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There are currently 15 member reviews
for The Journal Keeper
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Linda A. (Palo Alto, CA)
Wise and Wonderful
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.
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Nancy C. (Overland Park,
The Journal Keeper by Phyllis Theroux
This is a book with a definite appeal, especially for someone close to Ms. Theroux’s age. However, it will be of interest to anyone who keeps a journal, would like to keep a journal, or is just interested in the musings of another person. My only quarrel with this book is that it may be a little too long. By the end it was beginning to be irritating; there was too much carping about the details of her relationship with Ragan. Perhaps, everyone begins to carp at that age. The writing was excellent and it was interesting to learn about Ms Theroux’s relationship with her mother. This was an exceptionally close relationship and was really heartwarming.
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Karen J. (Bremerton, WA)
Uneven
Captures six years of the author's life. A sketchbook of events, impressions, favorite quotes, observations…. I found my attention wandering in parts but deeply engaged in others. It was a bit uneven for me. Interesting, thought provoking at times, but not as good as some other memoirs I've read.
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Julie M. (Bloomington, MN)
Extraordinary in the Ordinary
This book is like a collection of mini essays about everyday life of a women and Theroux gives new meaning to ordinary daily events in her life and ours. Perfect to read in short spurts because each section will make you want to pause and ponder. Very Good.
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Kristina K. (Glendale, CA)
A Walk Through Life
"The Journal Keeper" is a walk through several years of Theroux's life during her later years that she recorded in a series of journal entries. At first the obvious life lessons in her entries felt too pat or contrived (or maybe I just complain a lot more in my own journal), but then I felt myself getting into the rhythm of the author's life. I could feel a balance emerging between her daily struggle with maintaining her spiritual life, her creative life, and paying the bills. I realized I share a lot of her inner conflicts, her self-consciousness, her self-critical tendencies, but I also share the recognition of those crystalline moments of poetry within the mundane world. (I was also shocked to realize we share a friend in common!) She deals with loss on so many levels, as we all do, particularly all the little losses of aging. Yet her journal entries also allow hope and humor to rise to the surface as life does go on.
I feel Theroux's journal entries are best savored a little at a time. Their effect is like having had a conversation with a good friend whose insights will stick with you throughout your day.
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Laura L. (Providence, RI)
The Journal Keeper
This book is not light material. She touches on items such as death, relationships, spirituality, being a writer. At times I found myself swept into her emotional world. She teaches the reader how to think about writing , and what internal life is like for a writer. She also muses about being alone vs. in a relationship. She put words to a lot of different subjects. This book is not for everyone, and some might find the first part depressing ( I did at times). If you don't mind a serious read I recommend this book.
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Laura A. (Jeremiah, Kentucky)
A very introspective memoir
I thought "the Journal Keeper" was a fair read. It is a memoir that deals very little with actual events in the author's life and much more with her emotions and thoughts about her life. I think that I sometimes think too much but she takes it to an entire new level and then some. It definitely makes you realize that we never really know what someone else is really thinking or feeling in their lives.
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