Customer Reviews

Migrations to Solitude: The Quest for Privacy in a Crowded World

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Migrations to Solitude and I recommend the book for its subject matter, which is the quest for privacy in a crowded world. The book is divided into 12 "profoundly original" essays that have a common thread of a spiritual journey. I felt very much connected to the author while reading the book and I didn't want the book to end.

The book was published in 1992 prior to the current invasion of privacy by the present administration. I wonder what Helperin would have written if she knew the invasiveness of Big Brother in our lives today. A quest for Solitude today might be impossible now in our society and all of the places of solitudes are perhaps gone for ever like the Dodo bird.

I first came upon the writings of Ms. Halpern on the bookshelf in the Nature Conservancy in Silver City (NM) - (which now is apparently one more victim of the Great Recession). It was her book, "Four Wings and A Prayer" about the monarch butterfly, and its epic migrations. I found the subject fascinating; and Halpern's coverage of it, and her writing style excellent. Thus, what better recommendation for a book covering two overlapping topics of immense interest: solitude and privacy.

Halpern has a journalist background - of the better kind - and this book is composed of 12 engaging stories. All were written almost 20 years ago, long before the much more intrusive examinations of airline passengers, and numerous other measures taken under the so-called "war on terror," which reduce our privacy. The first and last stories are different from the others, with the first involving Halpern's experience moving to a small town: more neighborliness, and less privacy, and the last involving a solo camping trip on a lake in upstate NY. The other 10 cover a wide gamut of experiences in America of the early `90's, and the author has a good sense in selecting vignettes that are fascinating in themselves: efforts to feed and house the homeless in NYC; two hermits who have lived in the Adirondacks, "off the grid," for 40 years; a prisoner on death row in Louisiana; the Trappist monastery in Gethsemani, Kentucky; the care of AIDS patients in LA; the death of a teenager, from a botched abortion in Indiana; a friend dying of AIDS, and it was not recognized; two stories about the thugs who make a very good living out of invading our privacy, and discovering secrets, all for a price, of course; and finally, 23 hours in an ICU in NYC. There was not a weak story, and it was difficult to select only one favorite, but I'd choose the reaction of the parents to their daughter's death in Indiana.

One of the most jarring aspects of the book was a reminder that in the early 90's AIDS was prominently in the news, with friends and associates dying from this then incurable disease. Now, half a million Americans have HIV, and the overall death rate has only dropped by half, from around 80,000 a year in the early 90's to 40,000, yet the topic has been airbrushed out of the media.

While I loved the stories in and of themselves, I can only give the book a 4-star rating because there was no effort to present any sort of unifying theme that illustrated how each episode tied to the purported topics of solitude and privacy. Sure, the reader could deduce some aspect of privacy, or the lack of same, in each story, but the book could equally have been Migrations to Death, and the aging process.

An excellent read, but be prepared to DIY in determining how these stories all relate to privacy and solitude, and what meaning we might derive. Highly recommended for the next airplane flight!

This book is comprised of thoughtful essays all dealing with the theme of solitude.
Solitude is examined from varies perspectives and environments - a hospital inten-
sive care unit, a homeless shelter, high-tech spy operations and a Buddhist Monas-
tery. I highly recommend this book.