Customer Reviews

The Listener

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This book, published in 1960, tells the story of 15 "souls" -- people from many walks of life -- from judges and doctors to a humble, devout cleaning lady. Each person goes into a sanctuary like building to spend time with "The Listener."

I won't tell you who "The Listener" is. You might guess, and you might not. But one thing I can guarantee -- your life won't be the same after you read this book. You can be Catholic, Protestant (with all the variations therein) or even a Hindu, Moslem or Jew, and be challenged by reading this book.

Through these 15 stories, Taylor Caldwell expresses more about the real essence of Christianity than all of the "Doctrinal" books I have read -- and as a PK (preacher's kid) I've read a lot of them. This describes more than a "religion." It is a relationship with the real originator of Christianity.

We have a lot of garbage being promoted in the name of religion today -- and a lot of it is in the name of religion, and trying to be carried out politically. It's easy to forget that Jesus Christ Himself was notoriously apolitical. He was about REAL spirituality -- something that starts in the innermost part of a person and spreads outward.

The message of this beautiful book is as important today as it was when it was written. The fact that circumstances and cultures have changed is irrelevant -- human nature hasn't changed at all.

Read this story. It will be among the most worthwhile time you've spent.

I am a Hindu believer by birth, The Listener is one of those few rare books that opened up my horizon to the truth and suffering of Christ (and human beings. In fact, this book gives me watery eyes every time I read it, and I read it often. The New Testament was written by The Apostles in The Apostles` words, while The Listener is The New Testament written by and in the laymen`s words.

This book has become a favorite of mine - it's a classic! I plan to recommend it to many of my family & friends - & I highly recommend it to you too!

The chapters in this book are actually categorized as "souls" - each one dealing with 1 person who came to "the Listener" in a broken state, and left healed (in more ways than one).

This book has the potential to really hit home - showing that we ALL have problems (no one is immune), and that we are NEVER really alone - a concept that is so easy to forget these days.

I don't want to spill the beans re: who the listener is, but after you read the first chapter you'll instinctivly know (if not by the first chapter, then definitely by the second). Once your realize who it is, it will serve as a reminder that we all have a "listener" - available any time, day or night.

I read The Listener in the 60's before I went to Vietnam. As a combat soldier in very frightening conditions I oftened remembered the calm I had when I read The Listener. Recreating that calm in my heart helped me live through that war. I remember it today, thirty years later as I reflect on my relationship with Christ. The Listener was an unknown messenger that Christ sent to help me. If you read this book you will become mesmerized by Christ's power and love.

If you never felt like anyone ever really listened to you, then come here and enter The Listener's unique chamber. He doesn't say a word. He listens to all your problems or perceived threats, jealousies, sins, resentments, guilts or whatever devil is hounding you, without judgement or condemnation. You will leave the chamber with deep reflection about your life, maybe relief, at the very least understanding human frailities and man's often vicious and petty nature and how love transcends and lets you feel like you are not alone. I have read his book many times through different stages of my life, passed it on to a few
in times of trouble or fear, or just out of pure joy. You will not regret picking up this loving novella of short stories within the big chapter of life.

I enjoyed watching the vignettes of broken lives getting restored as people saw or met The Man Who Listens. The technique of having the characters unwittingly ask questions that reveal attributes of the Man, are also powerful, at least the first few times this technique is used. The person who wrote this book clearly must have been a reflective observer of humanity.

However, I was most disappointed by the ending. After going through a litany of 14 individuals whose lives have been warped by their own or others' evil, the author constructs an ending that would require people choosing to do good! Nevertheless, I did enjoy the flavor of the ending, and how it reflected the Cold War era in which it was written (1961).

The Listener has helped me through many crisis. It returns to my mind when most needed. It is a book that can not be put down and never be forgotten.

I began reading Taylor Caldwell as a teenager in the 1980s. I thought that she was just another romance writer at the time. However, as I have grown and my literary tastes have evolved, I find myself coming back to Taylor again and again. There is something far more than simply a good story or interesting characters in Taylor's writing. She is a spiritual writer, a woman with great insight and depth who understands the suffering of humanity, and the hope that lives beyond this ephemeral world. At the ripe old age of 40 I am reading The Listener for the very first time. I feel like I have reconnected with a long lost friend. The writer's kind and knowing voice serves as a kind of spiritual guide.
The story is quite simple. People go to a quiet sanctuary to meet with a "listener" in private. At first, the individuals are timid and uncertain of the listener's identity. Is he a psychiatrist, a physician, a clergyman? The troubled individual bears his or her soul to the listener and gradually experiences a sense of peace, grace and forgiveness. At the close of the session, the individual encounters "the listener" beyond the blue curtains and is overwhelmed by what he or she sees. It is a mystical experience, what one imagines to be a vision of Christ.
Taylor's main message is this: we can go through our entire lives, if we will it so, in a virtual fog of ego and delusion. Then, if we are lucky, "blessed" some might say, we will be given a single moment of grace in which the scales fall from our eyes and all at once, we see the truth of who we are and the purpose of our existences as mortals on this earth. That moment is both humbling and painful- and yet it brings us tremendous meaning and joy. Read this book as you would read sacred script of any religion- with reverance and gratitude.

This book truly illustrates God's love and His willingness to listen to our heart cries. Everyone who goes before the "Listener" comes away rested and at peace. Taylor Caldwell did an excellent job of portraying a loving Father who truly wants to hear his childrens heart cries. I highly recommend this book. You won't be able to put it down!

I loved this book, I read it again and again. If someone asks what my alltime favorite book is, this is the title that comes directly to mind. This gets to the core of all things. What is Love? We are here to Love, why else would we exist?! Without fear we would all love so much more, so easily, like children. Be like children and experience true joy! You haven't lived till you read this book! Can you tell I loved it!!