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bribeatris's review against another edition
5.0
Somehow familiar
My heart breaks and fills with hope
sort of like love
My heart breaks and fills with hope
sort of like love
jenniecanzoneri's review against another edition
4.0
I love a quick book, with lovely prose. And I appreciated the reminder that a quiet marriage, with its ordinary and boring flaws, is a work of art.
clairewords's review against another edition
3.0
I've not read any of her previous works, this was a book passed to me by a friend, so not a book I deliberately chose. I enjoyed reading it, though I couldn't say I related to it in any way. As the title shows, it's a reflection on time passing, on memory and on marriage.
It's full of nostalgia for moments passed, brought back to life as she picks up journals from girlhood and her earlier life and quotes from them, in particular, from her honeymoon spent in France. She wonders about the woman she was then.
She worries about the lack of a plan, despite being in her fifties and her husband almost sixty. She shares these anxious moments, as she begins to lose a little faith in the words her husband has uttered in the past, that gave her reasurrance "I"ll take care of it". Anyone who has ever lived with that kind of reassurance might relate, but inherent within that is a deep vulnerability, a fear of loss.
It's that undercurrent of misplaced fear that concerns me, for there is no resolution, there is no evidence of a desire to go within and face that fear, to heal it, she remains focused on that which is external, and therein lies the problem. Maybe that is the memoir still to come, when she embarks on the inner journey, and learns to listen to her own guidance, to the whispers of her soul, that can reassure her more than anyone or anything on the outside.
It's full of nostalgia for moments passed, brought back to life as she picks up journals from girlhood and her earlier life and quotes from them, in particular, from her honeymoon spent in France. She wonders about the woman she was then.
She worries about the lack of a plan, despite being in her fifties and her husband almost sixty. She shares these anxious moments, as she begins to lose a little faith in the words her husband has uttered in the past, that gave her reasurrance "I"ll take care of it". Anyone who has ever lived with that kind of reassurance might relate, but inherent within that is a deep vulnerability, a fear of loss.
It's that undercurrent of misplaced fear that concerns me, for there is no resolution, there is no evidence of a desire to go within and face that fear, to heal it, she remains focused on that which is external, and therein lies the problem. Maybe that is the memoir still to come, when she embarks on the inner journey, and learns to listen to her own guidance, to the whispers of her soul, that can reassure her more than anyone or anything on the outside.
bethanyaball's review against another edition
5.0
A lovely meditation on memory, marriage, and time. She is thoughtful and honest and if I have time I'll get to her next kripalu offering because the last time I went it was magical.
readtoinfinity's review against another edition
4.0
It seems like a story with some random thoughts but very well written. Its definitely interesting but I could only read it in sections.
nanajo's review against another edition
5.0
Marriage, such a huge subject, is eloquently captured in this memoir of only 145 pages. Reading it as I celebrated my own 30 years of marriage, I paused frequently throughout the book to reflect. “How do we make lifelong commitments in the face of identities that are continuously shifting and commit ourselves for all time when the self is so often in flux? What happens to the love in the face of the unexpected, in the face of disappointment and compromise?” Tough questions to ask myself in the privacy of my heart and mind, I admire the courage of Shapiro to share hers with a world of readers. I saw myself and many women reflected in her honesty. The joy & fear of raising children. Aging parents. Shapiro’s description of “a scorched landscape of grief” made her & I shudder. I too keep special little books containing the words of others. I had no idea there was a word to describe them; commonplace book, a “thinker's journal”. Shapiro’s criterion “the words must pierce me, stop me, so that I can go no further until I write them down-until I make them mine.” She introduced me to the belief of Donald Hall, that third things are essential to marriages; something “that provide a a site of joint rapture or contentment.” I will seek out the children’s book by Michael Foreman “Fortunately, Unfortunately” that she writes of as an introduction to my grandchildren about the great adventures that may arrive on the heels of life’s curve balls.
kdekoster's review against another edition
4.0
“ Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.”
“We spent the very last night of our honeymoon eating big Macs and making love in an airport hotel.
Day 17.
Married.
Home.”
“We spent the very last night of our honeymoon eating big Macs and making love in an airport hotel.
Day 17.
Married.
Home.”
sjroth's review against another edition
1.0
I was not a fan of Shapiro, her husband, or her writing style. I don’t think it was well written and I didn’t find any particular insights or wisdom here. Shapiro alternates between bragging and whining and I just don’t have any sympathy for their “struggles” or their chaotic, creative approach to life.
I’m starting to question Anne Bogel’s recommendations. This is not the first book she’s recommended that has been woefully underwhelming in every sense.
I’m starting to question Anne Bogel’s recommendations. This is not the first book she’s recommended that has been woefully underwhelming in every sense.