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The Love of Impermanent Things: A Threshold Ecology
At midlife, Mary Rose O'Reilley reflects on her past and her hard-won sense of self. She is determined, now, not to sacrifice or waste her self. She has struggled for years along the paths set by her suburban childhood, her Catholic upbringing, her failed marriage, and the mute duties of daughterhood. Now, she is trying to see the world through the eyes of the deer that st...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
June 28th 2008
by Milkweed Editions
(first published April 20th 2006)
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This is like so many post-Annie Lamott books -- very personal and confessional and really all about making Wise Pronouncements. (Don't get me wrong. I read everything by Annie. But one of her is enough. Now she's spawned a vertiable genre.) I was disheartened by the author's grumpiness -- Lord knows many other people have had many problems too -- and was impatient with the ratio of wisdom to self-congratulation about how much wisdom there was.
This falls into the Eat, Pray,Love categor...more
This falls into the Eat, Pray,Love categor...more
I've never been able to answer the question: What book would you want if stranded on an island? But now I know. This is the book!! O'Reilley has been my writing hero for a while. I've read all of her books, the ones that guide teachers, her poetry, and her two phenomenal non-fiction works, this book and The Barn at the End of the World. Over and over, I wondered how O'Reilley could get right inside my head and write about what was there with clarity and sublime reason. She tightrope walks over t...more
I wanted to love this book, as I loved The Barn at the End of the World, but I just couldn't connect to it, though O'Reilley's detailed and unflinching writing style is as beautiful as ever. Whereas Barn takes unfamiliar experiences as makes them universally accessible (even to those of us who'd be hard-pressed to tell sheep from goat or Plum Village from plum pudding), Impermanent Things takes almost universal experiences (dealing with aging parents, spending time in Nature, having pets) and ma...more
I read this when it first came out and return to it often, in order to be fed and nurtured and inspired. So many topics here: family, ecology, memory, spirituality, teaching, relationships, animals, the self and the world... I could go on and on about how much I love this book, which sometimes feels (selfishly) as if it were written just for me, since O'Reilley describes so much I've felt but didn't know I felt, or didn't know how to put it into words. She is smart, passionate, a lyrical and ...more
Awkward to use the star gauge here—3 stars overall, but a few gorgeous 5-star essays, among them: “Mercy” (about Sacred Harp singing and wildlife rehabilitation), “The Soul Flies in Circles,” “The Luckiest People” (asking the question: “Do you think God is honored because you abase yourself?”), and “The Teabowl of the Heart.” The work she does in this book on caregiving for a dying difficult mother feels very important to me and very helpful for someone in her same shoes (I could imagine her wo...more
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I found this book difficult to read, and at times wanted to shake the author. She seems sometimes wantonly clueless, and her attempts to cover it up with unusual turns of phrase leave me staring at those poetic words wondering what in the world they're doing in this book. She probably writes beautiful poetry. Still, now that I've finished the book I am glad I read it. Her journey across the realm of self takes her into places we all eventually must go, and it is helpful to have her insight i...more
One word: Lovely. Beautiful insight, details, imagery. Some of it is dark, but all of it is uplifting (at least for me). I definitely want to read her other books.
More a collection of memoir essays than a continuous narrative thread, this book sets a more serious, reflective tone than "The Barn At the End of the World." Mary shares about her time at the Sitka Center on the Oregon Coast, her relationships with loved ones, and the connection to the wild she receives from caring for injured animals at a wildlife rehab center. These threads converge beautifully at many points throughout the story.
Mads P.
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
nature lovers
Recommended to Mads P. by:
To the Best of Our Knowledge
A very inspirational book combining memoir, nature writing, spirituality and religious studies, literature and poetry, and ceramics! The author is very contemplative...sometimes so much so that she is angst ridden. There is some beautiful writing in here though and lots of great literary references. This book is perfect for me as I love nature writing, literature, and spirituality. I'm excited to read her poems.
I would if I could give this twelve stars out of five. One of my favorite books of all time. I literally put this one down halfway and declared, "Damn, I can't write at all." Each page contains dozens of underlined passages, notes decorate the margins. There is so, so much substance and sustenance in these pages. Life blood, bones and breath.
O'Reilley came to our December book club meeting and talked about her writing. She began writing in midlife. She described herself as a narcissist, something she realized after criticizing her mother's narcisissm. Some members of the club found the book narcissistic. I found it an interesting mix of self-examination and spiritual exploration.
I loved this book. I wrote down many quotes that I'll refer back to at some point. Thought provoking. She's a genius of the English language.
Karen R. F.
added it
The description of the poor care her mother received from the "evil system" mirrors my aunt's demise perfectly. Quite frightening and sad.
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