A review by chrislatray
The Art of Solitude by Stephen Batchelor

3.0

I enjoyed parts of this book—the "collage" assembly of it, for example—and highlighted several passages. Overall it was a bit of a disappointment, though. I don't know how much it brings to my own reflections on solitude. The sections featuring Montaigne became tedious to me; I don't make much of the guy's conclusions regardless of the amount of time he spent formulating them (maybe I'm just not smart enough to "get" these old philosophers anyway). The chapters featuring Batchelor's experiments with ayahuasca were interesting but didn't seem to add to the conversation around solitude either, and served only as a guarantee that I don't think I ever want to try the stuff (not to mention the issues I have with the cultural appropriations and descriptions of such ceremonial practices, which is a different conversation).

I accept that there is more here that I am missing, so I'll likely revisit at least parts of it. Batchelor is a good writer. He's smart and honest and self-aware. I appreciate that, and ultimately appreciate this book more than I don't.