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one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care
For readers of The Wild Edge of Sorrow and Crying in H-Mart–a profound and searching memoir of life, loss, grief, and renewal from one of American Buddhism’s most vital new voices.
How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? one long listening offers enduring companionship to all who ask these searing, timeless questions.
Immigrant daughter, novice chaplain, bereaved friend: author Chenxing Han (Be the Refuge) takes us on a pilgrimage through the wilds of grief and laughter, pain and impermanence, reconnecting us to both the heartache and inexplicable brightness of being human.
Eddying around three autumns of Han’s life, one long listening journeys from a mountaintop monastery in Taiwan to West Coast oncology wards, from oceanside Ireland to riverfront Phnom Penh. Through letters to a dying friend, bedside chaplaincy visits, and memories of a migratory childhood, Han’s startling, searching memoir cuts a singular portrait of a spiritual caregiver in training.
Just as we touch the depths, bracing for resolution, Han’s swift, multilingual prose sweeps us back to unknowingness: 不知最親切. Not knowing is most intimate. Chinese mothers, hillside graves. A dreamed olive tree, a lost Siberian crane. The music of scripts and silence. These shards–bright, broken, giddy, aching–are mirrors to our own lives in joy and sorrow.
A testament to enduring connection by a fresh and urgent new literary voice, one long listening asks fearlessly into the stories we inhabit, the hopes we relinquish, and what it means simply to be, to and for the ones we love.
How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? one long listening offers enduring companionship to all who ask these searing, timeless questions.
Immigrant daughter, novice chaplain, bereaved friend: author Chenxing Han (Be the Refuge) takes us on a pilgrimage through the wilds of grief and laughter, pain and impermanence, reconnecting us to both the heartache and inexplicable brightness of being human.
Eddying around three autumns of Han’s life, one long listening journeys from a mountaintop monastery in Taiwan to West Coast oncology wards, from oceanside Ireland to riverfront Phnom Penh. Through letters to a dying friend, bedside chaplaincy visits, and memories of a migratory childhood, Han’s startling, searching memoir cuts a singular portrait of a spiritual caregiver in training.
Just as we touch the depths, bracing for resolution, Han’s swift, multilingual prose sweeps us back to unknowingness: 不知最親切. Not knowing is most intimate. Chinese mothers, hillside graves. A dreamed olive tree, a lost Siberian crane. The music of scripts and silence. These shards–bright, broken, giddy, aching–are mirrors to our own lives in joy and sorrow.
A testament to enduring connection by a fresh and urgent new literary voice, one long listening asks fearlessly into the stories we inhabit, the hopes we relinquish, and what it means simply to be, to and for the ones we love.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2023
24 people are currently reading
2359 people want to read
About the author
Chenxing Han
3 books47 followersChenxing Han is the author of the widely reviewed Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists and one long listening: a memoir of grief, friendship, and spiritual care, both with North Atlantic Books. She is a regular contributor to Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and other publications, and a frequent speaker and workshop leader at schools, universities, and Buddhist communities across the nation. She has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Hemera Foundation, the Lenz Foundation, and the Institute of Buddhist Studies.
Chenxing holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union. She is a coteacher of Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover and a co-organizer of May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors.
Chenxing holds a BA from Stanford University and an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Graduate Theological Union. She is a coteacher of Listening to the Buddhists in Our Backyard at Phillips Academy Andover and a co-organizer of May We Gather: A National Buddhist Memorial for Asian American Ancestors.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 11, 2023
Thank you to the NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
3.0
A pretty good memoir with a stream of consciousness narration and important topics covered including grief, friendship and spiritual. Han does their best to recollect the moment, and you can tell, it’s fragmented and quick, much like a memory and I thought that must have taken incredible skill to capture something like a memory into writing. They delve into moments and try to relive them as best as possible and most of all, they really respect the people around them.
However, I’m not entirely sure what this book is really about: is it about grief in general or her own grief that she is trying to deal with in her life. I didn’t get a good grip on the message of this memoir - I’m not sure what to think of that. I didn’t feel the grief emanating from the pages, nor the importance of friendship or spiritual care - Han rarely provides much insight to her own emotions into these topics so I’m not sure what I learned from the memoir. I did learn some Chinese, so there’s that. I feel like memoirs need a message in order to be important, they’re also meant to shed some insight into a person’s emotional state at their memories and how they felt - it needs to be a real reflection of their memory and their psyche.
Because of the stream of consciousness narration, the memories bounce and change in a single sentence that I didn’t even realise that it was a change of topic until I re-read the sentence. I don’t know if I like that style, especially for a memoir. I feel like again, memoirs are a moment for reflection and insight, but with the sporadic rate the narrative flows, it’s hard to keep up. Also Han uses strange nicknames for their friends and characters but then doesn’t really elaborate on the meaning behind them - for example, I don’t know why they calls her friend ‘the sunrise friend’, because it could mean a lot of different things (do they bring light to the world? Were they born during sunrise? Do they wake up at sunrise?), so if they worked on expanding their world a little, I think it would make good clarity.
Another point that was really distracting were the nonsense footnotes sometimes. One of them just repeated a word and I remember thinking that it didn’t add any substance to the narrative Han was trying to create. The footnotes were too much, and almost all were nonsensical and did not elaborate on things much further or provide context which is what they are meant for. If Han could work on carefully selecting their footnotes and see which ones are worth keeping in the story, that would make the narrative seem more polished.
Overall, it’s not bad, but it’s not that great either. Which I hate because I understand what Han was trying to do, it just wasn’t executed or edited well.
3.0
A pretty good memoir with a stream of consciousness narration and important topics covered including grief, friendship and spiritual. Han does their best to recollect the moment, and you can tell, it’s fragmented and quick, much like a memory and I thought that must have taken incredible skill to capture something like a memory into writing. They delve into moments and try to relive them as best as possible and most of all, they really respect the people around them.
However, I’m not entirely sure what this book is really about: is it about grief in general or her own grief that she is trying to deal with in her life. I didn’t get a good grip on the message of this memoir - I’m not sure what to think of that. I didn’t feel the grief emanating from the pages, nor the importance of friendship or spiritual care - Han rarely provides much insight to her own emotions into these topics so I’m not sure what I learned from the memoir. I did learn some Chinese, so there’s that. I feel like memoirs need a message in order to be important, they’re also meant to shed some insight into a person’s emotional state at their memories and how they felt - it needs to be a real reflection of their memory and their psyche.
Because of the stream of consciousness narration, the memories bounce and change in a single sentence that I didn’t even realise that it was a change of topic until I re-read the sentence. I don’t know if I like that style, especially for a memoir. I feel like again, memoirs are a moment for reflection and insight, but with the sporadic rate the narrative flows, it’s hard to keep up. Also Han uses strange nicknames for their friends and characters but then doesn’t really elaborate on the meaning behind them - for example, I don’t know why they calls her friend ‘the sunrise friend’, because it could mean a lot of different things (do they bring light to the world? Were they born during sunrise? Do they wake up at sunrise?), so if they worked on expanding their world a little, I think it would make good clarity.
Another point that was really distracting were the nonsense footnotes sometimes. One of them just repeated a word and I remember thinking that it didn’t add any substance to the narrative Han was trying to create. The footnotes were too much, and almost all were nonsensical and did not elaborate on things much further or provide context which is what they are meant for. If Han could work on carefully selecting their footnotes and see which ones are worth keeping in the story, that would make the narrative seem more polished.
Overall, it’s not bad, but it’s not that great either. Which I hate because I understand what Han was trying to do, it just wasn’t executed or edited well.
March 11, 2024
Friendship, and meditation, and spiritual calmness and serenity…….
Autobiographical by a young woman Buddhist Chaplain….. Soothing reading…..
Autobiographical by a young woman Buddhist Chaplain….. Soothing reading…..
June 4, 2024
incredibly touching. poetic.
December 12, 2024
beautifully lyrical book about grief, loss, reconciliation, and spiritual care. I’ve loved Han’s previous work and really connected to her story as a fellow Asian American Buddhist. However, I found it difficult to keep up with some of the terms that were written in Chinese that didn’t have any translations ….
July 7, 2023
How this young author has grown in the short time since her first book, "Be the Refuge." This new work is simply amazing and insightful and painful and glorious and heart-wrenching. I wish I could have met the "Dear One", but I think I already have thanks to this book.
The reader is invited into several parallel stories within the author's life. Daughter, student, friend, traveler, (chaplaincy) resident, writer, niece, chaplain... Each story weaves its way throughout the book. But they weave together so seamlessly that you lose track of which persona is in focus. But they are all one in the same.
The emotions brought forth in the book are visceral (Kleenex required). From a reader's perspective the book flows quickly. Ms Han's style of writing, and her approach of leaving some terms in their native script and not translated into English provides some challenge. I made use of my phone/camera-based translator when the meanings were not obvious. Her vocabulary is immense, reminding me of when my 5th grade teacher made me sight-read O Henry and explain what I had read, in my own words.
I am sure that those of Asian decent will find other values in this beyond what I have found. As a Buddhist, I can certainly be grateful for the perspectives that she brought out within Buddhism and across the multitude of beliefs.
I could go on...but, you must slip into her world for yourself. But remember..."Even the grief is a mossy gift." Thank you Chenxing.
The reader is invited into several parallel stories within the author's life. Daughter, student, friend, traveler, (chaplaincy) resident, writer, niece, chaplain... Each story weaves its way throughout the book. But they weave together so seamlessly that you lose track of which persona is in focus. But they are all one in the same.
The emotions brought forth in the book are visceral (Kleenex required). From a reader's perspective the book flows quickly. Ms Han's style of writing, and her approach of leaving some terms in their native script and not translated into English provides some challenge. I made use of my phone/camera-based translator when the meanings were not obvious. Her vocabulary is immense, reminding me of when my 5th grade teacher made me sight-read O Henry and explain what I had read, in my own words.
I am sure that those of Asian decent will find other values in this beyond what I have found. As a Buddhist, I can certainly be grateful for the perspectives that she brought out within Buddhism and across the multitude of beliefs.
I could go on...but, you must slip into her world for yourself. But remember..."Even the grief is a mossy gift." Thank you Chenxing.
Read
May 1, 2023aaaAAAAAAAAAA this book was frustrating. For the most part, heartrending and incredibly refreshing use of untranslation in Mandarin, Shanghainese, Khmer, Japanese. Chengxing Han taps into her role as wanderer, translator, and listener -- documenting the stories and memories of patient encounters, grieving, meetings by yuanfen. There's no defensive shell: the words are exposing and direct.
What I couldn't sidestep was this intense blindspot -- especially because this work is clearly intending to be political. Han positions her view as treading away from Western- and U.S.-centric spiritual learning, positions herself as for de-colonization. And then spends multiple pages on karma-conspired vacationing in Hawai'i as if that doesn't essentially boil down to modern-day settler colonialism. I plodded through the paradisiacal depictions of swaying trees-something something-plane tickets-something something-- it virtually invisibilizes the Kānaka Maoli.
There was (still is) the necessity for diasporic writers to deeply interrogate their positionality as non-Native people in the U.S. There's an opportunity here to go deeper -- especially when so much of the story focuses on widening your view, (见多识广, all of that), encompassing all suffering. This story needed to go deeper, question more of the self, preferably uncomfortably so.
What I couldn't sidestep was this intense blindspot -- especially because this work is clearly intending to be political. Han positions her view as treading away from Western- and U.S.-centric spiritual learning, positions herself as for de-colonization. And then spends multiple pages on karma-conspired vacationing in Hawai'i as if that doesn't essentially boil down to modern-day settler colonialism. I plodded through the paradisiacal depictions of swaying trees-something something-plane tickets-something something-- it virtually invisibilizes the Kānaka Maoli.
There was (still is) the necessity for diasporic writers to deeply interrogate their positionality as non-Native people in the U.S. There's an opportunity here to go deeper -- especially when so much of the story focuses on widening your view, (见多识广, all of that), encompassing all suffering. This story needed to go deeper, question more of the self, preferably uncomfortably so.
June 10, 2023
In the waning days of struggling with illness and preparing for the inevitable, a chaplain can serve as a guide to achieving spiritual comfort and healing. Readers are offered a glimpse into chaplaincy through one long listening, Chenxing Han’s poetic memoir relaying her wonderings and reflections as a student at a Taiwanese Buddhist monastery, as a novice chaplain in a Northern California hospital, and as a grieving friend, contending with profound loss. Han offers a thoughtful meditation on grief, despondency, acceptance, and healing as she shares her years-long journey toward finding the path of rightful service.
Han writes empathically, with quiet and raw emotion, as she offers a window into the lives of the patients and families she encountered as a chaplain. Stories of trauma from displacement, despair, and isolation among immigrants are heartbreaking. Han relays her family’s story, sharing her own vulnerabilities. At times, the patient vignettes feel voyeuristic to my Asian American sensibilities. Han had unique cultural and linguistic access to the people she served due to her positionality as a Chinese American Buddhist. Those who shared her background welcomed her into their final moments with their loved ones. "one long listening" may be cathartic or restorative for those seeking to understand how others confront the certainty of death.
Han writes empathically, with quiet and raw emotion, as she offers a window into the lives of the patients and families she encountered as a chaplain. Stories of trauma from displacement, despair, and isolation among immigrants are heartbreaking. Han relays her family’s story, sharing her own vulnerabilities. At times, the patient vignettes feel voyeuristic to my Asian American sensibilities. Han had unique cultural and linguistic access to the people she served due to her positionality as a Chinese American Buddhist. Those who shared her background welcomed her into their final moments with their loved ones. "one long listening" may be cathartic or restorative for those seeking to understand how others confront the certainty of death.
September 25, 2023
When it came, grief was utterly unbearable. I grew terrified of feeling, and yet days and nights passed when I was feeling too much and it felt like dying. I felt untethered. I felt bodymind as unreturnable. But one of the things that kept me here: grief circles at my Buddhist sangha. Every week, the Lama asked for prayers, and I would watch as the Zoom chat would seemingly overflow with the suffering, the grieving, the lost. Prayers for a friend, who is undergoing surgery. Prayers for a parent, who has crossed into the spirit realm. Prayers for a sister, who has used again after a long period of being sober. The Lama would read each prayer, and together we would breathe, evoke healing, join our souls across the ethers to pray for each being to be free of suffering.
For a long time I thought the only way to be alive was to never suffer, to never grieve, to never lose: but it is what makes us human. In ONE LONG LISTENING, Chenxing Han becomes a spiritual caregiver in training for the sick and the dying, all the while confronting her own grief around the loss of a beloved friend. It reminded me of a combination of Pik-Shuen Fung’s GHOST FOREST (short and sparse “chapters”), combined with the letter-writing and contemplative practice of Yanyi’s THE YEAR OF BLUE WATER—there is something deeply moving when writing about grief with spareness, white space, and sharp discreteness. I felt particularly moved by the letters Han writes to her friend, evoking the same premise as Yanyi has in BLUE WATER: that the dead is also in communication with us. In one, she writes: “I realized today that our friendship has been one long listening. I’m still listening. It feels like you are too. I love you. I miss you.”
[Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy]
For a long time I thought the only way to be alive was to never suffer, to never grieve, to never lose: but it is what makes us human. In ONE LONG LISTENING, Chenxing Han becomes a spiritual caregiver in training for the sick and the dying, all the while confronting her own grief around the loss of a beloved friend. It reminded me of a combination of Pik-Shuen Fung’s GHOST FOREST (short and sparse “chapters”), combined with the letter-writing and contemplative practice of Yanyi’s THE YEAR OF BLUE WATER—there is something deeply moving when writing about grief with spareness, white space, and sharp discreteness. I felt particularly moved by the letters Han writes to her friend, evoking the same premise as Yanyi has in BLUE WATER: that the dead is also in communication with us. In one, she writes: “I realized today that our friendship has been one long listening. I’m still listening. It feels like you are too. I love you. I miss you.”
[Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy]
February 10, 2025
"One Long Listening" by Chenxing Han is a semi-biographical examination of the author's own loneliness and journey through the clinical pastoral education (CPE) process as an Asian-American Buddhist. I found the book useful in introducing my Christian colleagues to the different challenges a Buddhist faces in the spiritual care industry. Granted I am a white male Buddhist convert, I find it hard and sometimes inappropriate to convey the stories of my Asian-American colleagues, especially now that I live and work in a part of the United States where Buddhism is still considered an "exotic" religion. I can only speak to my own experience, and it is good and right to find resources to see into the worlds of others if only for some three-hundred odd pages. Chenxing Han's text provides me with that teaching tool. I appreciate deeply what she has put down in ink. I hope that she continues to write and serve the Dharma.
January 22, 2023
I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. This felt like a stream of consciousness where the speaker is telling you a story, but adding in lots of side trips along the way which is a bit disorientating at times. Grief is like that too. You think you're in one place and suddenly find yourself in another place without any warning. Grief is universal, but it also can make us feel alone. I mostly cried my way through this book as the author talked about losing her good friend and how the grief takes over. My sister passed away 2 years ago and the grief is still a part of me. The author speaks of her time as a chaplain in a hospital which I also connected with my time as a hospital social worker and doing similar grief work with patients' families. A book filled with emotion and thoughts about healing after a loss.
March 5, 2023
“Here is what I can tell you about the structure of this memoir … [T]he structure has no beginning or end. Fluid as a river, sure as one too, it evaporates all distinction between past and future, sickness and health, life and death.”
Thank you to North Atlantic Books and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In this heartfelt memoir, Chenxing Han writes a beautiful dedication to a dear friend, recounting how her work began to exist as she studied to become a chaplain. As she meets people from all walks of life in their most vulnerable states, Han also contemplates her friendship with her roommate. This book’s prose is incredibly personal and reflective. It emphasises the beauty of life, self-growth, and finding the words to be able to express profound love for family and friends.
Thank you to North Atlantic Books and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
In this heartfelt memoir, Chenxing Han writes a beautiful dedication to a dear friend, recounting how her work began to exist as she studied to become a chaplain. As she meets people from all walks of life in their most vulnerable states, Han also contemplates her friendship with her roommate. This book’s prose is incredibly personal and reflective. It emphasises the beauty of life, self-growth, and finding the words to be able to express profound love for family and friends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2023
Wow. I don't know what I expected going into this, but this was so much more than I could have imagined. She has a way with words that is at once beautiful, unexpected, tragic, and hopeful. The book deeply touched me, as a 1.75 generation Chinese immigrant, as a woman, as a person living in this world filled with sickness and dying and grief.
I can't remember the last time I finished a book and immediately wanted everyone I know to read it too. My words here won't do the book justice. I recommend getting both the physical book and listening along to the audiobook at the same time. There's so much depth in each, so much nuance you'd miss if you limit yourself to a single medium.
Anyone that's ever lost someone, or will lose someone, will find empathy, sorrow, and joy in these pages. This book is one long listening.
I can't remember the last time I finished a book and immediately wanted everyone I know to read it too. My words here won't do the book justice. I recommend getting both the physical book and listening along to the audiobook at the same time. There's so much depth in each, so much nuance you'd miss if you limit yourself to a single medium.
Anyone that's ever lost someone, or will lose someone, will find empathy, sorrow, and joy in these pages. This book is one long listening.
March 6, 2023
I have a feeling the version of this in actual book form will make a bit more sense than the ARC did.
This book was moving, even if I had a harder time following along and figuring things out. It was a great reminder of the impermanence of life, home, family, and all we tend to feel will constantly be in existence. Chenxing's life sharing shows us how nuanced our lives can be, yet how similar to others - how small connections have great impacts - and how we all deal with our life's path in our own way.
This book was moving, even if I had a harder time following along and figuring things out. It was a great reminder of the impermanence of life, home, family, and all we tend to feel will constantly be in existence. Chenxing's life sharing shows us how nuanced our lives can be, yet how similar to others - how small connections have great impacts - and how we all deal with our life's path in our own way.
June 6, 2023
The more I read the more frustrated I got with the comments in various languages that weren't translated. There are transliterations at the end, but I have the feeling I'm missing a lot. I wish I could piece together more of her stories. The episodes from her time as chaplain were moving, which is why I'm giving this a four-star rating.
December 22, 2023
Poetic, and insightful, and the deeply meaningful buddhist perspective were touching and indelible. Listening to it an audio is a bonus with the singing bowl chime between thoughts, inviting the reader to meditate on Chenxing's wisdom, words, humility, and experience. As a chaplain myself, I really appreciated being able to resonate, and listen alongside. Good read.
November 16, 2024
This is an unusual book -- a blend of memoir and poetry -- but it's one I'm glad I happened upon. Han has some very interesting stories to tell and writes beautifully. Reading this gave me the same feeling as talking to someone about my own grief or listening to theirs; grief shared is grief lessened.
February 14, 2023
It started out really intriguing. I'm not at all familiar with chaplaincy, and it was interesting to learn more. But as it went on the the prose and plot and asides and personal notes blurred together, I couldn't keep myself interested.
Received a free copy on Netgalley.
Received a free copy on Netgalley.
July 6, 2023
Interesting perspective on grief.
July 11, 2023
This is kind of like a diary from a Chaplin!!! There are some words of wisdom here!
December 11, 2023
Heart-wrenching and deeply personal. A window into how grief is so personal, and also so universal.
April 23, 2023
I received this from NetGalley and I really enjoyed. Told by a Buddhist chaplain as they experience and learn their new profession and about life.
July 27, 2023
Poignant reflections on grief, friendship, and identity
December 20, 2023
[ 3.5/5 stars ]
ONE LONG LISTENING is a stream-of-consciousness memoir about Chenxing Han as an immigrant daughter, writer, chaplain and traveler.
Han's desire to go back to her roots and connect with the culture resonates with me - I often think about the karmic causes and conditions; and affinity and togetherness, ingrained in Chinese culture. I personally love the Chinese proverbs/myths and how four words can be so full of meaning. The lyrical prose, permeated with poetic and romantic feels of Chinese culture, adds a layer of sensitivity to the words.
A few sections that I enjoyed reading are the analysis of different accents between Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland Mandarin; also the way we share similar experience of writing Chinese characters while making random annotations because it feels more practical. While the brief mention of cultural elements such as Monkey King and Teresa Teng warms my heart, the inclusion of animals (dog, crane,..) offers different kind of consciousness, almost melancholic.
For the most part of the book, Han dives deep into chaplaincy (in the US and military), detailing her experience as (volunteer) chaplain at the hospital. She navigates through boundaries while getting attached to the patients, whose stories are cycles of hopes and sadness. Just like the author, one is able to learn about spiritual care and support, in an attempt to not let frustrations and opacities linger.
Infused with meditation and Zen practice, this memoir examines sickness, grief, friendship and happiness through spiritual lens. There are also memories of travel and association with Buddhism in Southeast Asia, giving a balance of joy to the narrative. The short chapters and fragmented structure read quick, and the footnotes embody a familiar and hilarious tone. The pages are filled with parts like diary, exposing the author's more heartfelt side.
ONE LONG LISTENING is evocative and vague at times, pulsing with emotions in its intimacy. For those who enjoy a memoir with cultural and spiritual touch, I recommend this book.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - North Atlantic Books . All opinions are my own ]
ONE LONG LISTENING is a stream-of-consciousness memoir about Chenxing Han as an immigrant daughter, writer, chaplain and traveler.
Han's desire to go back to her roots and connect with the culture resonates with me - I often think about the karmic causes and conditions; and affinity and togetherness, ingrained in Chinese culture. I personally love the Chinese proverbs/myths and how four words can be so full of meaning. The lyrical prose, permeated with poetic and romantic feels of Chinese culture, adds a layer of sensitivity to the words.
A few sections that I enjoyed reading are the analysis of different accents between Taiwanese Mandarin and Mainland Mandarin; also the way we share similar experience of writing Chinese characters while making random annotations because it feels more practical. While the brief mention of cultural elements such as Monkey King and Teresa Teng warms my heart, the inclusion of animals (dog, crane,..) offers different kind of consciousness, almost melancholic.
For the most part of the book, Han dives deep into chaplaincy (in the US and military), detailing her experience as (volunteer) chaplain at the hospital. She navigates through boundaries while getting attached to the patients, whose stories are cycles of hopes and sadness. Just like the author, one is able to learn about spiritual care and support, in an attempt to not let frustrations and opacities linger.
Infused with meditation and Zen practice, this memoir examines sickness, grief, friendship and happiness through spiritual lens. There are also memories of travel and association with Buddhism in Southeast Asia, giving a balance of joy to the narrative. The short chapters and fragmented structure read quick, and the footnotes embody a familiar and hilarious tone. The pages are filled with parts like diary, exposing the author's more heartfelt side.
ONE LONG LISTENING is evocative and vague at times, pulsing with emotions in its intimacy. For those who enjoy a memoir with cultural and spiritual touch, I recommend this book.
[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - North Atlantic Books . All opinions are my own ]
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews