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The Great Spring Writing Zen and This Zigzag Life Natalie Goldberg Books

Download As PDF : The Great Spring Writing Zen and This Zigzag Life Natalie Goldberg Books

The Great Spring Writing Zen and This Zigzag Life Natalie Goldberg Books

I had been hoping this book would be more about writing, specifically about how a writer draws inspiration for their craft. That's not really what this book is about. This book is a rather odd collection of essays. The essays don't necessarily fit together, except that their all about the author's introspection. But that introspection doesn't really translate to thinking about her writing. There are plenty of times as human beings when we spend time thinking about ourselves. Plenty of that is very ordinary and not anything that anyone else would be interested in. And I feel like that's what we're getting here- some kind of self-analysis that is not very interesting to anyone else. This book was a big disappointment to me.


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The Great Spring Writing Zen and This Zigzag Life Natalie Goldberg Books Reviews

Lovingly written stories of Ms. Goldberg's fusion of Zen and Writing. Made me get a copy of Writing Down the Bones to read again.
For a Buddhist writer as I like to think of myself this book was perfect. She is so honest and open. Refreshing
This is my favorite book of Natalie's so far, I loved it! Evocative writing, and each chapter was like a jewel.
Goldberg's essays are just glistening! Evocative, thought-provoking and at times heartbreaking. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Even I loved Writing Down the Bones, and her fabulous book on writing memoirs ( I loved the writing exercises) and I loved Living Color and her work with painting, this book was very good, but not as life-changing as her other books. But who says all books need to be life-changing? I thought it flowed well even though the stories take you different places. I appreciated her writing which is so fresh.. I could not give 4 stars because it's not a book I will want to read again, but it was a nice pleasant read.
I live a quiet life. Most of us do, most of the time, and Natalie Goldberg is no different. Yet now and again, to all of us, comes a moment of intense feeling. Some piece of our history, some love or loss, rises up and all but overwhelms us.

No one is better at showing such moments than Natalie Goldberg. I take this to be her life study. She is adept both at opening herself up to these emotions, or visions, and at setting them down in words. Her devotion to writing has gone on as long as her practice of Zen, and here the two are paired. “The terrible truth,” she says, “which is rarely mentioned, is that meditation doesn’t directly lead us to some vaporous, glaze-eyed peace. It drops us right into the personal meat of human suffering.”

That’s what this book does, over and over. We float along on a light river of prose, then are plunged into that personal meat. It’s often unexpected, and always rewarding. This is a beautiful read.
Natalie Goldberg exists between two rocky places - writing and zen, and she manages to find opportunities to practice both. She writes, and writes, and writes, as many of us do. And she is a daughter of zen, and meets all kinds of people in her travels, some helpful, others annoying; She takes chances in her life because it's clear that she loves her teachers, her friends, and the land. I would love to be a passenger on one of those pilgrimages where the directions are vague, the signposts are rare, and instead of reaching a hilltop you dip - all of a sudden - into a deep chasm, coming out of the other side with a lake before you. She went looking for Bob Dylan, and met his teacher - a brilliant and lovable icon. As many of us who have reached age 60 or more, she encounters many losses, the death of friends and neighbors, three or four at a time, and finds herself caught in the land of the living, knowing that she too will die someday. I stay at home, wondering if my mental wanderings are adequate, but Natalie Goldberg manages to lift the everyday into golden petals from on high. The tender places where she describes wonderful enlightenment moments are elegant, and most appreciated. This is a treasure! I will read it again and again!
Natalie Goldberg is like New Mexico. Dry, sometimes to the point where it really hurts. She is also like Brooklyn. While going through her very own personal crisis she manages to radiate the fullness of life. This is a very well-written book; a collection of sorts. It jumps from one story to the next and all over different phases in her life. Don't expect this to be a book that goes on and on. You can read each story separately and then reflect upon it. It will help you deal with your own demons just to hear her reflect upon hers. I live in New Mexico and travel to New York a lot. I feel like those places have had an impact on her as they have on me; as have many of the places she covers in between. I actually know some of the people she talks about in this book. That's a strange experience - to read about your friends or acquaintance and see them through the eyes of someone who has impacted your own writing. She's a great teacher. This book is full of wisdom and also confusing. It is one I will re-read time and again. It's extremely personal and honest. I for one was not able to put it down until I'd reached the last 2o pages. Then I just had to stop and start all over again. In the end, it took me several weeks to read it. And although I've read all of the pages, I'm not done yet.
I had been hoping this book would be more about writing, specifically about how a writer draws inspiration for their craft. That's not really what this book is about. This book is a rather odd collection of essays. The essays don't necessarily fit together, except that their all about the author's introspection. But that introspection doesn't really translate to thinking about her writing. There are plenty of times as human beings when we spend time thinking about ourselves. Plenty of that is very ordinary and not anything that anyone else would be interested in. And I feel like that's what we're getting here- some kind of self-analysis that is not very interesting to anyone else. This book was a big disappointment to me.