Customer Reviews

Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong

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I can sympathize with the reviewer who found this book to be "vague, wordy, ambiguous, contradictory, and or no practical help." If you turn to John O'Donohue for a practicum on Celtic spirituality you will be similarly confounded.

All of O'Donohue's books are image-intensive lyrics for the songs of our souls. They are not meant to be discursive or systematic, nor are they in any way beholden to canons of Anglo-Saxon verb-driven prose. Perhaps the best way to appreciate this or any of his books is to sit in your garden with a cup of strong tea, a thick slice of toasted bread with butter or marmalade, and a copy of this book, and take small mouthfuls of each allowing time between to savor and digest.

A month ago I moved into my first home. As I made packing arrangements I had to decide which books I wanted to leave unpacked and keep near my side as I went through the transition. I chose one book I had read "Anam Cara" and one title I had yet to read "Eternal Echoes: Exploring Our Yearning to Belong."

O'Donohue's "Anam Cara" had already brought me tremendous joy and peace, yet a bit of a wake-up call, too. It felt like a good, trusty friend who will always be there whenever the need arises. I'm nearly two-thirds through "Eternal Echoes" and "the friend" is taking me on yet another wonderful journey -- a celebration of home and all that home represents. At least, that's my interpretation. Others, I'm sure, will be touched by other qualities of the work.

O'Donohue's writing is wonderful and, in many ways, his prose reminds me of Bruce Chatwin's writing in "On the Black Hill" and some of Chatwin's travel pieces. Except O'Donohue writing is an excellent companion for the travelling soul.

Mr. O'Donohue, in his masterful book - Eternal Echoes, takes you on an exquisitely organized, vastly scenic, interpretive journey through the corridors of the human soul. His profound knowledge and sensitivities in the realm of the human condition are astounding; and the language, with which he chooses to impart these insights to the reader, is equally fantastic. With lyric like imagery, he weaves words that touch the senses like beautiful music - pure literary excellence!

"It takes a lifetime of slow work to find a rhythm of thinking which reflects and articulates the uniqueness of your soul" - John O'Donohue

Eternal Echoes will forever rattle around in the brain, helping you gain a better understanding of others and, more importantly, a better understanding of yourself! READ this book! It will move you, amaze you, and give you a new appreciation of what it means to be human!

John O' Donohue writes this very spiritual book with a simplicity that is hard to match. It touched deep into my soul on subjects such as friendship and relationships, prayer and the planet that we think is so modern and civilized. In my perspective, the ideas he wrote in the book were already known to me and did not have a sense of wonder anymore; little did I know that I had not considered other aspects and perspectives. The book is elegantly written. It touches many feelings and provides a sense of realism to a world that seems to be consumed by functionality. It is an excellent book to read and understand the Celtic beliefs and traditions and the reason why we are the way we are today.

I could go on for a long time about the book. Let me just say that in singing its way into my brain, heart and soul with the beauty and resonance of its words, it also challenges me in more ways than can be written down, or should be written down. If you buy it -- you must -- get ready for a real ride of a lifetime.

I love this book, it touches the heart and soul. It expresses our inner beings like a layman never could. It makes you want to be all you can be ever and forever and forever. I also read Anam Cara and thought very highly of it as well. He knows the human being inside and out.

John O'Donohue gently counsels us while he walks the circles of time, gesturing to us to yeild to the compassionate mystery that is Life. His voice finds its echoe in the words of many poets. By quoting the elegant words of many cultures, he convenes a legion of comfortable friends to accompany the reader on his or her contemplative path.

A page by page beauty. The prose glows and the wondrous thing about reading John O'Donohue is that he gives you the gift of being yourself. The words are keys, one after another, to such deep and warm places in the heart. A fine, fine book.

As with John O'Donohue's other works, this resonates with the spirit of the Celtic world. His words are always like poetry and a comfort and joy to read, as well as an inspiration to look at life on a more personal/spiritual basis and less on a neon mechanical level. If you like Mr. O'Donohue's books, I strongly recommend his audio tapes, as he has a wonderful Irish brogue that lends an even more delightful quality to his words

This book is from the soul, and we all need soul food every now and again. I picked it up in Ireland while chilling out from a broken marriage and it spoke to me like no other book has ever done. With prose like exquisite poetry, John O' Donohue touches the soul with a true taste of spirituality.

Very inspirational, it's wonderful to read a work of art that is so "biblical" in it's ability to motivate. It speaks metaphorically,pragmatically and is grounded in common sense. I'm looking forward to reading it again, and then sometime later, again.