"I am here alone for the first time in weeks," May Sarton begins this book, "to take up my 'real' life again at last. That is what is strange―that friends, even passionate love,are not my real life, unless there is time alone in which to explore what is happening or what has happened." In this journal, she says, "I hope to break through into the rough, rocky depths,to the matrix itself. There is violence there and anger never resolved. My need to be alone is balanced against my fear of what will happen when suddenly I enter the huge empty silence if I cannot find support there." In this book, we are closer to the marrow than ever before in May Sarton's writing.

Het lijkt een eenvoudig boek met natuurbeschrijvingen en gedachten maar het is zeker iets om over na te denken. Het thema eenzaamheid: enerzijds belangrijk om productief te kunnen zijn en iets om naar te verlangen, anderzijds is er de behoefte aan relaties en het delen van ervaringen en gezelligheid. ( )

This book was recommended to me by a client who struggles with needing solitude as much as I do -- yet also fears the inevitable loneliness that comes with it. I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up JOURNAL OF A SOLITUDE. I don't typically read books written nearly 5 decades ago. Still, I love getting glimpses into people's journals and understanding their innermost, intimate thoughts.

I loved Sarton's observations on women, creativity, and the need for solitude. Those passages touched me deeply, and I found myself taking notes and lamenting how little has changed in 50 years. However, I was bored by Sarton's obsession with flowers, gardening, and the birds in her backyard.

I've seen some criticism that calls Sarton self-absorbed, but we ARE reading a journal here. I think people who bemoan her focus on introspection forget that self-exploration is exactly what journaling is for. This is true even when someone writes a journal with the ultimate intent to publish it (as Sarton admitted in a later interview). Overall, this was a quick, easy read with some gut-wrenching observations sprinkled in among a love letter to nature. ( )

Yes. This. ( )

This is not my first time reading May's journals, but it's my first re-read since the invention of the Goodreads app, so I'm just recording the date I finished my latest re-read, if that makes any sense. ( )