The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found [Hardcover]

Frederick Buechner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1999

Frederick Buechner is beloved for showing his readers the way to be a literate, complex Christian in the modern world. In The Eyes of the Heart he revisits the incidents that made his previous memoirs so haunting, enhancing them with the perspective he has gained in his later years, bred by the maturity that comes from a lifetime of exploring his faith through writing. By evoking the ghosts of his past -- including the deceased poet James Merrill, his best friend -- he is better able to comprehend his own mortality. A moving memoir, this is "an excursion through personal and family memories, and a meditation on death as part of life" (New York Times).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unlike some Christian writers, Frederick Buechner has never claimed to have a ringside seat to the truth. "I have seen with the eyes of the heart the great hope to which he has called us," he writes, "but out of shyness ... I rarely speak of it, and in my books I have tended to write about it for the most part only obliquely." This very reticence, however, is one of the qualities that most endears this writer to his fans: we trust him all the more because he does not deny his own doubts. A novelist, preacher, and essayist beloved by the thoughtful (and the doubtful), this new memoir follows the quiet and yet probing style of the three that precede it (Now and Then, Telling Secrets, and The Sacred Journey). Here, as he moves into his 70s, Buechner explores more deeply and with greater personal poignancy his familiar subjects of loss, death, and faith, acknowledging that these three issues still revolve around his own father's suicide when Buechner was 9. Including delightful and honest reminiscences of his childhood friend, the great poet James Merrill, along with rich and loving memories of family members and books, Buechner writes the way many of us feel--with moments of glory that shoot through the grayness. Those who know his earlier work will not be disappointed by this continuation of the journey; those new to him will find a suitable entry point to the path right here. --Doug Thorpe

From Publishers Weekly

Its cloying title aside, this fourth memoir by the Pulitzer Prize-nominated author (Godric) is elegant, understated and elegiac. As the reader is guided through the author's libraryAhis "Magic Kingdom"Avarious books, manuscripts and mementos become the stimulus for meditations about Christian faith and about the people who have touched his life. We read at length about the folly of writing a novel about Jesus; to do so, the ordained minister writes, "would be to cheapen and somehow dishonor the bond between us." We see the author's fatherAwho committed suicide at the age of 38Anot only as a distant figure, alcoholic and adulterous ("the empty place at [the] center" of Buechner's childhood), but as a charismatic Princeton alumnus who once seemed so full of promise. The memoir's penultimate chapter is a tribute to the author's beloved brother, Jamie, who died as Buechner was finishing the bookAhe had called and said he had "incurable cancer of virtually everything and didn't intend to be around for more than two weeks if he could possibly help it." Such a momentAa pitch-perfect blend of tenderness and sardonic lyricismAtypifies the poetic intensity of the memoir. Also of note is the second chapter, about Buechner's friend, the late poet James Merrill, who appears in the author's dreams: "and it is always goodbye that we are saying again as if to make up for never having had the chance to say it properly." Acknowledging at once the intensity of their bond and the married minister's puzzlement at the alien pleasures of an unapologetically homosexual man, this chapter exemplifies the memoir's adroit equipoise, unsparing and loving at once. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1ST edition (November 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062516388
• ISBN-13: 978-0062516381
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for fans; not a good Buechner intro, June 11, 2000

By 

Matthew T. Phillips (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found (Hardcover)

Fans of Frederick Buechner's work will want to read this novel for the depth of understanding he provides regarding his relationships with his family and his appreciation of the family history, but persons who have not read his other memoirs (especially Sacred Journey, but also Now and Then, Telling Secrets, and the Longing for Home) will want to start with them to get a better introduction to Buechner's life. It is, though, a great resource for understanding the inspirations in his life, and his trademark style shines well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful, beautifully written memoir, December 31, 2002

By 

"mambasso" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found (Paperback)

A wonderful, beautifully written memoir of loved ones Buechner remembers and love ones for whom he wishes he remembered more. Basis of books and objects from his library is one part of the charm. The other, however, can not be described without dispelling part of the enchantment of the first chapter.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I need to speak a word for the beauty of this book, December 4, 2006

By 

joe "jody" (Alabama) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost and Found (Paperback)

I have been a fan of Mr. Buechner's for a long time and his writings have touched me very deeply. This book was read at a crucial time in my life when my mother was not well. It means more to me than I can say, now that mom is with the Lord in heaven. Mr. Buechner has always touched my heart, but the poignancy of his writing affected me deeply. Just wanted to drop my 5 stars in for this book, seeing how some reviewers didn't value it that much. To me, it is one of his best books. I treasure it.