A Book of Silence

Not sure if I'm being asked to review the book, or review the product. As a book, it's a riveting read from a brilliant memoirist detailing the experience of living in silence. Being someone who is lately seeking my own refuge from the constant hum of white noise in a major city, I was drawn to this book, and am being transformed by it. I haven't finished it yet, so a final analysis cannot be made, but I am finding this to be a quite Zen experience.As a product, the hardback book was in good condition, but I was a little disappointed that it didn't come with its cover. As a graphic designer, I'm interested in book covers, and I don't believe the missing cover was mentioned in the product description. But that's a nitpick. I am very much enjoying my purchase.

I could not get into this book. Perhaps people who like the other works by this author rated it highly because they like her writing style and would enjoy everything she writes. Fair enough. But, for me, I was interested in the topic: silence. It seemed there were very, very many words that had nothing to do with silence or lessons learned in silence. It seemed a noisy book. I recommend the book by Anne d. Claire, "Listening. Below the noise." It is brilliant and not religious, though appealing to everyone, religious or not, who longs to embrace silence. For a Christian view I recommend also Ruth H. Barton, "invitation to solitude and silence." It is a great book.

It was thought provoking to me -- I enjoy silence and appreciated reading Ms. Maitland's very thorough investigations of different types of silences and how people throughout the millennia have used them; to what purposes. Sometimes it's a bit thick and I'd find myself having to re-read; it's definitely a combination of first person accounts and scholarly research.

Maitland's odyssey, The Book of Silence, is a story about a discovery of self and God in a world of Silence. From moments on the Isle of Skye, to the Sinai Desert, to the Scottish Hills, Maitland is driven to discover the meaning of silence and the subtle difference that lead either to `self-emptying' like a desert hermit or, to greater self awareness that enables the `creative aspects of self' to emerge as a writer. Ultimately, the path that Maitland travels leads her to a decision to build a hermitage in Galloway on an isolated moor. This book is a must read for anyone who is following a path of silence as a way of life. Maitland's insightful awareness and comments on history and tradition helps the reader to discover aspects of silence that can only help build a balanced life between prayer and work (Ora et Labora). The Book of Silence is a reflective guide to the integration and integrity of both.

A beautiful book on silence, meditations, practices, writings over the ages, and one soul's journey to experience it in remote places.

Good read.Thought-provoking.Very affirming.

This is SO what I needed to read at this point in my life. I also have experienced absolute silence in the desert, it is phenomenal but serene and peaceful :)

Reading the description of this book I had hoped it would reflect silence. But it feels like a very busy clever book about the pursuit of silence. An excellent writer but just not what I had hoped for. It did not feel peaceful to me. If you want to come away feeling like you've experienced silence or quiet, read Mary Oliver's poetry instead.

I'm always interested in the nature of silence, and what others have made of it.In seeking out silence by changing her lifestyle, Sara Maitland travels to a remote house on the Isle of Skye, into the Sinai desert and finally finishes up on a moor in Galloway. At the same time she contemplates the inner silence found by poets and by religious seekers, and mystics of the past, in order to compare it with her own experience.As you might expect, this is a quietly written book, with attention to small details. By reading it, you are encouraged to notice the silences in yourself and pay attention to them. It is for this reason I heartily recommend it.

I thought the isolation here would be interesting but she keeps her mod-cons going - phone and internet, I think (it's a few years since I read this - I'm catching up with some reviews!). For me that means you have 'communication means' beyond writing letters and are not really isolated. It's not off grid. Maitland's family history and 'noise' is interesting, as is her take on hearing voices. But otherwise I was a bit disappointed.

This book chronicles the author and journalist Sara Maitland's journey into deepening silence, and to quite a large degree, distancing herself from the hustle and bustle of `ordinary life'. Sara weaves together her own journey with thoughts and quotes from those who have made this journey before her, especially the desert fathers. In the book we follow Sarah from an extended solitary `retreat' on the Isle of Skye, in her visit to the desert of Sinai, and even to a flotation tank for a taste of `commercialised' silence. I found her writing style warm and relaxed, and I felt that we were sharing, so some extent, in her experiences. This reads in many places like a travelogue, but it is not a travelogue of places in particular, but rather it is a travelogue in her journey into silence and solitariness.Being happily married I can't tread the same solitary and silent path as Sara Maitland. But she does still remind all of us that prayerful silence is not something just for the confessed religious; it is something we can all embrace in different ways in each of our lives.

A 287 page book on silence is anything but silence - Sara likes to think and talk about silence - great book so far - the extremes human souls will go to to pin down the meaning of life. Sara is busy with the joy of her heart.

This is an interesting book following one woman's exploration of the nature of silence.Maitland looks at how silence has been seen and experienced by a variety of different people and groups over time, from the desert fathers to poets and solo adventurers. She then proceeds to explore these different silences for herself, travelling to a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye, the Sinai desert and into the hills of Galloway.This is a well written work, part autobiography, part essay, part travelogue and will be an interesting read for those who appreciate silence and solitude.Those for whom this work is of interest might also be interested in  A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries and Recluses . A Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits, Solitaries and Recluses