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Finding Beauty in a Broken World
"Shards of glass can cut and wound or magnify a vision," Terry Tempest Williams tells us. "Mosaic celebrates brokenness and the beauty of being brought together." Ranging from Ravenna, Italy, where she learns the ancient art of mosaic, to the American Southwest, where she observes prairie dogs on the brink of extinction, to a small village in Rwanda where she joins genocid...more
Paperback, 420 pages
Published
October 6th 2009
by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
(first published September 27th 2008)
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Okay the author's basic premise is that life is like a mosaic. (I love mosaics)....that broken pieces can be put back together to form something new and while different - beautiful in its new way. I'm having a really hard time with this book. So the book is divided into 3 parts - the author studying mosaic with an Italian master. The author studying prarie dogs in the American SW - and Bush's total disregard for the environment -big picture - and how relocation of prarie dogs will eventually...more
Tortla
rated it
Recommends it for:
people on treadmills
Recommended to Tortla by:
Lori Bettison-Varga
Shelves:
suckysuckybooks
NOT A MOSAIC. MOSAICS ARE PRETTY.
Sooo apparently the idea to present the book "like a mosaic" came to Terry Tempest Williams in a feverish epiphany right before the book was gonna be sent in to get published. Fine. That explains the way that the structure of the story is too straightforward and cohesive (and to rigidly divided into thematic sections: intro/mosaics, prairie dogs, Rwanda, mosaic-y/choppy conclusion). And the feverishness kind of makes it okay that she thought...more
Sooo apparently the idea to present the book "like a mosaic" came to Terry Tempest Williams in a feverish epiphany right before the book was gonna be sent in to get published. Fine. That explains the way that the structure of the story is too straightforward and cohesive (and to rigidly divided into thematic sections: intro/mosaics, prairie dogs, Rwanda, mosaic-y/choppy conclusion). And the feverishness kind of makes it okay that she thought...more
Originally titled, Mosaic, Terry's search for meaning in a world gone mad is her best since Refuge. I loved this book and even as I felt sad and helpless, it gave me hope that there are good people doing good work everywhere. Her amazing ability to tie seemingly unrelated topics together in ways you will never forget is Terry's special gift.
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When I got this book for summer reading in June, I didn't know what to think about it. In general I tend to go for fiction, as more elements can be added and it's more exciting. You kind of feel the book's patterns, its foreshadowing.
I get that this book was supposed to be a mosaic itself, but that realization, the "oh, that's cool" didn't keep me interested in the book. In fact, I found the language at times to be sloshy, moving through it slowly and needing breaks to rest...more
I get that this book was supposed to be a mosaic itself, but that realization, the "oh, that's cool" didn't keep me interested in the book. In fact, I found the language at times to be sloshy, moving through it slowly and needing breaks to rest...more
Byzantine mosaics, prairie dogs and Rwandan genocide. It wasn't the prose that kept me reading this book; it's pretty choppy and repetitive. But the message is one that has stuck with me. The author, I gather, is a very unorthodox Mormon who starts her journey at a mosaic workshop in Ravenna, Italy, home to the most unbelievable Byzantine mosaics in various churches, chapels, and tombs throughout this rather small city (I visited in 2005 and was awestruck by the mosaics). After that first rather...more
Apparently a misguided choice for book club. Only four people showed up and basically none of them liked it. Oh well.
I agree with my book clubbers that Finding Beauty is disjointed and that the three main sections don't form a cohesive whole (as was obviously her intention, as he central metaphor was the art of mosaic). Other criticisms were that the writing was overly sentimental, the section on daily prairie dog observations was too long, and she inserted herself too much into her ...more
I agree with my book clubbers that Finding Beauty is disjointed and that the three main sections don't form a cohesive whole (as was obviously her intention, as he central metaphor was the art of mosaic). Other criticisms were that the writing was overly sentimental, the section on daily prairie dog observations was too long, and she inserted herself too much into her ...more
I was mesmerized by the prairie dog section--here terry (she presents herself so familiarly in this book it is difficult to call her so formally "williams") excells, offering carefully observed notes of a non-human community along with lightly offered but seriously meant reflections. Her interpretation of the animals' actions is not overbearing or anthropomorphizing, but does offer ways to see our own actions reflected through theirs.
In the Italian and Rwandan sections s...more
In the Italian and Rwandan sections s...more
Giving this book three stars since in sparked an entire new train of thought regarding the implications and inspirations of {mOsAiCs} and the importance of observation ... I am not a fan of her writing style, nor the task of following the flow and/or connective points of her topics. I jotted quotes and inspiration, and read page-to-page for the first two sections. But then I merely scanned the initial notations regarding prairie dogs. From there I skipped to the end pages, selecting various quot...more
Venessa
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Cherie--the last part about Rwanda, anyway
Williams sets out to find the beautiful among the ruins of humanity, and does so exploring both the vanishing worlds of the prairie dogs and the devastated, all but forgotten world of Rwanda, connecting their survival with the need to create a mosaic. Reading about the dogs grew a bit tedious, although I certainly thought they were cute when I lived in Boulder, although I was terrified of running them over when I hit certain parts of the bike path. However, the last part of the book, when Willia...more
Briefly, on form: as prose poetry, this gorgeous work is totally accessible for people who don't consider themselves "poetry reader." It's riveting. You'll want to keep reading.
On content: How can you NOT read a book that yokes together an apprenticeship as a mosaic artist in Ravenna, her grappling with the plight of endangered prairie dogs, which are simultaneously hunted and protected by the U.S., and women in Rwanda? Williams offers a timely, fresh take on global life as an or...more
On content: How can you NOT read a book that yokes together an apprenticeship as a mosaic artist in Ravenna, her grappling with the plight of endangered prairie dogs, which are simultaneously hunted and protected by the U.S., and women in Rwanda? Williams offers a timely, fresh take on global life as an or...more
There are layers to go through in order to understand humanity. Williams excavates them. A broken world can be put together again in a beautiful way. There are rules to making mosaic. Attend to light, to shape. Find the right piece. Prairie dogs live communally, kiss, and greet the sun. In Rwanda is a layer of hell. How hard to go there. this is a great book. She provides space for the reader to absorb what is written. Great: powerful, mighty, deep, spiritual, truthful. Hard, but no...more
This book was fabulous! I have always heard how great Terry Tempest Williams is and I so have to agree. She has a unique writing style, one that can really grab me and keep me going.
After 9/11, Williams found herself bitter with life. As she she standing, overlooking the ocean, she says, in a short prayer, "Tell me just one word!" The word that comes to her is "mosaic". From that, she goes to Ravenna, Italy, where she learns the mosaic art form. The first pa...more
After 9/11, Williams found herself bitter with life. As she she standing, overlooking the ocean, she says, in a short prayer, "Tell me just one word!" The word that comes to her is "mosaic". From that, she goes to Ravenna, Italy, where she learns the mosaic art form. The first pa...more
When asked to accompany artist Lily Yeh to Rwanda to help create a memorial to the country's genocide victims, author Terry Tempest Williams initially refused. Perhaps best known for her book Refuge, which draws a profound emotional parallel between her mother's losing bout with cancer and the simultaneous flooding of Utah's Bear River bird refuge, Williams told herself she had seen enough death. Her brother had just succumbed to cancer as well, and she did not want to visit a country that had s...more
I know, I know, most people drop out in the prairie dog section, but if you stick with it that section begins to have a certain rhythm and creates its own subtle narrative structure. You find yourself suddenly caring about the individual prairie dogs as characters, in addition to the obvious goal of making you rethink the prevailing attitude toward them as "varmints."
But seriously, if you get through the prairie dog section, everything has an odd and elegant way of coming ...more
But seriously, if you get through the prairie dog section, everything has an odd and elegant way of coming ...more
TTW is one of my favorite authors. The only problem is she isn't much older than me so I have to wait for her to write more. I liked this book, the mosaic concept was very interesting to me because I just finished writing my dissertation on CA ground squirrels as a keystone species which required extensive background reading about prairie dogs so I saw many parallels with my own work. That being said, I'm not sure I would recommend this book especially to anyone who hasn't read TTW before. If yo...more
Mosaic, very moving how she twines several worlds into one tapestry. Signed by Terry, given to me by my brother. Cried often and learned lots! pg 23 "If you know wilderness in the way that you know love, you would be unwilling to let it go. We are talking about the body of the beloved, not real estate." pg 25 Henry Bugbee "the tenets of Scripture are meant to be occasions for wonder, not the termination of it."
So often we have ideas or convictions about the impact of what we do, especially those things we volunteer for.
This book is about how what we do and how we do it can affect other lives. The author shares her feelings and metamorphosis as she moves through several intertwined investigative phases of her own motivations and understanding of people.
Sorrow and tragedy, change and redemption, how do these inspire people, how do they adapt and heal? these are some of the questions explor...more
This book is about how what we do and how we do it can affect other lives. The author shares her feelings and metamorphosis as she moves through several intertwined investigative phases of her own motivations and understanding of people.
Sorrow and tragedy, change and redemption, how do these inspire people, how do they adapt and heal? these are some of the questions explor...more
All living beings, though sometimes broken, are resilient and the harmony of life is very powerful. This masterful book combines the ancient art of making mosaics, with the fragile ecology of prairie dog communities and the war-torn broken communities of Rwanda in a way that gives me hope for the resilience of human and more-than human communities as we strive for a harmonious life.
Here Williams draws the largest of pictures with the most scattered of colors. Self-admittedly, it is a mosaic and a study of life as mosaic. Logically, the parts do not belong together, but on some aesthetic gut level, they do. Rwanda, prairie dogs, a death in the family. All of these course through the human experience like the many branches of a braided stream.
Having read many of TTWilliams books before and loved them I was disappointed in this book. It is just brief paragraphs of information that I could never tie together and didn't hold my attention. Her focus has stayed the same - our earth and value but I couldn't hold prairie dogs, mosaics and our ever expanding population and the effect on the earth together to hold my interest. Oh well.
I read this book in June. I love Terry Tempest Williams' work and this is was a remarkable book. The three parts -- learning how to make a mosaic, the life of prairie dogs, and doing humanitarian work in Rwanda all tied together and truly gave a glimpse of how do we find beauty in a broken world. It was a book of hope and grace.
I learned that Prairie dogs can be seen by some with imagination and love as Prayer Dogs and that recovery from genocide is a long and painful process in Rwanda. I felt beauty and intensity while reading this book and have admired this author for a very long time, having many times visited her home state of Utah.
A book that makes some sort of sense of the senseless world we live in, Finding Beauty takes us from Ravena to the high desert of Utah to Rwanda, forcing us not just to look but to think. Plainly but beautifully written, Finding Beauty really does helps us find meaning in this framented world we all live in.
Williams is one of my "hero" writers. She weaves together natural history with human history and culture. Here theme in this book is mosaics of every kind. I got bogged down in the middle where she has two weeks of hourly observations of prairie dogs as a transcript. It is now back on the top of my pile to finish!
I love this local author. Terry Tempest Williams loves Utah and wants to preserve nature. This book she is observing the almost extinct Utah Prairie Dog, Her Own Family tragedies, and goes back to Rwanda to build a Mosiac monument. I believe everyone should have a local author they love to read.
Like the mosaics that are the theme, this book is full of beautiful and moving fragments. I wish Williams had chosen and put them together more carefully; a lot of it, especially the long section about prairie dogs, reads too much like journal entries. The Rwanda section is moving but once again a bit too scattered to work as well as it should.
TT Williams is a fantastic nature writer/essayist, who can bring disparate events/observations together in a way that no one else can. Mosaic class, endangered prairie dogs, Rwandan genocide, in this case. We understand the connections, and are humbled by the emotions and ideas she brings to all of us. Truly an inspiring read.
I read TTW's books on and off, finishing some, not others. REFUGE a really profound book & meditation on life. Her perspective as a spiritual, nature-oriented, wide-ranging American contemporary woman always shows me something new and reminds me of something old. One of a kind.
What makes Terry Tempest Williams so interesting to read is her membership in conflicting leagues--those of personal conviction and familial association. She handles those divisions with that power of transcendence--love.
I especially enjoyed reading the section on the mosaics created to commemorate the Rwandan genocide. Powerful stories and a powerful artistic response.
p.s. The full title of the book begins with the word Mosaic, and that is what the book is.
I especially enjoyed reading the section on the mosaics created to commemorate the Rwandan genocide. Powerful stories and a powerful artistic response.
p.s. The full title of the book begins with the word Mosaic, and that is what the book is.
I find this a difficult book to rate. I've loved all of Terry Tempest Williams' books, but found this one particularly intense and painful, also oddly constructed. Those aren't necessarily criticisms; I rather liked the workout but was left somewhat unsatisfied in the end.
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Terry Tempest Williams has given us a deep-running meditation on reaching for the sublime despite obstacles. Kirkus Reviews
More about Terry Tempest Williams...
The author of numerous powerfully loved books, including Refuge, Red, Leap, and An Unspoken Hunger, Terry Tempest Williams is currently the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah. In 2006, she received the Robert Marshall Award from T
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“What is real to me is the power of our awareness when we are focused on something beyond ourselves. It is a shaft of light shining in a dark corner. Our ability to shift our perceptions and seek creative alternatives to the conondrums of modernity is in direct proportion to our empathy. Can we imagine, witness, and ultimately feel the suffering of another?”
—
10 people liked it
“People talk about medium. What is your medium? My medium as a writer has been dirt, clay, sand--what I could touch, hold, stand on, and stand for--Earth. My medium has been Earth. Earth in correspondence with my mind.”
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