Books for Prep | |
 - Loved it!Another wonderful book by Joan Anderson. For all of us women in search of the next step in our jouney of life, thank you. Rating:  - Not what I hoped forDisappointing, to say the least. It read like a summary of her first books. I only finished it because I was on a 10 hour flight. Rating:  - Promise UnfulfilledI came to The Second Journey with hope that I would gain insight into my own life. I was disappointed in the book. Normally I would not write a negative review of a book that is obviously treasured by many readers, but I feel The Second Journey has serious flaws that need to be expressed, considered by others, and perhaps addressed by Joan Anderson in future books. Here are my concerns: 1. Escape, rather than integration: The book considers the difficulty of sustaining insights gained in tranquility--such as during the author's Year by the Sea--but The Second Journey veers away from confronting that reality. Anderson's weeks on Iona become a new opportunity to escape from life's ordinary demands. 2. Summary, rather than insight: I enjoyed reading about Iona, yet I didn't find sufficient insight into why the experience was so profound for the author. I more or less had to take her word for it. I would have liked more searching, more wrestling with the factors that struck her so deeply. Then I would have liked to understand what from the experience she has been able to take back with her into her daily routine. Again, I had to take her word for it that she has changed; I wasn't given enough information to understand the nature of that change. 3. Circumstances, rather than solutions: Two of the problems that Anderson does confront--reducing the number of speaking engagements and meeting her mother's needs while also meeting her own--more or less solve themselves, albeit with her resolve to accept fewer appearance requests. Many of us are unable to turn down significant parts of our work. 4. Lack of respect for age, rather than appreciation for all stages of life: I reject the idea (suggested in The Second Journey and more directly stated in a Borders Advice for Living video) that her mother has had her chance for life but it's now Anderson's turn. I believe that whatever solutions we find for our own struggles, they can't be based on deciding someone else's life doesn't count as much as ours does. Rating: - Clearly CaptivatingYet another tremendous book ! Tremendous peace, (yes some tears) and working through my own stuff... Look forward to her next sharings. Rating:  - Expected More...As always, Joan is open & honest. Her writing is vivid. I had just hoped she would have been farther along her spiritual journey by now. Sadly, she sounds lost. In association with Amazon.com | |