Mark salzmans lying awake is a finely wrought gem that plumbs the depths of one womans soul, and in so doing raises salient questions about the powerand priceof faith. The book was praised upon publication for exploring the boundaries of faith and for its depiction of life in a cloistered monastery. Review lying awake by mark salzman january magazine. Lying awake by mark salzman is a beautiful portrait of faith. Mark salzman, author, stephanie shieldhouse, illustrator alfred a. See all books authored by mark salzman, including true notebooks. Once salzman realized what made him similar to sister johnhis faith in writing, which often verges on the sacrificial and. This is the setup of mark salzmans deceptively simple new novel, lying awake, which examines both the cloistered life on a daily basis and the nature of religious devotion. She is diagnosed with a small brain tumor in her temporal lobe, easily operable, that is causing her to have localized epilepsy that is most likely the cause of her visions. This is the dilemma at the heart of mark salzmans spare, astonishing novel. Mark salzmans lying awake is a finely wrought gem that plumbs the depths of one womans soul, and in so doing raises salient questions about the powerand. Her life and writings have become examples of devotion. Lying awake mark salzmans lying awake is a finely wrought gem that plumbs the depths of one womans soul, and in so doing raises salient questions about the powerand priceof faith. Later in the book, sister john compares the hospital to her monastery and imagines how a doctor might characterize the cloistered life p.
Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. A novel vintage contemporaries kindle edition by salzman, mark. Salzman grew up in ridgefield, connecticut, the oldest child of a piano teacher mother and a social worker. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Lying awake has 6 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Lying awake is a work of religious fiction by mark salzman. Sister john of the cross believes the visions and headaches she has been having are divine ecstasies but a medical diagnosis reveals she has epilepsy due to a small growth on her brain. Sister johns cloistered life of peace and prayer has been electrified by.
For almost 30 years she has lived in a carmelite monastery near. New mark salzman book host rene montagne talks with author mark salzman about his new book lying awake. Yaleeducated houdini, mark salzman has made a career of locking. How does the language and style of lying awake differ from most contemporary writing. Listeners around the world have praised the beauty and originality of this novel.
Goodreads this book languished on my bookshelf for several years before i finally got around to reading it. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Mark salzmans book lying awake won critical acclaim upon publication in 2000. Lying awake by mark salzman reading guidebook club. Mark salzman books list of books by author mark salzman. Salon magazine marveled that a successful agnostic at home amidst the cultural elite could write a book like lying awake, especially after struggling for six laborintensive years to craft it. In what ways do the words of nuns prayers and sister johns own poetry enhance the narrative. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. Lying awake by mark salzman vantage contemporaries, vantage books, division of random house, inc. Such a dilemma is the focus of mark salzmans fascinating new novel lying awake. Lying awake by mark salzman 2001, paperback, reprint at the best online.
Sister johns cloistered life of peace and prayer has been electrified by ever more frequent visions of gods. Lying awake is a novel of remarkable empathy and imagination, and mark salzmans most provocative work to date. Lying awake is a novel of remarkable empathy and imagination, and mark. Instead of bringing modern medicine to the 19th century or. Johns ecstasy,accompanied by a lying awake mark salzman desire to write volumes of religion,after the painful attack subsides. Mark salzmans lying awake is the story of one womans test of faith. Lying awake by mark salzman book cover, description, publication history. It makes quite a contrast with the gentle tone of salzmans memoir about teaching in china iron and silk, 1986, having more in common with the howisurvivedinatoughclassroom accounts of george dennison and jonathan kozol. Home to sister john of the cross, its the peaceful sanctuary from a troubled life, the sacred place where shes written several bestselling inspirational books, books whose income provide support for the. Tells about his new short novel, lying awake, which describes the travails of a nun whose tumor is. I have often explored these questions with thoughtful friends, which seem to arise more frequently as we age and experience life. Readers around the world praise the beauty and originality of this novel.
Its heroine is sister john of the cross, formerly helen nye, of steubenville, ohio, abandoned by her alcoholic mother, raised by her grandparents, and deeply influenced as an adolescent by a charismatic nunteacher. In his brief, spare psalm of a novel, mark salzman probes the mind and heart of a christian mystic with delicacy, compassion and insight. Is her description an accurate reflection of how most people would regard a celibate life devoted to prayer and contemplation. Mark salzman after a year in a car with a towel around his head, the author of lying awake finds that religion and art arent so dissimilar. Sister johns cloistered life of peace and prayer has been electrified by ever more frequent visions of gods radiance, leading her toward a deep religious ecstasy.
Lying awake by mark salzman, stephanie shieldhouse. Sister john of the cross pushed her blanket aside, dropped to her knees on the floor of her cell, and offered the day to god. What details of daily life in the monastery help to establish the themes salzman is exploring. Normally, im suspicious of such claims so often the stuff of promotional hyperbole and yet, in this case, they are telling. Lying awake study guide contains a biography of mark salzman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Mark salzman is an awardwinning novelist and nonfiction author who has written on a variety of subjects, from a graceful novel about a carmelite nuns ecstatic visions and crisis of faith to a compelling memoir about growing up a misfit in a connecticut suburb clearly. Lying awake book by mark salzman 6 available editions. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading lying awake. Though lying awake is the kind of book that can easily be read in a couple of hours, its impact reverberates like the tolling of chimes long after the final.
A writers year at juvenile hall, and lying awake, and more on. First published in 2000, it centers around a nun who finds out that her revelations and ecstatic visions are caused by a tumor, not gods grace. She has given most of her life to the service of god, and she has been gifted with wonderful, ecstatic visions. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Lying awake npr coverage of lying awake by mark salzman. The book is organized around the liturgical calendar and rich in aaake symbolism, which is whyeven though it can be read quicklyit is best appreciated at leisure. Mysticism meets modern medicine in this intriguing r cit of a nuns dark night of the soul.