Book of Longing

Product Information

Buk: You won’t get any complaints from me! I like women quite a bit myself! My old pal Burroughs used to draw little things, too, like that. Bound with this search for the origins of mountains and islands, is the idea of birth. Girija and Chanda's daughter is born out of her parents' most cherished dreams and memories. With birth, there is also its flip-side, death. In a jungle, the couple encounters a particular variety of palm which is "documented to flower only once in its lifetime, after which it dies." In Kidd’s ( The Invention of Wings, 2014, etc.) feminist take on the New Testament, Jesus has a wife whose fondest longing is to write. I enjoyed this novel immensely, but found myself irritated by what I felt was a bit of "bait-and-switch" based on its published description. It's billed as centering around the protagonist's partnership with Jesus, but in actuality the two are separated for most of the book and their lives seldom intersect. There's nothing particularly challenging about the themes contained in The Book of Longings, but it's nonetheless superb historical fiction and a great tale of female empowerment, especially for those interested in learning more about the time period and readers who enjoy a feminist take on history... continued In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything.

Book of Longing - Penguin Books UK

My testament begins in the fourteenth year of my life, the night my aunt led me to the flat roof of my father's grand house in Sepphoris, bearing a plump object wrapped in linen. When I tell you all shall be well, I don’t mean that life won’t bring you tragedy. Life will be life. I only mean you will be well in spite of it. All shall be well, no matter what.” Here are some of my favorite bits, and which are generally less well-known. (I don't need to quote the beautiful lyrics to A Thousand Kisses Deep, for example, which are included in this collection - in both versions). I loved how a lot of the story is open to the reader's interpretation and my opinion of the book's meaning is sure to differ from the next reader. I'd tell you my theories but wouldn't want to alter your experience. There is a huge cast of characters; there are those who have died and their spirit lingers watching those who are living and there are those yet to be born but with still a part to play. By far my favourite was Apo, a wonderful old man truly in tune with nature, it was Apo and his wonderful tales where I got my breakthrough on what the book is about, it was an enlightening experience...a real mind-blown moment. We will teach you about our God and you will teach us about yours, and together we'll find the God that exists behind them.”

On The Go

Both a radical reimagining of the New Testament, and an homage to all untamed, trespassing women, The Book of Longings is right on time for this moment. The book tells the story of Ana—a brave and ambitious woman who rails against her repressive society, fighting to express herself and realize her full potential. As the daughter of a wealthy politician, Ana is expected to marry a man chosen for her, and not the penniless carpenter named Jesus she meets in a chance encounter. What follows is a stunning and universal portrayal of women’s longing, silencing, and awakening. We are not mad. We are human.We want to love, and someone must forgive us for the paths we take to love, for the paths are many and dark, and we are ardent and cruel in our journey.” i'm sure it didn't help that the monastery was the mt. baldy zen center, which is quite a suggestive name. An engrossing, briskly paced story in an appealing voice...the message about the importance of kindness and the power of women's voices should resonate strongly with today's readers. Charles Bukowski talks with Leonard Cohen about his book of poetry, Book of Longing. Both wrote a lot of books of poetry and fiction.

Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup | Goodreads Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup | Goodreads

Buk: Some nice pomes in there, Lenny! Not bad! I like the pictures, too, especially the ones of all the babes! Sweet! Snow Desert, is set in the Karakoram Mountains, in a remote village, and follows the story of Apo, the ’Grandfather of the entire village, a man who ’feels that…the past is real and the present is a half-baked memory Sometimes, the past is an incomprehensible beast and the future its unrealized shadow. He spends his time trying to preserve, share the myths, legends. I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.”We have 13 read-alikes for The Book of Longings, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member. You are right, Sahara. There are no mists, or veils, or distances. But the mist is surrounded by a mist; and the veil is hidden behind a veil; and the distance continually draws away from the distance. That is why there are no mists, or veils, or distances. That is why it is called The Great Distance of Mist and Veils. It is here that The Traveler becomes The Wanderer, and The Wanderer becomes The One Who Is Lost, and The One Who Is Lost becomes The Seeker, and The Seeker becomes The Passionate Lover, and The Passionate Lover becomes The Beggar, and The Beggar becomes The Wretch, and The Wretch becomes The One Who Must Be Sacrificed, and The One Who Must Be Sacrificed becomes The Resurrected One and The Resurrected One becomes The One Who has Transcended The Great Distance of Mist and Veils. Then for a thousand years, or the rest of the afternoon, such a One spins in the Blazing Fire of Changes, embodying all the transformations, one after the other, and then beginning again, and then ending again, 86,000 times a second. Then such a one, if he is a man, is ready to love the woman Sahara; and such a one, if she is a woman, is ready to love the man who can put into song The Great Distance of Mist and Veils. Is it you who are waiting, Sahara, or is it I?” Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. Ron Rash is renowned for his writing about Appalachia, but his latest book, The Caretaker, begins ...

The Book of Longings Quotes by Sue Monk Kidd - Goodreads The Book of Longings Quotes by Sue Monk Kidd - Goodreads

Islands, intuitively speaking, made the perfect canvas for practicing the art of nomenclature. The heightened isolation would cause species to become endemic, sooner or later, demanding a unique name. The only exceptions to the rule were the British themselves. They had broken most laws of nature by leaving their island to multiply on others without losing any of their original characteristics--only their marbles. A sweeping, lyrical debut about the love and longing between humanity and the earth itself, by a major new literary talent from IndiaIt covers a vast canvas from the Andamans, Burma(Myanmar), Nepal and the no man's land separating India and Pakistan. Yaltha is indeed a fascinating character, who sees and experiences tragedy but refuses to be victimized. The advice she gives to Ana is that all will be well. How? By staying true to herself. By finding her own path. By reassembling her life — however broken — according to her own design. Ana, who faces her own tragedies, rises to that challenge again and again. Why should we contain God any longer in our poor and narrow conceptions, which are so often no more than grandiose reflections of ourselves? Let us set him free.” The world under water is an undocumented map of the world over water," he often tells her. "To solely inhabit the land limits our understanding. All terrains and forms of life, all the cycles of nature and emotions found on land, increase manifold in water." Most of the poems/scribblings concern the time he spent in Monastery, so there is a big dose of "wrestling with God" in here, along with "wrestling with love, sex, things of the flesh".

Book of Longing” — Poetry Culture Why You Should Read Cohen’s “Book of Longing” — Poetry Culture

Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup is place-based eco-fiction which emphasizes Earth’s powerful forces, especially earthquakes—in remote parts of India and more of south Asia following after India gained independence from the U.K in 1947. Relationships between eccentric and charismatic people and also human connections to nature are prominent in this novel of linked stories. At the opening of the book we meet the newly married Chanda Devi—who communicates not only with ghosts, but everything of the Earth and her husband Girija Prasad, a scientist. Reading of their romantic connections is as beguiling as watching flowers blossom in the best time-lapse video. Family and other characters with connections to this couple are featured as this book progresses. Also consistently throughout the natural world is a vibrant participant within the story. Exposed claw-like roots crept upon the ground like pale pythons. He could feel them inch toward him and halt at his toes. Standing there, Girija Prasad felt like an ant, shuffling around, tempted by the impossible. The fundamental problem, though, is that the djinn's anecdotes just aren't enchanting enough. They are sprinkled with wonderful little details, such as a magical musical instrument that plays itself, but none of them has compelling characters or a satisfying pay-off. It's a strange flaw for a film which is so marvellously imaginative in so many ways, but that's what it comes down to. If a screenplay is going to be fixated on the history and purpose of storytelling, the stories within it have to be better. Nothing much is there to say that it could have been much better. The writing is fine. But too slow and moody for me. It keeps changing and the characters keep fleeting here and there in your mind that you just cannot hold them in your head while reading about them.Astonishing and completely original, Shubhangi Swarup’s magical novel will change the way you see people—and landscapes, forests, the oceans, snow deserts.” —Nilanjana S. Roy Included are lyrics to a few of my favorite Cohen songs, like "Alexandra Leaving" and "Love Itself" which only makes the collection better. I am Ana. I was the wife of Jesus ben Joseph of Nazareth. I called him Beloved and he, laughing, called me Little Thunder. He said he heard rumblings inside me while I slept, a sound like thunder from far over the Nahal Zippori valley or even farther beyond the Jordan. I don’t doubt he heard something. All my life, longings lived inside me, rising up like nocturnes to wail and sing through the night. That my husband bent his heart to mine on our thin straw mat and listened was the kindness I most loved in him. What he heard was my life begging to be born. For a debut work, the author's style is worthy of praise. I loved how the writing seemed almost effortless till the middle but as it progressed, the author seemed to ran out of ideas to hold the story together or perhaps it was me who didn't get it. To me the novel seemed a little too ambitious for its scope. But I would definitely be looking for further works by the author.