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6th out of 15 books
—
9 voters
The Journal Keeper: A Memoir
by
Phyllis Theroux (Goodreads Author)
A teacher and practitioner of creative writing gives the journal treatment to six years of her life. In her 60s, Theroux (Giovanni's Light: The Story of a Town Where Time Stopped for Christmas, 2002, etc.) recorded her thoughts from 2000 to 2005. Here she presents them in a memoir of passing notions she considers worth savoring. She reflects on the pleasures of authorship...more
Hardcover, 305 pages
Published
February 23rd 2010
by Atlantic Monthly Press
(first published 2010)
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Feb 28, 2013
Sharon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who enjoy journal reading or writing
Shelves:
memoirs
This book originally caught my eye because I keep personal journals and enjoy looking for new ideas by studying the journals of others. In addition to keeping journals, Phyllis Theroux is an essayist, columnist, teacher and author, whose work has been published in such critically acclaimed newspapers as the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Journal Keeper represents snippets from her journals dated 2000-2005 – years in which several transformative events took place in her life.
I find...more
I find...more
What a wonderful peek into the mind of a writer who takes the time to ponder the complexities of relationships. She weaves her own wisdom, referencing
writers like Emerson, Thoreau, Tolle, Vonnegut, and Pascal. She writes with a freshness that I found inspirational. The author's relationship with her mother was tender and fleshed out for the reader with moments rather than big life events. Her indecision about marriage in her mid sixties was shared with brutal honesty. It made me think about how...more
writers like Emerson, Thoreau, Tolle, Vonnegut, and Pascal. She writes with a freshness that I found inspirational. The author's relationship with her mother was tender and fleshed out for the reader with moments rather than big life events. Her indecision about marriage in her mid sixties was shared with brutal honesty. It made me think about how...more
I was led to this book by several women who are blogging buddies. Since one had quoted parts of the book on her blog, I was interested and intrigued by what I read. When another sent me a personal email and suggested I would really enjoy reading it, I knew it was the next book I needed to read.
This was one of those books that I hated to finish. I wanted to keep reading Phyllis Theroux's journal. The wisdom and insight about life that shared in this book practically leaped off the page as I read...more
This was one of those books that I hated to finish. I wanted to keep reading Phyllis Theroux's journal. The wisdom and insight about life that shared in this book practically leaped off the page as I read...more
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This genre is a favorite of mine, and THE JOURNAL KEEPER: A MEMOIR is an inspiring look at a writer's life. Theroux was another one of those accidental finds. I was looking for Paul Theroux and when I found Phyllis I was intrigued, thinking she might be one of Paul's ex-wives. I couldn't wait to absorb the "dish". But she isn't. She is an introspective lady of a certain age who lives with her mother. She fusses with her children and knows the gossip of the small town that she has moved to. At on...more
It is rare but it does happen. You begin to read a book, a memoir and are suddenly struck by a writer's openness, honesty, truth. The author seems to be speaking directly to you, sharing confidences, bits of wisdom, and you feel as though you've found a new friend. That was my response after happily coming upon THE JOURNAL KEEPER.
Phyllis Theroux, a writer of note, began this journal when she was 61; it follows six years of her life. Describing her past in the Introduction she tells us she is div...more
This is a beautiful, slow, sweet book - an afternoon spent in a rocking chair, soaking up autumn sunlight, given textual form. I loved meeting the people Theroux loves and values - be they her family or her favorite writers - and I have dogeared many a page corner so that I can later find a quote I love. There's something so beautifully and quietly true about these nuggets of wisdom Theroux writes while simply waiting to see, as she puts it, what her mind has to tell her each morning. There's ho...more
I thought this was a wonderful, wise memoir by a very interesting woman. There were so many passages that I flagged for repeat reading, and so many thoughts she shared that I had to smile and nod my head at. Thoughts on aging, relationships, late-life romance, and our journey on this planet were mostly relevant to me, being of approximately the same age as she is. Some of her angst would be considered overwrought by women not as well off (in spite of her occasional worries about what I perceived...more
5 Stars. There was so much wisdom here. I saved this book to read at night when I felt the most receptive to it. Phyllis Theroux adds quotes from certain writers that she admires to her journal, quotes that strike her as gems of wisdom. I found Theroux's own personnal journal observations to sparkle just as brightly, and were often even more accessible. I wanted to underline certain passages and share them with friends. I couldn't though, this was a library copy. So I will have to have my own co...more
I wasn't sure I'd like this book after reading the introduction, which I found a little... sentimental, I guess, and a little predictable. But the rest of it (which is to say, about 99% of it, since the intro. is only maybe 4 pages long) was a joyful surprise: smart, deeply thoughtful, wide-ranging, not at all predictable, and (hooray) not at all sentimental. Phyllis Theroux writes beautifully about a big variety of topics: family, growing older, mature love, her mother's very fascinating and un...more
This book is a selection taken from Theroux's journals she kept over many years. As a writer who was divorced with two children she has had financial concerns and insecurities that are front and center in her writing. Her dear relationship with her mother is a pleasure to share as are her candid comments about her fear of aging. There were many things that she wrote I wanted to remember and may be worthy of quoting and her literary references were fun to track down too. I plan to pass it along t...more
I really did like this book... I am reviewing it a few weeks after being pleased I finished it. But now I find myself thinking about the contents, (re)starting a journal myself after a quite intense week. I like the way the author gets you to know her life, her friends, her family and the way she talks about her life although sometimes I find she does go on a bit about her doubts etc- yeah yeah enough already I find myself thinking. Mostly she does stop then and does something very positive and...more
What a beautiful book! Theroux chronicles several years of her life, and even though the entries are edited, she doesn't spare herself. Apart from beautiful, lyrical prose that leaps off the page, she includes quotes and passages from her own reading that have meaning to her. She describes her journal as a "flashlight in darkened woods", and advises the reader to write towards the light, helpful and welcome guidance, because so often I find my own journal keeping gravitating towards the dark emo...more
I started this book 7-8 months ago and set it aside. It spurred me to start journaling. But for some reason I set it down and recently finished the book. I wish I had kept going when I started it, because the part I read was probably the best part. I probably stopped journaling about the same time I stopped reading the book. I would like to start again.
The book is the journal of Phyllis Theroux. Gives a peek into 5-6 years of her life. Some of it interesting, some so not. But it is real life. M...more
The book is the journal of Phyllis Theroux. Gives a peek into 5-6 years of her life. Some of it interesting, some so not. But it is real life. M...more
The author convinced me that our journals should not be published. Too much of her thoughts on things. I wanted to bop her over the head a few times. She expected others to change the way they were but never expected that she should change. If you are in relationships you need to allow them to be themselves. She expected people to change or she wouldn't have them in her life. If you read the book hopefully you will see what I mean by this. I don't know if I will read anymore of her books. I thi...more
It was my good fortune to read a pre-publication edition of this wise and wonderful memoir. The Journal Keeper is an intimate look into the life, heart and mind of a older middle-aged woman whose creative turn of phrase gives added dimension to her personal journey. We meet people important to her...her mother, friends, students, children. We travel from Virginia to Italy, California, D.C., New York. She shares her reading list of books and authors who have inspired her. What a generous soul. He...more
I'm a sucker for a good memoir, even better if I get a glimpse in the writing life of the author. This book fit the bill. Her style is thoughtful and her words flow pretty and poetic.
The author uses her years of journal entries to piece together a memoir including, briefly, her divorce and launch into writing as a career, her relationship with her mother (who lived with her until her mother passed away), and her discovery of love again later in life, in her 60s.
She even addresses, as an epilog...more
The author uses her years of journal entries to piece together a memoir including, briefly, her divorce and launch into writing as a career, her relationship with her mother (who lived with her until her mother passed away), and her discovery of love again later in life, in her 60s.
She even addresses, as an epilog...more
Thank you to Cassie who gave me this book for my birthday! This is the story of part of a woman's life as told through her journal entries. It deals mostly with her caring for her sick mother and her relationships (both friendly and romantic). I thought this was a really interesting way to write a memoir. What I really appreciated was how observant the author was -- how much she noticed things -- and also how she could come up with really insightful thoughts about the things she observed. There...more
Theroux speaks honestly about the quotidian and miraculous aspects of loss and new chances. It’s all here—births, deaths and marriages—and the reader is invited into the intimacies of a world that is both familiar and full of surprises. In lovely, straightforward prose, her open-hear ted, honest, honorable, wise, generous, brave and utterly captivating book which sheds a clarifying light on the pain and possibilities present in the third-third of our lives.
If you've thought about keeping a journal, but didn't know where to start, I highly recommend this lovely book. Phyllis Theroux has written a memoir based on her journals from 2000 to 2005, a very significant period in her life. She had given up her urban writer's life to move to a small Virginia town to care for her elderly mother. She was divorced and her kids were adults with lives of their own. It's all here -- loss, loneliness, money worries, growing old, and, surprisingly, the possibility...more
I really enjoyed reading this memoir....my first for this genre for a while. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleased with the whole of her work. It made me want to journal my own life, not putting it off because I don't think I have anything to say or preserve. I'm sure she did not know where her journey was going to take her, either. I would only hope to be half as honest and open with my own journal as she was with hers.
Interesting memoir of an "older" woman. That's a novelty! Got to love what she writes about, and no it is not I have scrambled eggs for breakfast, like one might think journal writing is about. Some pretty deep thoughts along with some down to earth experiences...
Made me dream about potentially keeping a journal. A short 5 line entry once in a while is just right and seems very balancing.
Loved her honesty!
Made me dream about potentially keeping a journal. A short 5 line entry once in a while is just right and seems very balancing.
Loved her honesty!
It is an interesting meander through the years of a writer as she cares for her mother. It is a broad spectrum of her thoughts as life as being played. Not focusing on mother daughter, aging of a woman or a writers work but rather a blending of all. Emphasis on friends and local life rather than larger world scene. Does cover time of 9/11
I sense I read this before Comments re solitude struck home
I sense I read this before Comments re solitude struck home
I heard this author speak at an event here in Richmond. I enjoyed her memoir, particularly the parts about her mother, and some of the descriptions of her late-in-life romance made me laugh out loud. The book is somewhat disjointed, as it's a collection of journal entries, but if you keep reading, it comes together. I found myself marking several beautifully written passages.
I heard Theroux speak at a memorial for Carla Cohen, the owner of Politics and Prose, in Washington, and thought I might like to read some of her work. Maybe I've read too many memoirs over the past few years and wasn't in the mood to follow the writer's ups and downs over the years-- her financial problems after her divorce seemed overwhelming at times. I liked reading about her relationship with her mother, which was sweet, and was glad all worked out for her in the end. But I skipped a number...more
A writer's journal, over a span of 6 years. Not just about emotional issues, but also deals with her struggles to write and what the physical act of writing means and brings to her. She can get a little heavy on the preachiness at times (spirituality is an important part of her life), but she also had some really interesting Buddhist perspectives as well.
I am enjoying this very much: many of her observations coincide with feelings I am having at this later-fifties stage of life. What have I accomplished? Is there still more creating to do? Am I making the most of every moment I have left? I love her portrait of her aging mother, with whom she lives... the humour and wisdom of the book make this a treat to spend time on...
As someone who journals almost every day, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing 10 years of Physllis Therous's life. She is my age, which perhaps added to the enjoyment of this book. I could so relate to her, in being single after a long marriage, in living in a small town. She is a gifted writer, able to bring the reader with her on her journey.
Amazing. Rarely does a book capture me and leave me quoting it long after the book is closed. As a journaler myself, I found this book inspiring and intensely motivational. I even took to keeping a tablet nearby to write down my favorite passages. I never do that. This book is an inspiring, light-bursting gift to journalers everywhere. I am so glad this title caught my attention at the library. I feel like Phyllis and I are friends now sharing our deepest thoughts on a porch swing somewhere. I w...more
Well, we could all be published if this is literature. Whiny, rambling book. Had one sentence in it that I love: the reward of raising your children is actually those years that you get to spend doing it. You cannot expect something in return. I paraphrase. But that was all I found worthwhile. Maybe it's just me.
The book was a bit confusing to read until several threads developed: Phyllis caring for her dying mother, her work as a writer and a teacher of writers, and eventually her discovery of true love when she was sixty-six. The writing style is lyrical, almost poetic at times. I want to read more by this author.
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Phyllis Theroux is an essayist, columnist, teacher and author. Born in San Francisco, California, she is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books, including "California and Other States of Grace", "Peripheral Visions", "Nightlights: Bedtime Stories for Parents in the Dark", "The Book of Eulogies", "Serefina Under the Circumstances" and "Giovanni’s Light". "The Journal Keeper: A Memoir" wa...more
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“An enlightened person raises the level of the consciousness of the entire community.”
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“I can feel my heart growing daily, which has its uncomfortable aspects, as if it could fall with the weight of love and break.”
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Aug 21, 2011 11:03am