A Cry of Stone

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Exploration of Christian Spirituality
Review: A Cry of Stone by Michael O'Brien is one of the most profound, moving and accessible novels I have ever read. This work has the depth of a Dostoevsky combined with the simplicity of the Gospels. O'Brien captures the essence of Christian spirituality; humility, love, and self-sacrifice in the absolutely unforgettable character of a poor, disabled Native American woman named Rose Wabos. This book will awaken your mind and stir your heart to its depths. Some parts were so poignant that I had to put the book down. Through Rose's simplicity, innocence and love, O'Brien exposes the fissures in contemporary civilization. If you need to be convinced that wisdom is found in humility, in littleness, then read this book. This work will go down as a masterpiece of literature, and Rose Wabos a character never to be forgotten. Do the world a favor and buy this for everyone on your Christmas list!

Rating:
Summary: Intense look at one womans spritual life.
Review: As Rose moves through life, the spiritual grows steadily like a flame. It consumes her and leads her to grow and to give deeply to others who need her.

Rating:
Summary: Intense look at one womans spritual life.
Review: As Rose moves through life, the spiritual grows steadily like a flame. It consumes her and leads her to grow and to give deeply to others who need her.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite of O'Brien's books!
Review: Despite its formidable size and small print, I raced through this book in a few days of fascinated reading, and was very sorry to see it end. I cried, I laughed; I was intensely absorbed in the life of this "little person", Rose. O'Brien writes of Rose's inner state with an intensity and penetration that I don't recall ever meeting elsewhere in literature except, perhaps, as another reviewer mentions, in Dostoyevsky. I think this is very great writing in service to a great and noble subject. If you are more than half awake spiritually this book will rattle you right to your bones

Rating:
Summary: Dull.
Review: Enjoyed this book very much. Felt as though I had lost a good friend when the book ended. Michael O'Brien is gifted at creating his characters. I got a little bogged down in the middle with all the art philosophy, but it did not detract me from the story. It was a great illustration of how one can be so beloved of God and suffer so much. There was meaning and value in the suffering. The doubts and pain were so real! And yet it was a book with great wisdom and hope. More from Michael O'Brien!

Rating:
Summary: a great read!
Review: Enjoyed this book very much. Felt as though I had lost a good friend when the book ended. Michael O'Brien is gifted at creating his characters. I got a little bogged down in the middle with all the art philosophy, but it did not detract me from the story. It was a great illustration of how one can be so beloved of God and suffer so much. There was meaning and value in the suffering. The doubts and pain were so real! And yet it was a book with great wisdom and hope. More from Michael O'Brien!

Rating:
Summary: A Beacon of Hope
Review: I was stunned by this book. As an artist, I've never read a book that so thoroughly and truthfully captured not only the process of creating original works of art, but also the foibles and pretense of the "official" art community. And yet the main character, despite being a "small person" with virtually no resources other than faith in God, is completely believable and a tremendous inspiration. There is no doubt in mind that this book was blessed by the saints whose intercession O'Brien prayed for during its creation.

Michael O'Brien's book _is_ long, but I breezed through it in just a few days and was riveted by the story. It is extremely rare in a world fixated on revenge and fighting for "my piece of the pie" to find a book that actually breathes life into a character that has chosen the small way...the way of Christ. Yet Rose Wabos remains very human and very accessible. And at every turn, just when I would expect her to react as _I_ would react, she does something lovely...she chooses to act as Christ would have acted. Over and over I had revealed to me how far I, personally, have to go before I could ever begin to consider myself a real, consistent follower of Christ.

This book is a fictional tale that deals with how to live as Thomas A. Kempis advises us to in "The Imitation of Christ". In that book, Kempis suggests what we need to do to truly follow in Christ's footsteps. In Michael O'Brien's book, we get to see someone do just that, and in seeing it, it makes it somehow more possible, and more within our grasp.

This is the best work of fiction I've read in many, many years.


Rating:
Summary: Dull.
Review: I've never been a huge fan of O'Brien and his dreary end-of-the-world books, but I thought I'd give this one a shot.

Not for the first time with O'Brien's novels, I found myself putting it down with a yawn, and never picking it up again. This has also been the experience of two friends of mine, who (unlike myself) are HUGE fans of O'Brien's previous apocalyptic novels, and who have absolutely devoured his other works. This, however, they couldn't even bring themselves to finish... "No, really," they tell me, "his OTHER books are great." I'm sorry, but there are too many authentically and consistently good authors in the world for me to waste any more time on this one. Life's too short... especially if you believe, like O'Brien, that we are in the End Times right now.

Rating:
Summary: Moving, Spiritually Enlightening, Awesome
Review: Spiritual insights are rich, bringing the common struggle to life even in disparate characters and stations in life. So rich are the insights, that like with DeSales' Introduction to the Devout Life, I found myself looking back to certain pages to refresh my enlightenment.

Rating:
Summary: a quiet life
Review: Those who enjoyed the apocolyptical Father Elijah will probably dislike A Cry of Stone. This novel is closer to the family tale of Strangers and Sojourners, but unlike that flawed novel, it is better written and has more believable characters.

It follows the life of a quiet Ojibwe painter, Rose Wabos, as she travels from her childhood to womanhood, from the backwoods to the cities of modern Canada, meeting the poor, the wealthy, the wise and the unimportant, and seeing them through her eyes--the eyes of a compassionate woman, and an artist who sees the soul.

In some ways, the novel reminds me of the better works of Ojibwe writer Louise Erdrich: in that the spiritual and emotional outweigh the logical and the surface perceptions. But O'Brien writes of Rose's insights with more wisdom and complexity. What is the impotance of art? Does love overcome time and space? How does human interaction cure the wounds of the past? Are western ways of seeing only the rich and successful destroying the soul of our artists and our society?

Many will be put off by the openly Christian character whose prayers come from the depth of her personality; others, unfamiliar with the deep Christian faith of some Native Americans who do not see this as a rejection of their culture, will object to this deeply enrooted theme of this novel.