Rating: 
Summary: A solid approach to Form and Function
Review: In "Lying Awake" Mark Salzman gives us a multifaceted jewel of a book. For the scholar he has found the perfect melding of form matching function: the spartan tenor of a cloistered monastery of Carmelite nuns is related in terse prose and poetry, no extraneous verbage here. For the cleric he has discovered how to put into words the feeling of faith, the commitment of nuns as Brides of Christ. For the reader who looks for any type of mental/spiritual growth from the process of reading books he has gently opened the floodgates of how to seek serenity. And for the artist in all of us he narrates a tale that dares to explore the origins of genius. In this tender, sensitive story about Sister John of the Cross finding the courage (read faith) to risk losing her divine inspiration, her rapture, her insight to the meaning of existence by consenting to the surgical removal of a tumor that science in white lab-coated doctor form offers as a mundane explanation for her gifts we are lead to begin to understand the focus, the devotion, the concept of faith of religious orders. Yet the author has the graciousness to never go beyond the reality of a contemporary monastery set in Los Angeles, never makes sacharine the interrelationships of his nuns, and even when venturing beyond the cells and bars of the monastery he keeps the influence of the world outside wholly within the perception of his Sister John. This is a quiet, contemplative book that makes no clangorous demands, or touts Catholicism, or offers yet another "how to" answer for altering our tedious lives. It is just a quiet book whose impact is subtle.....but lasting.
Rating:
Summary: a modest and earnest look at a spiritual life
Review: I picked up this book after having read several reviews. I can say I was pleasantly surprised at how Mr. Salzman conveyed the everyday existence of a nun. I do not have any personal knowledge of the lives of nuns or monks, but I feel strongly that the author has captured the essence of such a life. Sister John's story has much to tell all of us about the importance of accepting life's experiences and learning from them. Her humility and grace shine forth most in the last pages of the book, where we share a moment of levity and brightness with Sister Joan and a newly arrived novice at the convent. All in all I recommend LYING AWAKE without reservation!
Rating: 
Summary: A meditation and affirmation
Review: Mark Salzman's novel is short and sweet, full of brief, beautiful metaphors - a vivid depiction of the contemplative life, and a look at the human doubt that inevitably accompanies the vocation.In this story, a contemplative nun, Sister John, is diagnosed with epilepsy, which leads her into uncertainty about her own spirituality. As with Alan Lightman's "Einstein's Dreams", each chapter is its own meditation, with a basis in the observation of nature -- the struggle against pride and doubt, the struggle towards purpose and enlightenment. The setting may seem esoteric, but Salzman's attention to detail and depth of character bring it to life, and make the reader one with Sister John's struggles. Ultimately, we all share those struggles, feel that doubt, and question our purposes.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Read in Ages
Review: This is the best of Salzman's five very good books and the best book I've read in quite a while. It is reminiscent of Ron Hansen's Mariette in Ecstasy for its delicate and expert treatment of convent life and religious experience, and of Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha for its extraordinary crossing of cultural and gender barriers to describe compassionately and knowingly what ought to be a life worlds away from the author's own. Salzman pursues here a recurring theme of his latest books: the quest for meaning in unusual experience (the unrealistic aspirations of youth, musical virtuosity, the scroll of immortality, or transforming mystical prayer) and the finding of it in ordinary life. The lean prose of this thin volume is well suited to convent simplicity, Zen emptiness and day to day existence, but it plunges to profound depths and proves itself a spiritual gift to be treasured. Read it
Rating:
Summary: Not a word out of place!
Review: Opening this book is not unlike entering a convent. There is nothing extra, nothing fancy, just the spare beauty of the exact right words. The dilemma Sister John of the Cross faces keeps us turning the pages. As we follow her on her days and into her past, we can't help but like her and her dilemma is ours. How to decide, when an illness gives you insight into the infinite, whether to let medicine "cure" you. This book is a treasure.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not breathtaking
Review: After reading so many of these glowing reviews, the actual book did not live up to my expectations. Yes, I liked it. Yes, I'd recommend it. But I found the style almost too sparse, and not really fitting for the spiritual subject matter. It seems I learned more of Sister John's spiritual highs and lows from reviews of the book than the book itself. Don't get me wrong: I like sparse writing and understatment as much as the next reader. But in this particular case, I thought a little more description was needed to really convey what was going on in Sister John's head. (Having experienced something similar, I feel the text did not explain it fully.) One other comment: I thought the tone was a little bit too instructive, informative for a novel. That said, the book was very interesting and the ending was wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: SPARSE, AND QUIETLY BEAUTIFUL
Review: Mark Salzman, author of a number of excellent books, including "The Soloist", has captured a way of life in a voice that is at once sparse, and yet quietly beautiful. Like the spare imagery of the haiku, "Lying Awake" evokes its poetry with as few words as possible. This is by far one of Salzman's best works. Sister John of the Cross is searching for answers, and hopes that her response will be the Voice of God, guiding with a gentle hand. A celebrated poet of the simple lives of the cloister, Sister John lives her days quietly and uneventfully in the last vestiges of solitude in Los Angeles. That is, until she is visited with images so powerful and breath-taking, she begins to believe her journey to find God is drawing to a climax. Not so, says the doctors to whom Sister John is taken when she begins to experience mild epileptic seizures. Her 'visions' are none other than hallucinations brought on by a small 'smudge' on her brain just above her ear. This revelation about the true source of her Godly images sends Sister John into a crisis of faith that threatens the rest of the nunnery as well as her own peace of mind. Salzman writes as if in a whisper about the quiet ways of those on the chosen Path of God, with delicate reticence, yet manages to tell a poetic tale that brings the reader a certain sense of inner peace as well. A book to reflect upon in a world that is filled with the faithless and lost. Also recommended: "Agnes De Dios"--Leonore Fleischer "The Blind Side of the Heart"--Michael C. White
Rating:
Summary: A great hunger
Review: Salzman's wonderful novel will haunt you. In sparse, cloister-empty language, he tells the story of Carmelite Sister John of the Cross, a woman whose long hunger for God has finally been filled by three years worth of profoundly changing mystical experiences. One day she's forced to ask herself if the ecstatic episodes for which she yearns are what she ought to be seeking--whether, in short, the great spiritual hunger that's like a "hole in the center of her being" (p. 115) should be stuffed with comforting content or embraced for the resplendent absence it is. It's significant that Salzman's heroine takes the religious name of "John of the Cross," the great Carmelite mystic who writes of the "nada" of God. Her crisis is John's dark night of the soul, and it also faces all of us who search for God. Sister John's final discovery about the soul's hunger for the Divine is one that may surprise you. But in Salzman's artful hands, it rings absolutely true. Five stars isn't enough for this book. Nothing short of a National Book Award can do it justice.
Rating:
Summary: My Beloved is My Bridegroom. . . Oh What a Joy!
Review: I have read very few books in one sitting, but this is one of those books. There are many compelling virtues to "Lying Awake," the least of which is simplistic, almost naked, prose that enhances that the plight of an extremely likeable protagonist, Sister John of the Cross. As it turns out, Sister John of the Cross, despite recent extraordinary spiritual leadings, undergoes what non-religous people might refer to as a "mid-life crisis." Salzman does an amazing job with this character by treating her very gently and tenderly. The best part about Sister John's recent mystical leanings is that they aren't overzealous evangelical rantings that a non-Catholic couldn't connect with. Instead, they are appealing and soft, the way sprituality should be. Salzman weaves past and present, scientific and spiritual, religous and secular, and personal and professional together quite seemlessly. Questions about the purpose of life, while couched in the context of Sister's vocation, are easily recognizable to believer's and non-believer's alike. There is a particular scene where a mother and daughter reunite that carries the impact of Schlink's "The Reader." I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks life is a journey. In addition there are some incredible etchings that are quite romantic in nature.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: I, as many of the other reviewers, read this book in one sitting, passed it to my Mom and best friend and they did the same. Beautifully written, a spiritual journey, moral dilemma, modern medicine and loving story of spirit and sisterhood. Wow. Since most of my family are doctors- I bought them all copies for Christmas! Mark Salzman- if you read these reviews, thanks for a lovely, thought-provoking read.
|
