Review: Biography of Silence: An Essay on Meditation

Biography of Silence: An Essay on Meditation by Pablo d'Ors
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a very short book. It is a series of very short essays from the author about his experience with meditation. Overall, the book was good, but I did have some confusion as well.

He says at first he was not trained, just started doing it. But later he talks about having a teacher or meditating with others. The blub says he’s a Spanish priest and Zen disciple, but he does not come across as a priest, or at least a traditional one. Mostly it seems he talks about wanting to be a writer, not being a priest, so that’s confusing. In the end, that doesn’t matter really if he is a priest or a writer. Although having written this book he is at least a writer…

The very short essays are like vignettes into his life around meditating. Some of the short essays morph into why it is good to meditate, what can be expected, although he also says do not start to meditate with any goals in mind. The book was not about how to meditate either, although perhaps a few hints can be gleaned. The book mostly discusses how paying attention and being in oneself can enhance your life.

Book rating: 3.75 stars


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Review: Biography of Silence: An Essay on Meditation

Biography of Silence: An Essay on Meditation by Pablo d'Ors
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: The Summer Guest

The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book is about several people who are deeply involved in a summer camp in Maine. It covers generations. The book is told in alternative POVs between four people and culminates in a fifth voice, a child of one of the characters and provides a sort of epilogue.

One of the voices is the summer guest Harry, who is a very rich man. In the current time he comes this year to die at his favorite place. He also just bought the camp and left it in his will to a young man Jordan who works there, his voice is one of the POVs. This change of ownership, of course, causes some stirrings. The camp had been in the family for a very long time.

In addition, the book is also about the couple Lucy and Joe who own the camp and just sold it to Harry. Their daughter Kate is the final epilogue voice. Joe was drafted into the Vietnam war and his father who was wounded and disfigured from a previous war. He wanted, and perhaps forced, Joe not to go. Joe ends up being a draft dodger. There are consequences for this, and just as him and Lucy started being a couple.

The timeline for the book was back and forth, not linear. It took a bit to get settled into the story with the timeline and characters shifting. I listened to the audiobook version and there was a different narrator for each character, which helped to keep things straight.

The book was well done, but nothing spectacular. This also may have been his first novel.

Book rating: 3.5 stars

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Review: The Summer Guest

The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book is about several people who are deeply involved in a summer camp in Maine. It covers generations. The book is told in alternative POVs between four people and culminates in a fifth voice, a child of one of the characters and provides a sort of epilogue.

One of the voices is the summer guest Harry, who is a very rich man. In the current time he comes this year to die at his favorite place. He also just bought the camp and left it in his will to a young man Jordan who works there, his voice is one of the POVs. This change of ownership, of course, causes some stirrings. The camp had been in the family for a very long time.

In addition, the book is also about the couple Lucy and Joe who own the camp and just sold it to Harry. Their daughter Kate is the final epilogue voice. Joe was drafted into the Vietnam war and his father who was wounded and disfigured from a previous war wanted and perhaps forced Joe not to go. Joe ends up being a draft dodger. There are consequences for this, and just as him and Lucy started being a couple.

The timeline for the book was back and forth, not linear. It took a bit to get settled into the story with the timeline and characters shifting. I listened to the audiobook version and there was a different narrator for each character, which helped to keep things straight.

The book was well done, but nothing spectacular. This also may have been his first novel.

Book rating: 3.5 stars


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Review: The Summer Guest

The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews