Rating: 
Summary: Stunning
Review: At last, another Mark Salzman book! I've waited years for his next one, since "Lost in Place" in 1995, and after finishing "Lying Awake," I will heartily proclaim that the years have been worth the wait.Few writers I've ever known (W. Somerset Maugham being one of them) have been able to write so beautifully and eloquently of the interior life, and in this case, Mr. Salzman takes it one step further by setting the scene in a cloister. The protagonist is a Carmelite nun, and an all-too-human one at that, and it is a literary gift that we are able to follow her spiritual struggle in depth and to sympathize with her in this difficult journey. A powerful scene two-thirds of the way through the book, as Sister John undertakes a painful vigil in the choir, moved me to tears -- an extremely rare occasion for me. What I love most about the book is the sheer simplicity of it. Like most of Mr. Salzman's work, he doesn't find the need to express himself in florid language or to convey the emotion of a scene with overblown description. The reader is drawn to the cloister, feels the great silence, and walks alongside Sister John in her contemplation, without needing to be hit in the head with all of it. I do hope Mr. Salzman reads these reviews. He is one of the most underrated authors today, in this world of bestselling novels with all action and no serious thought. My only regret upon finishing "Lying Awake" is that I now must wait a few more years till his next book!
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful understanding of spiritual/artistic/physical life
Review: This book is well done on a number of levels but, given my interest, what impressed me most was it's understanding of liturgy. Sister John of the Cross' interior life is marked off in snippets of the Liturgy of the Hours (primarily psalms)and are timed by the liturgical calendar - Saint James, Apostle (July 25); Martha (July 29); Ignatius of Loyola (July 31) . . . Her life is defined by the rules of her religious order and the liturgy. Her individuality is not suppressed but is expressed through her writing, so well that she has been invited to write a poem to read in Rome on the 100th anniversary of the death of Therese of Liseux. We are given Sr. John's story of her childhood and calling into the Carmelite Order both in flashbacks and in the novel's changing time - the book's time line is 1997, 1969, 1982, 1994, 1997. Through these devices we are given a complete spiritual biography through the usual doubts and faith, deserts and ecstasies. This shows a normal, flawed woman with a normal, flawed spiritual life in a convent with other normal, flawed women and man (priest). The book revolves around a crisis of faith in St. John - a crises brought on by the diagnosis of her mystical experiences as medically based. This is a slim, well crafted novel worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: An extremely moving story told without an overflow of...
Review: ...emotion. The ending reminded me of so much of what I've read of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Towards the end of her life she was in that profound "dark night of the soul" that seemed to tell her that she couldn't believe in anything connected to God. And yet she fiercely clung to Him. And I felt that - somehow - the character of Sister John would do the same. After all her trials and yearnings for more than she thought she had, Sister John was still willing to fight. And to believe. And I doubt that existentialism had much, if anything, to do with this.
Rating:
Summary: A Contemplative Gem....Without the Arrogance and Alienation
Review: Its brevity and sparse tone lend themselves perfectly to this wise picture of monastic life. In his depiction of of Sister John's search for true devotion, Salzman uses poetic restraint. He does not demand that his characters experience faith-altering revelations but, instead, invites the reader to enjoy a beautifully subtle journey during which questions are raised about the substance of faith and the reconcilliation of mind, body and spirit. Mark Salzman has certainly shown us the power of his versatility. His previous novels and memoir, sometimes lighthearted and always socially relevant, lead us to this most recent and highly accomplished work.
Rating: 
Summary: Lying Awake
Review: A very interesting book dealing with existentialism. One is reminded of Camus' "The Plague" where he asks "Can one be a saint and not believe in god?" Though the groundwork is beautifully laid out telling the reader of a devote Carmelite who has visions of god as an epileptic however, when the epilepsy is surgically corrected Salzman proceeds to drop the ball and not pursue the what might have been a tragic denouement of desolation instead opting for a happy ending. Too bad! It could have been a great book! Instead he left off where Camus started.
Rating:
Summary: Spare, yet precisely wrought , compelling
Review: This is a wonderfully thought-provoking book that you will read quickly and think about for a long time afterward. The dilemma of Sister John comes to such life, as does her fascinating world. I found myself questioning my own beliefs, the real reasons behind my drive to work, et cetera. The best book I've read since The Hours.
Rating:
Summary: Hate to dissent
Review: I just read the article in the New Yorker about Salzman's appearances promoting his book where he interlaces his talk by playing the cello. The years of struggle he spent to write this book are evident in the results -- it seems more a writing exercize than a novel. I felt more recital than meaning in the quotations of the nuns sayings from their liturgy and writings. It seemed to me to be an extrusion of what was far simpler. Aren't I a case? I must say I did enjoy reading this all but plotless book, because I, like most of you, wonder what life in the cloister would be like. I am not certain this book is a good example, but how am I to know?
Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Insight
Review: I just finished reading in one sitting Lying Awake. I am a Benedictine Monk, and I have never been so impressed by a novel of religious life. Mr. Salzman has written a classic - a spiritual and psychological novel that everyone should read. I don't know how he did it but he captured magnificently the whole of the contemplative life. I have his memoir and two of his previous novels. I knew he was an excellent writer, but this blew me away. I felt as if he got into my mind. The characters are human, but always treated with respect. They are strong women who struggle with their vocations. I hope someone informs Mr. Salzman of the greatness of his work and his ability to capture such a delicate subject with such insight. I am a poet and I felt even as a man as if the book were about me.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece in Miniature, by fermed
Review: This is an extraordinary little book, perhaps destined to become a classic. Its purity (of language, of thought, or narrative) is so intense that it forces upon the reader the type of esthetic shock that is usually associated with brief and unexpected moments (a heron rising, the breach of a whale, a flash of lightning in the night sky); but here the experience lasts a couple of hours and leaves the reader drained and exhausted and exhilarated. Certainly it should be assigned reading for those with writing ambitions, for it is an exemplar of what fiction is capable of being: a troubling, intense, beautiful experience that is likely to change the reader. Surely for the better. A contemplative nun's supplications for closeness to God are finally answered after many years of silence, prayer, discipline and obedience. She has an outpouring of poetry, of religious intimacy, of incredible sensory experiences, and of sublime spiritual ecstasy. Is it God himself who is acting upon her or is it the small tumor growing in her right temporal lobe that is responsible for her experiences? Should she allow an operation that might rob her of her vivid interactions with God and of her poetical soul? Mark Salzman's hand is so very steady and authoritative in drawing this marvelous picture of a soul in conflict, that the many-layered portrait he produces is simply breathtaking.
Rating:
Summary: If you only read one book this year...
Review: Hesitate no longer! If you are reading these reviews and thinking to yourself, 'hmmmm should I or shouldn't I?' then wait no longer. Get your hands on this book. No further research is necessary! Salzman's opus surpasses his other books, including The Soloist, by leaps and bounds. A rare treasure that too few will read and even fewer will try to comprehend. Forget the subject matter. Forget any guilt or fear you might have about religion. Forget your stereotypical images of nuns and monasteries. This book, with its complexity/simplicity of a Chinese poem, shines like the brightest star in the night's sky. Everything from the title to the length is perfect. If you, the web-surfing reader, and I, some silly guy, were somehow friends, and I could recommend only one new book for you then I would whisper these words, "Do not be afraid, have faith that I wouldn't lie, and read this book."
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