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Summary: A very beautiful but eerie story
Review: Being raised Catholic all my life; I alway had a curiousity about nuns and how lived behind closed door. Especially the secluded Carmelite nun. Lying Awake helps break my curiousity and gives me somewhat of an idea of how they live and how they feel about the outside. The character Sister John has found true closer of her torrid by finding peace with the within the walls of the convents. And I feel that the pain she suffers only come for her strong devotion for God and the Catholic Church.
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Summary: Neither Miracles nor Mysticism
Review: Like most things of value, faith does not come easily. And where it does exist it is seldom found without its fellow traveler, doubt. Yet somehow most of us think that the paragons of faith -- including saints, ascetics, and those modern anomalies, cloistered religious orders -- have come to peace with the demons of doubt. In Lying Awake, Mark Salzman suggests otherwise.This short, elegant novel set in a monastery in Los Angeles presents us with the crisis of faith faced by Sister John, an otherwise unextraordinary nun who, in early middle age, is suddenly blessed with a gift of divine insight. After struggling for years with a nagging crisis of faith, she quite unexpectedly begins experiencing bursts of insight during which she writes religious poetry of such depth and clarity that she becomes a minor phenomenon in the Catholic Church. Alarmingly, these moments of revelation are followed by severe migraines and occasional blackouts. As it turns out, Sister John has a neurological condition that, it is speculated, also afflicted such visionaries as Dostoevsky and St. Theresa of Avila. So what does she do? Does she consent to the operation that might save her life but end her visions? Or does she embrace the divine gift that helped her rise above her doubt? Well, I'm not going to spill the beans -- read the book and find out! Salzman performs a minor miracle of his own in writing this book. Imagine if you will a novel set in a nunnery that seeks neither to romanticize nor to scandalize. Moreover, I found myself wondering how a non-religious, and a man at that, could have written such a compelling and seemingly realistic book about a world that he couldn't possibly have experienced. My only complaint is that Salzman gives us no substantial exmaples of Sister John's divinely inspired (or delusional) poetry. But, then again, that might have been the greatest challenge of the whole enterprise for Salzman. After all, it's one thing to assert that a character is blessed with an extraordinary gift and another to show us that gift. If the sampling the author provides falls short of the mark the character's credibility might be shot. This is a beautiful, painstakingly crafted novel that bespeaks wisdom and humility. Salzman respects his characters and respects our intelligence by making the story believable, by avoiding the mystical and the lurid, and by reminding us that we all have the capacity for faith, but should not expect that having made that proverbial leap that our struggle will be over.
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Summary: Good things come in small packages
Review: There are few books I will read twice, including books that I really enjoyed and touched me. "Lying Awake" is a book that I will likely read several times. Most of us are on some type of spiritual journey, whether we are devout Christians, Muslims, Jews or even atheists. We are all trying to understand our vision of life and its meaning or lack of meaning. "Lying Awake" is about that journey and how one person (who just happens to be a Carmelite Nun)trys to understand her vision and experience. Regardless of whether you are religious or not, I think you will be touched by this book. Mark Salzman's writing is at the top of his game. No words are wasted and no more words are needed to tell this story. He explores a subject that many of us explore on a daily or regular basis...why am I here...is there god...can I trust my vision of reality and spirituality. While I enjoy a good DeMille or Grisham or Baldacci from time to time, those are the starters while "Lying Awake" is the main course.
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Summary: Brilliant - Could not put it down
Review: I can't remember the last time I bought a work of modern fiction, let alone the hardback version of same. But after reading the ... profile .. of the author and the book, I couldn't wait for the paperback edition. I felt that I had to buy it. I was not disappointed. Although I am neither Catholic, nor particularly religious, the dilemma is so fundamentally philosophical and so simply and beautifully presented, I was captured from the first page. I cannot recommend this book too highly. Read it, savor it.
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Summary: For more about temporal lobe epilepsy...
Review: The brain disorder at the center of Salzman's fascinating novel is temporal lobe epilepsy, which is also the subject of my new nonfiction paperback, SEIZED: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy as a Medical, Historical, and Artistic Phenomenon. Available at your local or internet bookstore, SEIZED describes the many artists, writers, and religious thinkers who were diagnosed with or suspected of having temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), including Saint Paul, van Gogh, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Lewis Carroll, and Edward Lear. SEIZED also narrates the lives of ordinary people with TLE, and the many treatments for the disorder, including brain surgery. It's a "major study," according to Publishers Weekly: "The implications for psychiatry are staggering." Library Journal wrote, in a starred review: "Highly recommended." Although TLE is quite common, affecting more than one million Americans today, this disorder is little known among the public because of its links with personality change and psychiatric disease, which have made the Epilepsy Foundation of America hesitant to publicize it. As a result, many patients with TLE lacked basic information about their disorder -- until the publication of SEIZED. "This is the book I needed to read -- profound, brilliant, and a great comfort to me," says a person with TLE in California. From Mississippi, a person with TLE writes, "I felt a deep sense of relief after reading Seized. Now I don't have that feeling of being alone any more." And from Missouri: "Once I started reading SEIZED I couldn't put it down. It was like seeing myself, everything explained so clearly. None of my doctors had explained my disorder to me this way. I feel so much better knowing that I'm not the only person having these experiences..."
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Summary: A sky full of starlight in this thimble of a book!
Review: I heard Mr. Salzman on NPR talking about this book one day last week on my drive in to work. I thought to myself, "A disease with the side effect of ecstatic visions then prolific writing? Surely this can't be true?!" As soon as I got up on Saturday morning, I headed to the library to see if they had this book in. As luck would have it, there it sat on the new book shelf right inside the front door. I read this book straight through in one sitting just like Anne Lamott did which she relates in her blurb on the back cover. I also plan to read it again today, much more slowly and contemplatively. What blew me away was the spiritual depth of the book, the slow, painful dawning of enlightenment (much like watching a magnificent sunrise that takes the silent landscape from total blackness to a sparkling kaleidoscope of color and birdsong), that Sister John experiences. The clincher for me was that I heard the author relate that he is not a spiritual person. Well, Mr. Salzman, whether you know it or not, you ARE a spiritual being (as we all are) and God has used you to pour another little pitcherful of light into this dark, thirsty world. And I thank you!
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Summary: As they say..................
Review: "God works in mysterious ways" as they say, but not in this case, there is no mystery at all. Mark Salzman has been gifted with the ability to be able to write beautiful stories that are a joy to read and always insightful and socially relevant. If you have read his other two novels, "The Laughing Sutra & The Soloist, plus "Iron & Silk", his account of two years in China, and his memoir "Lost in Place" you'll know what I mean. This time he presents us with a wonderful story about the life of Sister John of the Cross serving God in a Carmelite monastery outside present-day Los Angeles. When she experiences visions that are accompanied by migraine headaches, a doctor feels they may be dangerous, and this is when she must make a devastating choice. Are her spiritual gifts just symptoms of illness rather than visions of divine grace, and will a cure mean she will lose her visions and become just a lost soul again searching? The day to day religious life of these sisters is brought to life in such heart-felt detail and accuracy. You actually feel you are a part of Sister John's life, hoping and praying for her in her struggles. This may be a short read but when you are done you'll feel you experienced a lifetime of existence with these wonderful nuns. I think everyone can enjoy this wonderful book whether you are religious or not. I certainly did. I always look forward to Mark Salzman's next book, I haven't been disappointed yet. Its like a small miracle.
Rating: 
Summary: I was disappointed
Review: As one who experiences the same medical condition born by the main character, I felt Salzman's portrayal of it to be flat and lackluster. He almost got there a few times, but though his description of the symptoms experienced by the nun were factually accurate, I don't think he captured or transmitted the "feeling" of what it's really like to live with temporal lobe epilepsy, nor the emotional impact. Mark, I wish you would have talked to more people with TLE...
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Summary: A Book Reading by Mark Salzman at Univ. of Oregon
Review: Mark Salzman came to the Univ. of Oregon to give a "reading" of his new book "Laying Awake." I first knew of Salzman when I saw his film "Iron & Silk." He based this film on his book "Iron and Silk." I know you want the lowdown on his current book but I must tell you about his "reading." He read nothing from his book! Instead he talked about how BORING these "readings" from authors can be and from that point on he was brilliant! Mark is a kick-in-the-pants type guy and instead of reading from his book he talked about the process he went through writing "Lying Awake." And it was hilarious! He talked for a much too short of time but with such wit , humor, and humbleness the time flew. Mark's initial idea for "Lying Awake" came from reading something from Oliver Sacks. From one of Sack's articles he got an idea of an unusual neurological condition. He places this kind of condition with a person especially sensitive --a nun-- who has to deal with the meaning of her experience through several layers: physicial, spritual, emotional,writing skill. There are a lot of considerations for this person. And really, when you think of it many of those same considerations affect each of us as well. A thoughtful book. But rent Mark Salzman's movie Iron & Silk from your local video store specializing in Art Films. The book was pretty good but Mark Salzman plays himself in the film and he is fabulous!
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Summary: This is why we read books
Review: A wonderful thoughtful book -- I read it and felt like I was discovering a small treasure. The other reviewers have said what I wanted to say but more eloquently, and I think the range of reviewers speaks to how universally appealing and enjoyable this book is. The writing is beautiful, and rings true and deep. I'm not religious and somehow this story of faith and grace is personal to me. This book kept me up for two late nights, and thinking for weeks.
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