Journal of a Solitude

Journal of a Solitude PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497646332
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Get Book

Book Description
The poet and author’s “beautiful . . . wise and warm” journal of time spent in her New Hampshire home alone with her garden, her books, the seasons, and herself (Eugenia Thornton, Cleveland Plain Dealer). “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.” —May Sarton May Sarton’s parrot chatters away as Sarton looks out the window at the rain and contemplates returning to her “real” life—not friends, not even love, but writing. In her bravest and most revealing memoir, Sarton casts her keenly observant eye on both the interior and exterior worlds. She shares insights about everyday life in the quiet New Hampshire village of Nelson, the desire for friends, and need for solitude—both an exhilarating and terrifying state. She likens writing to “cracking open the inner world again,” which sometimes plunges her into depression. She confesses her fears, her disappointments, her unresolved angers. Sarton’s garden is her great, abiding joy, sustaining her through seasons of psychic and emotional pain. Journal of a Solitude is a moving and profound meditation on creativity, oneness with nature, and the courage it takes to be alone. Both uplifting and cathartic, it sweeps us along on Sarton’s pilgrimage inward. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

Journal of a Solitude

Journal of a Solitude PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497646332
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Get Book

Book Description
The poet and author’s “beautiful . . . wise and warm” journal of time spent in her New Hampshire home alone with her garden, her books, the seasons, and herself (Eugenia Thornton, Cleveland Plain Dealer). “Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self.” —May Sarton May Sarton’s parrot chatters away as Sarton looks out the window at the rain and contemplates returning to her “real” life—not friends, not even love, but writing. In her bravest and most revealing memoir, Sarton casts her keenly observant eye on both the interior and exterior worlds. She shares insights about everyday life in the quiet New Hampshire village of Nelson, the desire for friends, and need for solitude—both an exhilarating and terrifying state. She likens writing to “cracking open the inner world again,” which sometimes plunges her into depression. She confesses her fears, her disappointments, her unresolved angers. Sarton’s garden is her great, abiding joy, sustaining her through seasons of psychic and emotional pain. Journal of a Solitude is a moving and profound meditation on creativity, oneness with nature, and the courage it takes to be alone. Both uplifting and cathartic, it sweeps us along on Sarton’s pilgrimage inward. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

Journal of a Solitude

Journal of a Solitude PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393309287
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Get Book

Book Description
The modern American author describes everyday experiences and conveys her feelings of frustration and anger over her attempts to write in solitude.

Journal of a Solitude

Journal of a Solitude PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0393309282
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
In this, her bestselling journal, May Sarton writes with keen observation and emotional courage of both inner and outer worlds: a garden, the seasons, daily life in New Hampshire, books, people, ideas—and throughout everything, her spiritual and artistic journey. "I am here alone for the first time in weeks," May Sarton begins this book, "to take up my 'real' life again at last. That is what is strange—that friends, even passionate love,are not my real life, unless there is time alone in which to explore what is happening or what has happened." In this journal, she says, "I hope to break through into the rough, rocky depths,to the matrix itself. There is violence there and anger never resolved. My need to be alone is balanced against my fear of what will happen when suddenly I enter the huge empty silence if I cannot find support there." In this book, we are closer to the marrow than ever before in May Sarton's writing.

Plant Dreaming Deep

Plant Dreaming Deep PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497646324
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 134

Get Book

Book Description
The author’s tribute to the 18th-century New England farmhouse she called home: “[A] tender and often poignant book by a woman of many insights” (The New York Times Book Review). In Plant Dreaming Deep, Sarton shares an intensely personal account of transforming a house into a home. She begins with an introduction to the enchanting village of Nelson, where she first meets her house. Sarton finds she must “dream the house alive” inside herself before taking the major step of signing the deed. She paints the walls white in order to catch the light and searches for the precise shade of yellow for the kitchen floor. She discovers peace and beauty in solitude, whether she is toiling in the garden or writing at her desk. This is a loving, beautifully crafted memoir illuminated by themes of friendship, love, nature, and the struggles of the creative life. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

At Seventy

At Seventy PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497685443
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
Winner of the American Book Award: May Sarton’s honest and engrossing journal of her seventieth year, spent living and working on the Maine coast. May Sarton’s journals are a captivating look at a rich artistic life. In this, her ode to aging, she savors the daily pleasures of tending to her garden, caring for her dogs, and entertaining guests at her beloved Maine home by the sea. Her reminiscences are raw, and her observations are infused with the poetic candor for which Sarton—over the course of her decades-long career—became known. An enlightening glimpse into a time—the early 1980s—and an age, At Seventy is at once specific and universal, providing a unique window into septuagenarian life that readers of all generations will enjoy. At times mournful and at others hopeful, this is a beautiful memoir of the year in which Sarton, looking back on it all, could proclaim, “I am more myself than I have ever been.”

At Eighty-Two

At Eighty-Two PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497646367
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Get Book

Book Description
The New York Times–bestselling author of At Seventy returns with a memoir about advancing age, including her experience with a series of strokes. In this poignant and fearless account, Sarton chronicles the struggles of life at eighty-two. She juxtaposes the quotidian details of life—battling a leaky roof, sharing an afternoon nap with her cat, the joy of buying a new mattress—with lyrical musings about work, celebrity, devoted friends, and the limitations wrought by the frailties of age. She creates poetry out of everyday existence, whether bemoaning a lack of recognition by the literary establishment or the devastation wrought by a series of strokes. Incapacitated by illness, Sarton relies on friends for the little things she always took for granted. As she becomes more and more aware of “what holds life together in a workable whole,” she takes solace in flowers and chocolate and reading letters from devoted fans. This journal takes us into the heart and mind of an extraordinary artist and woman, and is a must-read for Sarton devotees and anyone facing the reality of growing older. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing

Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497646251
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 143

Get Book

Book Description
Sarton’s most important novel tells the story of a poet in her seventies, whose life is retold episodically during an interview with two writers from a literary magazine Hilary Stevens’s prolific career includes a provocative novel that shot her into the public consciousness years ago, and an oeuvre of poetry that more recently has consigned her to near-obscurity. Now in the twilight of her life, Hilary, who is both a feminist and a lesbian, is receiving renewed attention for an upcoming collection of poems, one that has brought two young reporters to her Cape Cod home. As Hilary prepares for the conversation, she recalls formative moments both large and small. She then embarks on the interview itself—a witty and intelligent discussion of her life, work, and romantic relationships with men and women. After the journalists have left, Hilary helps a visiting male friend with his anxiety over being gay and imparts wisdom about channeling his own creative passions. This ebook features an extended biography of May Sarton.

The Journals of May Sarton Volume One

The Journals of May Sarton Volume One PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504047508
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 499

Get Book

Book Description
Now in one volume: Three exquisite meditations on nature, healing, and the pleasures of the solitary life from a New York Times–bestselling author. In a long life spent recording her personal observations, poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton redefined the journal as a literary form. This extraordinary volume collects three of her most beloved works. Journal of a Solitude: Sarton’s bestselling memoir chronicles a solitary year spent at the house she bought and renovated in the quiet village of Nelson, New Hampshire. Her revealing insights are a moving and profound reflection on creativity, oneness with nature, and the courage it takes to be alone. Plant Dreaming Deep: Sarton’s intensely personal account of how she transformed a dilapidated eighteenth-century farmhouse into a home is a loving, beautifully crafted memoir illuminated by themes of friendship, love, nature, and the struggles of the creative life. Recovering: In this affecting diary of one year’s hardships and healing, Sarton focuses on her sixty-sixth year, which was marked by the turmoil of a mastectomy, the end of a treasured relationship, and the loneliness that visits a life of chosen solitude. By turns uplifting, cathartic, and revelatory, Sarton’s journals still strike a chord in the hearts of contemporary readers. Through them, in the words of the Los Angeles Times, “we are able to see our own experiences reflected in hers and we are enriched.”

True Nature

True Nature PDF Author: Barbara Bash
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781934608319
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
In this colorful journal, writer-illustrator Barbara Bash has re-created her chronicles of meditation and contemplative wandering during a series of solitary country retreats. Combining beautifully hand-calligraphed journal notes with watercolor-and-pencil drawings, she captures exquisite moments of magic in the natural environment: a dragonfly's brief pause, a surprised deer in tall grass, a lumbering skunk's visit, the woods at twilight. Nature lovers, gardeners, and anyone who enjoys solitary country walks will recognize in Barbara a kindred spirit and will find hours of pleasure in these pages.

Endgame

Endgame PDF Author: May Sarton
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504017943
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Get Book

Book Description
“A testament to the joys of nature from a courageous and loving woman . . . her cats, birds, garden and visitors keep her ecstatically anchored in life” (Publishers Weekly). “I always imagined a journal that would take me through my seventy-ninth year,” May Sarton writes, “the doors opening out from old age to unknown efforts and surprises.” Instead of musing calmly on the philosophical implications of aging, the writer found herself spending most of her energy battling for her health. Coping with constant pain and increasing frailty, Sarton fears that the end is not far off. The story of what she calls the “last laps of a long-distance runner,” this yearlong journal addresses such familiar Sarton topics as her beloved garden, the harshness of Maine winters, and the friendships and intimate relationships that have nurtured and sustained her. She settles some old literary scores and paints a generous portrait of Virginia Woolf, who often shared tea with Sarton during the late 1930s. When illness saps Sarton’s ability to type, she dictates into recorders and has the tapes transcribed by devoted assistants. In spite of the loss of independence and the fear that she will never fully recover, she does her best to soldier on, taking pleasure in small things like a good meal; her cat, Pierrot, who loves the rain; and being able to sleep through the night. An enduring inspiration to millions of women, Sarton even finds the courage to achieve again.