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5th out of 15 books
—
24 voters
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice
The beloved author of Refuge returns with a work that explodes and startles, illuminates and celebrates
Terry Tempest Williams’s mother told her:“I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won’t look at them until after I’m gone.”
Readers of Williams’s iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother.She was one of a large Mormon clan i
Terry Tempest Williams’s mother told her:“I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won’t look at them until after I’m gone.”
Readers of Williams’s iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother.She was one of a large Mormon clan i
224 pages
Published
April 10th 2012
by Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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"Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated."
It's difficult for me to review this book because my response to it is so personal. Every literary interpretation is influenced by the reader's subjectivity, but some books are just too perfectly matched to one's interior to even contemplate objectivity. When I think about When Women Were Birds, I simply don't know how to step outside of my own mind to carve out some critical distance.
To begin with, Terry Tempest Williams (TTW) was defying LDS patriarchal expectations and fighting for her own se...more
To begin with, Terry Tempest Williams (TTW) was defying LDS patriarchal expectations and fighting for her own se...more
I have two years of class and seminar notes from a recent MFA in creative writing. This book comes up approximately twenty times in those notes, but for the first forty pages I really couldn't figure out why. It's a memoir, written in bits. Fifty-four bits. For the first forty pages I wasn't really impressed, or interested. By the last page I'd dog-eared over a dozen pages, copied down a full-page of quotes (in teeny tiny script) into my journal, and gone online to buy a copy for myself -- I rea...more
Apr 21, 2013
Lesley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
death-illness-mourning
Wow.
A daughter spends much of her young life projecting her desires, fears, judgments and aversions onto the seemingly blank slate of her mother's life. It is the life upon which all comparisons must be made. Over time, if the relationship is good, the daughter will come to see and appreciate, maybe pity and despise, the complexity of the mother's life. The death of the mother becomes another opportunity to uncover and create a life you never knew life without, but that you never really knew, ei...more
A daughter spends much of her young life projecting her desires, fears, judgments and aversions onto the seemingly blank slate of her mother's life. It is the life upon which all comparisons must be made. Over time, if the relationship is good, the daughter will come to see and appreciate, maybe pity and despise, the complexity of the mother's life. The death of the mother becomes another opportunity to uncover and create a life you never knew life without, but that you never really knew, ei...more
Before I even started reading the book I was struck by the physical beauty of it (Picador paperback version). The way it felt to hold it in my hands. I wanted to know which bird feather pattern was on the cover. Is it from an owl? A falcon? It's significance is one of the mysteries that still linger for me. Much like the blank pages in the back of the book are a reminder of her mother's journals and all they said by not saying anything. These are things you would miss on an e-reader.
Spoiler aler...more
Terry Tempest Williams is an author, naturalist, and environmental activist with the ability to make connections between the vicissitudes of life and the geographical and natural world around us. I first encountered her in Refuge, which I've read and reread, both before and after my mother's cancer diagnosis, followed by my own in 1992. In addition to that, I was living just a few miles of the Bear River Bird Refuge, which dominates the book.
As a result of reading Refuge, I knew I wanted to read...more
As a result of reading Refuge, I knew I wanted to read...more
Mar 17, 2013
Miz Lizzie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
gender-issues,
memoir,
menopause,
mystery,
religion,
secrets,
southwest,
sovereignty,
spirituality,
storytelling,
truth-telling,
usa,
writing,
families
When her mother died at age 54, she left all her journals to Terry. But when Terry thought to salve her grief by reading them, she discovered that all the journals were blank. Now some 25 years later, when Terry is the age her mother was when she died, she meditates upon these empty journals and what it means to have a voice or to keep silent. These short connected pieces are both deeply personal and universally moving. Themes of shadow, motherhood, creativity, midlife spiral in and out of the w...more
I heard about this book via a podcast my husband listens to and it sounded like just the kind of book I would like: emotionally gripping and compelling. Sadly, that was not my experience. Instead, I had trouble connecting with this book. The author's love of nature and evolving sense of womanhood were interesting, but I found the format disjointed and could never string together enough information to actually feel connected to the author.
When I enjoyed this book the most was when Williams talked...more
When I enjoyed this book the most was when Williams talked...more
I am loving this book. It's a bit of an autobiography, poetically written. The author begins by telling us her mother left her journals for her daughter to read, but asks that she wait until after she's gone. When Terry opens the journals, they are all blank. Every one on three shelves. The author's mother is a Mormon, from Utah, and apparently every good Mormon wife has two duties: to bear children and keep a journal. So this book seeks to uncover the motives behind her keeping them blank, and...more
in ten years, should i still be on the planet, i might begin to get a grip on this book. but even now, i know when i've been told something really really important, and to which attention must be paid.
the author sets out in this book to write about what voice signifies for women, and particularly for women writers. in prose sometimes poetic, sometimes elegaic, sometimes with the rolling cadences of a sermon (a rhetorical form with which i have remarkably little experience, but which can be immen...more
the author sets out in this book to write about what voice signifies for women, and particularly for women writers. in prose sometimes poetic, sometimes elegaic, sometimes with the rolling cadences of a sermon (a rhetorical form with which i have remarkably little experience, but which can be immen...more
This was my favorite book from 2012. My breath was taken away in the earliest pages - which to me were nothing short of prayer - and now much of the book has pages folded over for future reference and sentences, underlined, to put in my own quote collections.
Through Terry Tempest Williams' variations on voice from the gift of her mother's journals, I find my own variations on my own voice as I believe you will find for yours as well.
It is a must read for any writer considering memoir and indeed...more
Through Terry Tempest Williams' variations on voice from the gift of her mother's journals, I find my own variations on my own voice as I believe you will find for yours as well.
It is a must read for any writer considering memoir and indeed...more
This is the most exquisite book I've experienced this year. I say "experienced" because it goes beyond just reading pages. The book is smaller than a typical hardbound book, reminding me of a personal bible or missal. The cover has embossed birds in flight, white on white, and the endpapers are drawn feathers, tier after tier of black-tipped feathers. Just lovely. There is a tiny silhouette of a bird in the margin of each right-facing page; rifle through the pages for the most elegant flip-book....more
Terry Tempest Williams is one of my favorite authors. I have felt a kinship with her since attending a reading on my college campus, and subsequently learning she grew up just inside the Utah border from my home town. Not terribly close, but close enough for me to understand her family culture, history, environmental conditions.
When I finished this book it occurred to me that the Eat, Pray, Love scenario was at work- under any other conditions I likely would not have enjoyed the book, however s...more
When I finished this book it occurred to me that the Eat, Pray, Love scenario was at work- under any other conditions I likely would not have enjoyed the book, however s...more
I love her name: Tempest. It evokes wild nature, and that is her love, as a naturalist, teacher, poet and essayist. When I checked this book out, the librarian gasped. She told me she is from Utah, as is Williams, and she'd participated in a writing workshop Williams led. TTW inspired her deeply. We wanted to go on talking, but a line was waiting. This was the first time in a while that I'd talked books with a passionate librarian.
Williams is from a Mormon family and a (distant?) cousin of Mitt...more
Williams is from a Mormon family and a (distant?) cousin of Mitt...more
What am amazing book. The form of this book is spirals and a seeming chaos of ideas, but what emerges is a deep, textured whole. What is this book about? Mothers, daughters, women, birds, intuition, voice, ecology, silence, wilderness, death and life and growth. As I was listening I felt at first that Terry was picking wildflowers that come together to make a beautiful bouquet, but then i revised this perception; it is more like she is planting a meadow of wildflowers one at a time randomly. Com...more
"My mother left me her journals and all her journals were blank."
I'm sure this quotation is the centerpiece of most reviews of Terry Tempest Williams' own journal/meditation/autobiography. What does this mean: what is this gift, this legacy?
She calls it also "Fifty-four Variations on Voice", and voice, present and missing, is certainly a focus. But thankfully the author rambles. I was especially taken by her thoughts on blankness, negative space in both sight and sound, how absence is its own pr...more
I'm sure this quotation is the centerpiece of most reviews of Terry Tempest Williams' own journal/meditation/autobiography. What does this mean: what is this gift, this legacy?
She calls it also "Fifty-four Variations on Voice", and voice, present and missing, is certainly a focus. But thankfully the author rambles. I was especially taken by her thoughts on blankness, negative space in both sight and sound, how absence is its own pr...more
The great environmentalist author Terry Tempest Williams (REFUGE), here takes on what must be the central enigma/tragedy of both her and her mother's lives.
On her deathbed, Williams' mother bequeathed her journals to her daughter with the stipulation that Williams not look at them till after her mother's death. Williams complied.
"They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful clothbound books... I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. I...more
On her deathbed, Williams' mother bequeathed her journals to her daughter with the stipulation that Williams not look at them till after her mother's death. Williams complied.
"They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful clothbound books... I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. I...more
"To withhold words is power. But to share our words with others, openly and honestly, is also power."
So says Terry Tempest Williams, whose mother withheld words by bequeathing her three shelves of beautiful clothbound books, all of which turn out to be blank. Are her mother's journals paper tombstones are they eloquent witnesses to who she was? And did Mother give her a voice by withholding hers, in life and in death?
Ms. Williams embarks on a journey to trace her own voice's evolution: connectin...more
So says Terry Tempest Williams, whose mother withheld words by bequeathing her three shelves of beautiful clothbound books, all of which turn out to be blank. Are her mother's journals paper tombstones are they eloquent witnesses to who she was? And did Mother give her a voice by withholding hers, in life and in death?
Ms. Williams embarks on a journey to trace her own voice's evolution: connectin...more
Incredibly insightful. Soon to find a spot on my personal bookshelf.
Terry Tempest Williams has a way with words that reaches me.
She is a poet in heart that has written creative non fiction about herself and her mother.
The basic premise of When Women Were Birds is Williams mother leaves her journals to her and requests that she doesn't read them until she dies. Williams respects her mother's request but is surprised to discover every journal is blank. So, the bulk of When Women Were Birds is W...more
Terry Tempest Williams has a way with words that reaches me.
She is a poet in heart that has written creative non fiction about herself and her mother.
The basic premise of When Women Were Birds is Williams mother leaves her journals to her and requests that she doesn't read them until she dies. Williams respects her mother's request but is surprised to discover every journal is blank. So, the bulk of When Women Were Birds is W...more
Up against the voices of Terry Tempest Williams in WHEN WOMEN WERE BIRDS, FIFTY-FOUR VARIATIONS ON VOICE my articulation wants to fly away to somewhere safe. It wants to find a place where it can hide --- maybe like an owl inside a tree. So my words in this review shouldn't be compared to hers. She is a study in voice, in language, in storytelling. Her book is inspirational in the way scripture can be.
There is a nice story arc to WHEN WOMEN WERE BIRDS. It is a hero's journey, although somehow I...more
There is a nice story arc to WHEN WOMEN WERE BIRDS. It is a hero's journey, although somehow I...more
My four days with this book began with a reading by the author. Hearing Terry Tempest Williams' words and the story of her mother's journals in her voice was moving and memorable. Her elegant, warm cadence echoed as I opened the book the morning after her talk to read and reread her insights on voice, women, relationships, loss and love.
I have been estranged from my mother for twenty years; to be nurtured in the vast love and faith of a mother like Williams' is not beyond my comprehension, but i...more
I have been estranged from my mother for twenty years; to be nurtured in the vast love and faith of a mother like Williams' is not beyond my comprehension, but i...more
I have tried to get into this book; really, I have. But there is too much of a creative-writing-class "writing prompt" quality to it that prevents me from becoming engaged: "What would you write if you inherited a bunch of empty journals from your mother? Fill up the first ten pages for the next class."
The make-book style of writing is not my cup of tea. I can't help but imagine the author sticking index cards into Scrivener, writing a bit into each of them while multitasking the rest of her lif...more
The make-book style of writing is not my cup of tea. I can't help but imagine the author sticking index cards into Scrivener, writing a bit into each of them while multitasking the rest of her lif...more
Cinquante-quatre variations, une par année pour l’auteure – pour sa mère aussi, qui n’alla pas plus loin. A sa mort, Diane Dixon Tempest légua à sa fille l’ensemble de ses carnets intimes – un par année, aussi. Terry Tempest Williams en les ouvrant les trouvera tous vierges. Elle interroge ces pages blanches, les écoute, les emplit, les parcourt, en honore le silence par une série de méditations sur le thème de la voix – sa voix, celle de sa mère, celle des femmes cherchant voie et place en ce m...more
Terry Tempest Williams is one of my favorite writers. I've heard her speak in Alaska and her love and advocacy for the wilderness comes across in every book of hers that I've read. When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice is no exception.
After Ms. Williams' mother died at 54, she bequeathed her journals to Terry. When Terry looked at these years of journals, all of them were empty. Being a Mormon, her mother had two distinct obligations as a woman - to bear children and to keep a jo...more
After Ms. Williams' mother died at 54, she bequeathed her journals to Terry. When Terry looked at these years of journals, all of them were empty. Being a Mormon, her mother had two distinct obligations as a woman - to bear children and to keep a jo...more
I had never heard of Terry Tempest Williams until I stumbled upon an interview with her on NPR's To the Best of Our Knowledge. She was reading the first few lines of her latest book, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice, and I was immediately drawn in to her voice and her story.
"...[My mother] was dying in the same way she was living, consciously. `I am leaving you all my journals... but you must promise me that you will not look at them until after I am gone.' I gave her my wor...more
"...[My mother] was dying in the same way she was living, consciously. `I am leaving you all my journals... but you must promise me that you will not look at them until after I am gone.' I gave her my wor...more
Feb 03, 2013
Tricia Rosetty
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
recommended-by-friends,
feminism-and-gender
The pun is ripe for the taking: I flew through this book. I was excited about it when it was described as beautifully written by a member of my feminist book club and yet surprised to find myself gobbling it up. It's a really wonderful mixture of art and biography blended together in a thought-provoking way. Her style almost reminds me of Gertrude Stein, though much more intelligible—I mean the resemblance is there to me in the way that you *feel* her language. The whole book aches for meaning,...more
"When Women Were Birds" is one of those books that simultaneously makes the reader long to be a writer and realize just what a poor excuse she is. So it's in my own best interest to keep this short.
In this book, Terry Tempest Williams ponders a mystery. When Williams' mother was dying, she left her her journals, but made her daughter promise not to read them until she was gone. But when Williams retrieved the journals, they were all blank.
The mystery is deep, and ultimately, unsolvable. But Will...more
In this book, Terry Tempest Williams ponders a mystery. When Williams' mother was dying, she left her her journals, but made her daughter promise not to read them until she was gone. But when Williams retrieved the journals, they were all blank.
The mystery is deep, and ultimately, unsolvable. But Will...more
Mormon women are expected to maintain, and eventually gift over to their daughters, journals filled with entries about families, marriages, everyday life and with letters and clippings. But Terry Tempest Williams' mother did an odd thing: she left Terry three shelves of empty journals. In this recent book, Terry, now 54 years old and the same age her mother was when she died, relays how her mother's blank journals have shaped her understanding of herself and her relationships with others, with t...more
Close to Refuge at the top of the Terry Tempest Williams list. Shortly before she died, Williams' mother (a descendent of the Romney family we've been hearing so much about), gave TTW three shelves of journals, covering thirty years. When Williams opens them after her mother's death, she finds they're blank. This book mines the silence. Incorporating pieces of previously published essays, strengthened by the new context, TTW sounds the themes which define her previous work: the western landscape...more
I feel guilty about giving this book only three stars--and even straining a bit for that many. Why "guilty"? First, I am a great fan of Williams' first book "Refuge." Second, I share her background and much that she says about Mormon culture resonates with me at the deepest level. Third, I sympathize with her environmentalism, particularly when it concerns the deserts of the American West, and appreciate her efforts to save the Utah wilderness. And finally, the premise of a Mormon mother leaving...more
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Terry Tempest Williams is an American author, conservationist and activist. Williams’ writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah in which she was raised. Her work ranges from issues of ecology and wilderness preservation, to women's health, to exploring our relationship to culture and nature.
She has testified before Congres...more
More about Terry Tempest Williams...
She has testified before Congres...more
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“Word by word, the language of women so often begins with a whisper.”
—
12 people liked it
“Now, in a shift of light, the shadows of birds are more pronounced on the gallery’s white wall. The shadow of each bird is speaking to me. Each shadow doubles the velocity, ferocity of forms. The shadow, my shadow now merges with theirs. Descension. Ascension. The velocity of wings creates the whisper to awaken….
I want to feel both the beauty and the pain of the age we are living in. I want to survive my life without becoming numb. I want to speak and comprehend words of wounding without having these words become the landscape where I dwell. I want to possess a light touch that can elevate darkness to the realm of stars.”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
I want to feel both the beauty and the pain of the age we are living in. I want to survive my life without becoming numb. I want to speak and comprehend words of wounding without having these words become the landscape where I dwell. I want to possess a light touch that can elevate darkness to the realm of stars.”
Jan 05, 2013 09:31am