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17th out of 68 books
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61 voters
The Summer of the Great-Grandmother (Crosswicks Journals #2)
"Anyone who has dealt with, or will soon deal with, the death of a parent will find some solace, understanding, and companionship in this perceptive book, which is, in the end, more about living than about dying".--The Washington Post.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
January 1st 1984
by HarperOne
(first published 1974)
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I found this to be an easier read than A Circle of Quiet. In it we learn about L'Engle's childhood, about her mother's early years, and about her mother's family. It is really quite interesting. All of this is recorded in a contemplative style. The book is set during L'Engle's final summer with her mother, and it is obviously a bit sad at times, but never overly sentimental.
Quotes I liked:
"There is little character or loveliness in the face of someone who has avoided suffering, shunned risk, re...more
Quotes I liked:
"There is little character or loveliness in the face of someone who has avoided suffering, shunned risk, re...more
It is books like The Summer of the Great-Grandmother that help me to remember my passion for touching the past. Books like this that capture a bit of the wonder that I literally teeter on the edge of as I sit and listen to my own Grandmothers tell of their lives. With each of my four Grandmothers, I have talked & listened at great length. Two have now died. One, I have had the distinct pleasure of helping to finish her own memoirs. The fourth, I long to know better. I can relate to author Ma...more
This is one of the first books I've read in a while that has let me cry - written beautifully, conveying emotions honestly and truthfully. I love L'Engle's autobiographical works. They make me feel a little bit "normal", and inspire me remarkably - to write, to read, even to do my homework!
The second of Madeleine L'Engle's Crosswicks memoirs tells the story of her last summer with her mother, who is dying of what she calls atherosclerosis, but sounds like Alzheimer's. (It was the 70s - I'm not sure how much they knew about Alzheimer's then.) To combat her mother's loss of memory and awareness, L'Engle recounts her own memories of her mother and what she knows about her early life and family background. In between the flashbacks, she reflects on her struggle to deal with her mother...more
I liked reading about L'Engle's family history and hearing about how she related to her family members-especially her mother. I felt there was a lot of autobiographical wisdom in the book on the part of the author but with one caveat that took away from the gracious tone of the book: L'Engle held an apparent condescension towards others who did not share her particular ideas about certain aspects of spirituality. For me, introducing those aspects seemed out of place in the scheme of the novel be...more
This book is the 2nd in a 4 or 5 part series. I only read this one for book group. I might have benefited by reading the first, only because my biggest complaint about the book is that the author refers to people at times and expects you to know who she is talking about. I am going to assume she introduces those people to us in the first book. Other than that, I think it is a fairly good stand alone book.
The book deals with the real life feelings and struggles of watching a parent enter a secon...more
The book deals with the real life feelings and struggles of watching a parent enter a secon...more
"Mado died a year before I was born, and yet I feel that I have always known her, the stories about her are so vivid. I have never heard her name mentioned by anybody in our enormous Southern clan without its evoking a smile. There have been several Montague - Capulet schisms in my mother's family, but I have never heard an unloving word about Mado."
Part memoir, part remembrance and entirely a story. About her childhood and her relationship with her parents. About how she viewed her parents and...more
Part memoir, part remembrance and entirely a story. About her childhood and her relationship with her parents. About how she viewed her parents and...more
I think I've read this three or four times. I know I read it around Easter in 1993, and it wasn't new to me then.
I re-read it last when my grandmother was dying, and I finished it on the plane coming home from her funeral. There are times when you need an old familiar book, when you know what it has to say to you is exactly right. This was one of those times.
Not only does Madeleine discuss the rapid deterioration of her mother (who was ill with senility due to atherosclerosis -- some similaritie...more
I re-read it last when my grandmother was dying, and I finished it on the plane coming home from her funeral. There are times when you need an old familiar book, when you know what it has to say to you is exactly right. This was one of those times.
Not only does Madeleine discuss the rapid deterioration of her mother (who was ill with senility due to atherosclerosis -- some similaritie...more
Aug 03, 2011
Meghan
added it
Touching memoir about the decisions made about the elderly great-grandmother (Madeleine's mother) and the interesting histories of her family. Thoughtful representation of the progression of disease and dementia and how it affects a family and one personally. Her analogy of the sea as one's mind, with her mother burying deeper into the sea while coming less and less above the surface, was a particularly compelling image for me.
I read this book long before my mother or my mother-in-law were living in their last couple of years. And my mind would race back to comments Madeleine L'Engle would write. Madeleine L'Engle brings her mother to stay the summer at her home and watches her age rapidly mentally and physically. LShe discusses her feelings as to aging parents -- reminessences of childhood and family history. Her mother dies at the end of that summer.
After reading, and enjoying the first of the Crosswicks Journals, 'A Circle of Quiet', I was pleased to be able to borrow the second of them from a friend. This is the story of the summer when Madeleine L'Engle's mother was in the last stages of Alzheimer's disease, frail and forgetful, yet still an important member of the family.
The book consists of reflections about the past, anecdotes from the author's childhood, stories she had heard about her mother and her own grandparents and many other r...more
The book consists of reflections about the past, anecdotes from the author's childhood, stories she had heard about her mother and her own grandparents and many other r...more
There is something about Madeleine L'Engle that makes me want to sit down and write!!
She writes of the summer that she watches her mother decline at her family's country house. Not afraid to admit what she's thinking and feeling, she really grabbed me and pulled me into her life.
I read this book at the time that I was grieving the loss of my mother, and her words comforted me, challenged me, and inspired me.
She writes of the summer that she watches her mother decline at her family's country house. Not afraid to admit what she's thinking and feeling, she really grabbed me and pulled me into her life.
I read this book at the time that I was grieving the loss of my mother, and her words comforted me, challenged me, and inspired me.
Honest description of caring for a mother losing her memory and identity in the last months of her life. L'Engle recounts her family's experience of this time, her own reflections on human essence and mortality, memories of her parents, and the stories that have inspired her about her mother's family. Reading this was a comfort, and helped me put some of my own family experiences in a broader context.
I love Madeleine L'Engle's children's fiction so I was curious how much I would enjoy this nonfiction book that is from The Crosswicks Journal. It was touching to see what the author experienced as her grandmother passed away. It reminded me, in some ways, of my own grandmother's death. I read it in small bites before bedtime. While it's not as engrossing as her children's books are, it was a good read.
While I didn't find this as strong as her other non-fiction, I really enjoyed her account of taking care of her mother in her last days. She openly discusses the grieving process, including the memories that flood you during this time. The mid-section is these memories, which is not as interesting as the beginning and end, hence the three star review.
Highly recommended, however.
Highly recommended, however.
1 like · like · see review
I LOVED the first Crosswicks Journal (Circle of Quiet), in this second journal Madeleine shares the last summer she took caring for her dying mother. The writing is beautiful, but the topic did not touch me like the first journal did. There were wonderful thought provoking passages though, like this one:
Perfectionism is imprisoning. As long as I demand it, in myself or anybody else, I am not free and all my life I've believed that freedom is important, that, despite all our misuse and abuse of i...more
Perfectionism is imprisoning. As long as I demand it, in myself or anybody else, I am not free and all my life I've believed that freedom is important, that, despite all our misuse and abuse of i...more
There were so many parts of this book that seemed to be written just for me. Madeleine L'Engle is real and honest about all the many facets of being a daughter, wife, mother, and friend. Her take on God really resonates with me as well. I got a bit bored with some of the family history, especially at the end of the book, but as a whole it's a keeper.
Madeleine L'Engle chronicles the last summer of her mother's life with love, honesty, and, yes, even her doubts. The loss of a beloved parent is one of the most difficult of life's experiences even though it is one of the most natural. I was deeply touched by L'Engle's struggle and quest for peace in this second journal of hers that I have read.
Own.
Much to consider. What is the essence of a person, the ousia? A wonderful follow-up to A Circle of Quiet. L'Engle wrestles with life, death, identity, and the soul.
I particularly loved the section of her mother's ancestry and the stories of the people in her family tree. I loved their informal education.
Much to consider. What is the essence of a person, the ousia? A wonderful follow-up to A Circle of Quiet. L'Engle wrestles with life, death, identity, and the soul.
I particularly loved the section of her mother's ancestry and the stories of the people in her family tree. I loved their informal education.
Having thoroughly enjoyed L'Engle's first Crosswicks Journal, this was a welcome follow-up. It captures the season of her life where she cared for her aging mother and serves as a poignant meditation on the "winding down" of a life, reminding me of Reeve Lindbergh's "No More Words."
Excellent read and this was actually a re-read since I had read it once years before. L'Engle deals with losing her mother in stages and also reviews her ancestors at the same time. Positive view on death of elderly parents with promise of grandchildren's youth.
This one was less impressive than the first one -- the setup of the book, as a chronological look at her mother's family and life, was less interesting than what the first book contained: an insider's peek into a writer's life and thoughts.
This is the second book in the series of of Madeleine L'Engle's journals. As usual, L'Engle is thoughtful and aptly captures complexities of reality: Here, describing the summer that her rapidly aging mother dies, L'Engle allows the sadness, ambiguity, tensions, guilt, discomfort, confusion and relief to surface and co-exist. She spends more time in this book than in others I've read documenting family history and telling family stories. Though I enjoyed most of the background (and was impressed...more
Madeleine's commentary on her mother's decline do to Alzheimers reminded me so very much of the loss of my mother to the same, horrible disease. It was comforting to know that someone else had had the same thoughts and feelings.
I devoured this book though not as quickly as the first one as it dealt with heavier topics and had some passages that were interesting but long winded. Madeline L'Engle continues to be one of those people I want to sit and have tea with and have good stimulating conversation about everything.
I really like L'Engle's autobiographical books, how she thinks and expresses herself. This book was about her mother's last summer before she died and the four generations under one roof.
While this was written in the 1970s, the issues of multi-generational living remain.
L'Engle's reflections and ranges of emotions are insightful, normative, and inspiring.
L'Engle's reflections and ranges of emotions are insightful, normative, and inspiring.
Borrowed from public library. Not so good. I like her style but she's so unsure of God's reality. So clean and nice family, but so flawed by lack of faith -- only hope.
Part of a trilogy, The Summer recalls L'engle's relationship and loss with her mother. A very good resource for anyone who is losing or has lost a parent.
This is the story of the last summer of Madeline L'Engle's mother. It told a lot of old ancestorial stories and a lot about death. It was pretty good.
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Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her Young Adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and Many Waters. Her works reflect her strong interest in modern science: tesseracts, for example, are featured prominently in A Wrinkle in Time, mitochondrial DNA in A Wind in the Door, organ regener...more
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“It's a very American trait, this wanting people to think well of us. It's a young want, and I am ashamed of it in myself. I am not always a good daughter, even though my lacks are in areas different from her complaints. Haven't I learned yet that the desire to be perfect is always disastrous and, at the least, loses me in the mire of false guilt?”
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13 people liked it
“I used to feel guilty about spending morning hours working on a book; about fleeing to the brook in the afternoon. It took several summers of being totally frazzled by September to make me realize that this was a false guilt. I'm much more use to family and friends when I'm not physically and spiritually depleted than when I spend my energies as though they were unlimited. They are not. The time at the typewriter and the time at the brook refresh me and put me into a more workable perspective.”
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12 people liked it
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Apr 28, 2012 05:17pm