lawrence’s “The Practice of the Presence of God.”
I’m just so sad this was underwhelming. I doubt I’ll pick up another one of this author’s novels, no matter how good-intentioned they are.
jtisreading's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful collection of ideas and thoughts. Used many of them for a recent speech and it helped really make the impact I want it to make. Buechner is an underrated writer and thinker in 20th-century Christian thought.
susannaopal's review against another edition
5.0
I doubt there is such a thing as a bad collection of Buechner essays. I suspect I’ll likely return to this one again and again. He’s truly a gem.
theliterarylemen's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely a stream of conciousness. I think those who have read Buechner's other books will enjoy it more. I have not read his other works and didn't have a lot of the ba k story.
phaedosia's review against another edition
4.0
This was my introduction to Buechner's work and I understand others are better. Extra star because it came to me at the right time.