Lying Awake: A Novel Audiobook

" A little dull and frustrating. I found the lifestyle of cloistered nuns self centered rather than philanthropic, and than was frustrating. Maybe that was the intention of the author, too portray a cloistered religious lifestyle as hypocritical. "

" A beautifully written novel about a Carmelite nun in present-day Los Angeles with temporal lobe epilepsy. Salzman's prose is lyrical and rich. I enjoyed the book very much. "

" Interesting look into a society--cloistered nuns--that I had no idea about. "

" Salzman is oblique, contemporarily so. His writing is brilliant, but not the style I enjoy most. "

" Mark Salzman describes life in a convent as if he is a nun himself. He's a magician of a writer. Very exact. "

" Umm it was Well written, but I just couldn't get into it I got half way thru:( "

" A thought provoking novel that questions the authenticity of faith and belief. "

" A gripping story of a nun experiencing visions of God. Or is she? "

" If my memory serves me right, this is a quiet, beautiful book. I just bought it for my shelves the other day and plan to read it again shortly. "

" A beautiful story about keeping faith even in times of darkness and loneliness. "

" Interesting but not great. The fact that a man wrote about a nun's life in a cloistered convent was intriguing. "

" Quite a simple premise but told with a delicate touch throughout. Interesting to see someone coming to terms with an illness within the framework of profound religion. Told by a character willing to admit she doesn't have all the answers. "

" A nearly perfect meditation on faith and holy doubt in fiction form. "

" A beautiful novel about faith and doubt, selfishness and community...it is a really quick read, but rich. "

" I found the description of this book so fascinating that I was slightly disappointed by the book itself. That said, it was thought-provoking and short enough to avoid getting bogged down. I would recommend it just for the questions it raises. "

" Was hoping it would go more into the psychology of the main character. Very interesting premise. "

" This book was recommended to me by a new friend that was a monk for 30 years, and is now retired. It is about the inner life and thoughts of nuns in a LA convent. I found this book fascinating. "

" The book was about a guy name salzman that explores neurological illness and micastic life,which means that he wants to mostly get respect and experience his self and he is trying to reach beyond experience to heart to religious.Also I think that he wants to respect the religious too. "

" A celebrated novelist must face her faithfulness midway through her vocation as a nun. "

" A thoughtful book. Perhaps better the more you know about the Catholic church, but I found it calm and peaceful. And it discussed many issues about the religous experience. "

" A really superb, humane book. "

" I'm always fascinated by cloistered nuns, so this was up my alley. It's a well-written and thoughtful book. "

" A really fascinating crisis of faith. it's a taut narrative, but lacks some of the power it could have had. "

" This short novel is a small, perfect piece of marvelous incandescent amazingness. That's all I want to say except that everyone should read it. "

" A thoughtful book. Perhaps better the more you know about the Catholic church, but I found it calm and peaceful. And it discussed many issues about the religous experience. "

" I found this one confused me sometimes...I never knew when the main character was having a hallucination or having a real experience or writing poetry. Yet, I read it in 2 days. "

" If my memory serves me right, this is a quiet, beautiful book. I just bought it for my shelves the other day and plan to read it again shortly. "

" Interesting book about a nun who has visions because of a brain tumor. I didn't like her choice at the end, though. "

" I read this a few years ago, though not remembering until part-way into the book. There are some interesting things to think of, including what is done with a cheerful heart vs. doing ones duty regardless of wanting to or not. "

" This is an outstanding book. It's a very quick read as it's only 181 pages, but it is written brilliantly and with such tenderness that once you're into it it's hard to think that you are not a nun too (and I'm not religious at all). I highly recommend it. "

" Nun who has seizures is afraid of a remedying surgery which may take away her connection to God. "

" This isn't a bad book or poorly written, just not one that I was interested in. Read it as part of my book group. It has too much prayer and not enough story for me. A much better book on cloistered nuns is Karen Armstrong's Through the Narrow Gate. "

" The book was about a guy name salzman that explores neurological illness and micastic life,which means that he wants to mostly get respect and experience his self and he is trying to reach beyond experience to heart to religious.Also I think that he wants to respect the religious too. "

" A beautiful story about keeping faith even in times of darkness and loneliness. "

" Was hoping it would go more into the psychology of the main character. Very interesting premise. "