dmturner's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely, rambling (in space, time, and topic) elegy to leisure, writing, solitude, and passing time. I enjoyed reading the book, and found many passages intensely quotable. Whenever she speaks to "you," she is talking to her husband, who has died, and I often envied her the intimacy she seemed to share with him (and I am married 43 years myself), but those moments are scattered throughout long narratives of historical characters like the Ladies of Llangollen, Gregor Mendel, and Michel de Montaigne, and visits to their neighborhoods. It ends with a boat trip she took down the river with her partner.
I was ultimately unsatisfied by the book, which at times took digression to improbable heights and asserted equivalences I could not follow, whether because they were too densely rich or because they partook of some correspondence visible only within the author's universe.
I was ultimately unsatisfied by the book, which at times took digression to improbable heights and asserted equivalences I could not follow, whether because they were too densely rich or because they partook of some correspondence visible only within the author's universe.
melanie_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
There are amazing ideas found in this book, especially as it relates to how we spend our time chasing endless to-do lists when one day our spouses and other loves will be gone. However, I thought the connection between the big ideas and Hampl's pilgrimages to various historical sites were somewhat weak. They were interesting but they came off as somewhat vague. What was the purpose? Or maybe that was the purpose and I missed it.
From a craft perspective, how she addresses her late husband throughout the narrative was sheer brilliance.
From a craft perspective, how she addresses her late husband throughout the narrative was sheer brilliance.
brenticus's review against another edition
It's just so slow. It's sort of halfway between a travelogue in which nothing interesting is covered and a set of personal essays in which nothing is really discussed. There's a vague theme of leisure present, but it's the sort of leisure (and the sort of theme) that revels in doing nothing and going nowhere.
And this would all probably be alright if I wasn't reading about it and falling asleep on the regular.
And this would all probably be alright if I wasn't reading about it and falling asleep on the regular.
mrrwmix's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
hrusewif's review
2.0
It's basically just a biography, or maybe a memoir... Perhaps a journal? Honestly I'm not sure what on earth you'd call it, but I feel like it's none of the things you could. Whatever it is, it was boring- and I'd've expected something much better and more interesting from someone with the author's credentials.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't horrible by any means. The author clearly has some skill in writing, and I've certainly read far worse. But the writing style can be summed up (in my opinion) as basically "dry-trying-to-be-a-dreamy-purple"; it was difficult to read, near impossible to focus on for more than two seconds, and the subject matter honestly wasn't all that interesting at all. Absolutely nothing about the book made me want to keep reading.
Regardless, she got at least one thing right: I sure wasted some time in my day. Unfortunately I'd rather have wasted it on something more interesting that didn't have the general vibe of being something predominantly meant for well-to-do white women to read while sipping Mai-Tai's at their country club.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't horrible by any means. The author clearly has some skill in writing, and I've certainly read far worse. But the writing style can be summed up (in my opinion) as basically "dry-trying-to-be-a-dreamy-purple"; it was difficult to read, near impossible to focus on for more than two seconds, and the subject matter honestly wasn't all that interesting at all. Absolutely nothing about the book made me want to keep reading.
Regardless, she got at least one thing right: I sure wasted some time in my day. Unfortunately I'd rather have wasted it on something more interesting that didn't have the general vibe of being something predominantly meant for well-to-do white women to read while sipping Mai-Tai's at their country club.
libkatem's review
4.0
I just really love Hampl, and this was such a gentle book as she grapples with her grief from the loss of her husband.
valeriebrett's review against another edition
I feel it wouldn’t be fair for me to rate this book because it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. I’m actually shocked this is billed as a travel book; really this is a smattering of random writing that doesn’t exactly fit together and also wouldn’t each individually be enough on its own. I don’t really buy that this is a book about solitude; it’s just about whatever the writer wanted to write about. I hated the second-person usage, where the writer wrote to her late husband (“you said...”). There were sentences and paragraphs that were so beautifully-written and thought-provoking that I can appreciate her talent and way of thinking, but overall I was bored & almost stopped reading many times. This is more a personal memoir of writing & losing a spouse, than a travel or history book.