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Migrations to Solitude: The Quest for Privacy in a Crowded World
Profoundly original essays from the author of Summer Hours at the Robbers Library about the nature of solitude and privacy in a culture where our laws, technology, and lifestyles are increasingly chipping away at them both.
Why do we often long for solitude but dread loneliness? What happens when the walls we build around ourselves are suddenly removed—or made impenetrable? If privacy is something we can count as a basic right, why are chipping it away?
These are some of the themes that Sue Halpern eloquently explores in these essays. In pursuit of the riddle of solitude, Halpern talks to Trappist monks and secular hermits, corresponds with a prisoner in solitary confinement, and visits and AIDS hospice and a shelter for the homeless places where privacy is the first—and perhaps the most essential—thing to go. This is a book that lends weight to the ideas that have become dangerously abstract in a society of data bases and car faxes, a guide not only to the routes of solitude but to the selves we discover only when we arrive there.
Why do we often long for solitude but dread loneliness? What happens when the walls we build around ourselves are suddenly removed—or made impenetrable? If privacy is something we can count as a basic right, why are chipping it away?
These are some of the themes that Sue Halpern eloquently explores in these essays. In pursuit of the riddle of solitude, Halpern talks to Trappist monks and secular hermits, corresponds with a prisoner in solitary confinement, and visits and AIDS hospice and a shelter for the homeless places where privacy is the first—and perhaps the most essential—thing to go. This is a book that lends weight to the ideas that have become dangerously abstract in a society of data bases and car faxes, a guide not only to the routes of solitude but to the selves we discover only when we arrive there.
212 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
11 people are currently reading
252 people want to read
About the author
Sue Halpern
16 books135 followersSue Halpern lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont where she writes books and articles, consorts with her husband, the writer and activist Bill McKibben, looks forward to visits from their wonderful daughter Sophie, plays with their remarkably enthusiastic dog, and introduces Middlebury College students to digital audio storytelling. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and Rhodes Scholar with a doctorate from Oxford, the author of a book that was made an Emmy-nominated film as well as six others that weren’t, one-half of a therapy dog team, a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College, and a major supporter of the ice cream industry.
(from her website)
(from her website)
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
October 19, 2013
I have had this book around for some time, but have not read it.. bought it pre-kindle years. I took it on holiday last week as I did not want to read a book in an electronic device, and being near the sea I thought that essays on solitude would be a good read. I enjoyed most of the stories in this book, but since it was published in 1993, many of those discussions - especially about the government and technology would have changed drastically - so it was also a look back in time. So perhaps it was because of this that I found the latter half of the book less captivating and less focussed on solitude. They were well written essays, but it did not suck me in like the first and I think that had a lot to do with my timing of picking this one up.
September 7, 2019
Through succinct and visceral essays, Halpern’s Migrations to Solitude present a window into modern isolation in the 1990s. Halpern writes eloquently, and though there are issues with its relevance, her stories ranging from reverent Trappist monks to suffering AIDs patients offer a wide array of narratives within her scope.
While this book flies with Halpern’s concise prose, three chapters especially captivated me. One, “The Place of the Solitaires,” describes the self-sufficient pursuits of an aging Adirondack couple. Another, “A Room of One’s Own,” explores the forced isolation of death row inmates. The most haunting, “Telling the Truth,” recalls Becky Bell, a Missouri teenager who died after trying to abort her own child, a tragic result of being too afraid to seek the needed parental consent to terminate her pregnancy. All three essays were as compelling as they were objective. Halpern doesn’t make political or biased statements about her content or its collective focus. She merely reports what she saw, quoting words from Emerson, Thoreau, and Merton along the way, but challenging us to form our own perceptions on how solitude works in the modern world.
My only issue with this collection, one beyond Halpern’s control, is that these stories are rather dated. Solitude has certainly changed with advancements in social media and the smartphone (let alone the internet). But I appreciated Halpern’s presentation and what she had to offer on a subject of personal interest to me. I may use a couple of these essays in class this year.
While this book flies with Halpern’s concise prose, three chapters especially captivated me. One, “The Place of the Solitaires,” describes the self-sufficient pursuits of an aging Adirondack couple. Another, “A Room of One’s Own,” explores the forced isolation of death row inmates. The most haunting, “Telling the Truth,” recalls Becky Bell, a Missouri teenager who died after trying to abort her own child, a tragic result of being too afraid to seek the needed parental consent to terminate her pregnancy. All three essays were as compelling as they were objective. Halpern doesn’t make political or biased statements about her content or its collective focus. She merely reports what she saw, quoting words from Emerson, Thoreau, and Merton along the way, but challenging us to form our own perceptions on how solitude works in the modern world.
My only issue with this collection, one beyond Halpern’s control, is that these stories are rather dated. Solitude has certainly changed with advancements in social media and the smartphone (let alone the internet). But I appreciated Halpern’s presentation and what she had to offer on a subject of personal interest to me. I may use a couple of these essays in class this year.
August 8, 2022
A collection of short essays and stories, reflecting on themes of privacy and isolation (or lackthereof) in peoples lives. While there are important ideas here on what solitude means to people and explorations on what the deprivation of private space looks like, I felt that many of the book’s main points were scattered between lengthy narratives telling stories of people’s lives, making it feel, to me, a bit lost in its direction. That is not to say I didn’t enjoy most of the essays, they just seemed more concerned in illustrating a scene rather than exploring themes mentioned in the author’s note.
“Place is of consequence only to the extent that it encourages or demands the confrontation of the self by the self, which is solitude’s true vocation.”
“Place is of consequence only to the extent that it encourages or demands the confrontation of the self by the self, which is solitude’s true vocation.”
September 8, 2016
I started out being disappointed in this book and ended up hating it. it is one of a pair of books with solitude in the title I bought at my quaker meeting's used book sale a year ago this june. I'm going to read the next one next and I hope it is better.
so this is a series of essays - quite journalistic essays - that touch on really, more than solitude, privacy. she visits a hospice, she visits a monastery, she visits an icu, she goes camping by herself (but leaves because she sees too many boaters). she talks to a friend who is dying of AIDS but doesn't disclose that to her. she talks to a guy who sells spyware.
on the back are favorable blurbs by robert coles, terry tempest williams, and w.s. merwin. none of them are particular favorites of mine, but their combined endorsement seemed respectable. the author was a rhodes scholar. she's written for granta. all these elements lead me astray.
the book has narrow pages, with big margins at the top and bottom, and at the beginning of each chapter a small square photo is inset in the middle of the page. the photos are too small to be very interesting and you have to read around them, which is annoying. I found this design very jarring, as if this was some amazing spiritual classic to be savored.
I never had any reason to like the author, who didn't reveal much of herself. the book was published in the early 90s and in some of the essays, as I mentioned, there are AIDS patients from the tail end of the US crisis. she doesn't write much about her emotions about them. in the icu piece, there is a transgender woman dying of AIDS and the early 90s are not 2016 and there was not enough respect. not from the doctors and nurses whose conversations she is reporting, and certainly nothing forthcoming from her, she gives very little at all in this book. when she does give a detail about herself, I'm not impressed. she talks about how once a week in the morning (because she's a writer, she doesn't have a day job, I suspect she's living off the advance for this book), she bakes bread for her husband, although she's allergic to wheat and can't eat it. ugh. whatever.
my college boyfriend majored (we said concentrated in, did his div III in) literary nonfiction. I read a lot of his pieces and I read a lot of the books he was assigned to read. that is what this tries to be, and in my opinion, it fails. I didn't like this writing. she's very show instead of tell but she's just not that good. I see what she's trying to do but I just don't think she succeeds.
at some points, I was just mystified as to what she was doing:
"in the story of isaiah, god chastises the israelites for trusting the horses and chariots of the egyptians instead of trusting him. nowadays most of us might trust the chariots (especially if they were made in japan), but only a few are acquainted enough with horses to trust them, and even fewer still are acquainted with god. even so, it is clear that trusting god is the basis of religious faith.
similarly, trusting each other is the beginning of a certain secular faith, a faith that allows us to live in families and communities and nations."
what is that?? what? out of nowhere, a bible story, then a weak joke about chariots/cars, then a dig about how no one is religious anymore (she brings this up a few times during the book, despite her essay from a monastery, despite the rabbi she encounters in the icu). and all that random paragraph just so she can say we need to trust each other to live in community? so that in the end she can make some weak point about spy equipment, because she has gone to some spy equipment dealer. nope. crumple that page up and try again.
and this, from when she is camping:
"I feel safe inside this thin nylon skin, for no apparent reason. so safe, in fact, that once I have drawn in my world between its walls, I grow fearful of what's on the other side."
um, did you lose your way from one sentence to the next? I, too, have thought that it's odd we seem to feel a thin little tent is such a wall from the wilderness. ok, but then she just screws it up. I feel safe in my tent, so safe, that I don't feel safe in my tent anymore.
anyway, a book on privacy issues written in 1992 is dated now.
honestly, from the title, I thought this was going to be a book about people leaving society to spend more and more time alone. I read a book about silence that was like that, the author going various places to try to experience silence. but "solitude" or "privacy" was just a concept loosely tying the essays together. look, in the icu, people are not or barely able to communicate, so alone in the bustle, with no privacy. look at the monks, they don't talk so you have solitude with other people around. look at this guy, he wants to sell expensive equipment you can use to spy on people.
ugh. I went from disappointed to annoyed to really freaking annoyed. I ran a bath and got in it and didn't get out until I'd finished it because I wanted to get this book over with. I don't even want to put it in a little free library because then someone else will read it. if I was the kind of person who abandons books without finishing them (I have several I have started and not finished, but I *plan* to finish them, and it wasn't because I hated them, I just got bored or bogged down or something), I would have stopped reading this. it was not powerful, it was not fascinating, it was not moving, it was not informative. it was outdated and really rubbed me the wrong way. do not recommend.
so this is a series of essays - quite journalistic essays - that touch on really, more than solitude, privacy. she visits a hospice, she visits a monastery, she visits an icu, she goes camping by herself (but leaves because she sees too many boaters). she talks to a friend who is dying of AIDS but doesn't disclose that to her. she talks to a guy who sells spyware.
on the back are favorable blurbs by robert coles, terry tempest williams, and w.s. merwin. none of them are particular favorites of mine, but their combined endorsement seemed respectable. the author was a rhodes scholar. she's written for granta. all these elements lead me astray.
the book has narrow pages, with big margins at the top and bottom, and at the beginning of each chapter a small square photo is inset in the middle of the page. the photos are too small to be very interesting and you have to read around them, which is annoying. I found this design very jarring, as if this was some amazing spiritual classic to be savored.
I never had any reason to like the author, who didn't reveal much of herself. the book was published in the early 90s and in some of the essays, as I mentioned, there are AIDS patients from the tail end of the US crisis. she doesn't write much about her emotions about them. in the icu piece, there is a transgender woman dying of AIDS and the early 90s are not 2016 and there was not enough respect. not from the doctors and nurses whose conversations she is reporting, and certainly nothing forthcoming from her, she gives very little at all in this book. when she does give a detail about herself, I'm not impressed. she talks about how once a week in the morning (because she's a writer, she doesn't have a day job, I suspect she's living off the advance for this book), she bakes bread for her husband, although she's allergic to wheat and can't eat it. ugh. whatever.
my college boyfriend majored (we said concentrated in, did his div III in) literary nonfiction. I read a lot of his pieces and I read a lot of the books he was assigned to read. that is what this tries to be, and in my opinion, it fails. I didn't like this writing. she's very show instead of tell but she's just not that good. I see what she's trying to do but I just don't think she succeeds.
at some points, I was just mystified as to what she was doing:
"in the story of isaiah, god chastises the israelites for trusting the horses and chariots of the egyptians instead of trusting him. nowadays most of us might trust the chariots (especially if they were made in japan), but only a few are acquainted enough with horses to trust them, and even fewer still are acquainted with god. even so, it is clear that trusting god is the basis of religious faith.
similarly, trusting each other is the beginning of a certain secular faith, a faith that allows us to live in families and communities and nations."
what is that?? what? out of nowhere, a bible story, then a weak joke about chariots/cars, then a dig about how no one is religious anymore (she brings this up a few times during the book, despite her essay from a monastery, despite the rabbi she encounters in the icu). and all that random paragraph just so she can say we need to trust each other to live in community? so that in the end she can make some weak point about spy equipment, because she has gone to some spy equipment dealer. nope. crumple that page up and try again.
and this, from when she is camping:
"I feel safe inside this thin nylon skin, for no apparent reason. so safe, in fact, that once I have drawn in my world between its walls, I grow fearful of what's on the other side."
um, did you lose your way from one sentence to the next? I, too, have thought that it's odd we seem to feel a thin little tent is such a wall from the wilderness. ok, but then she just screws it up. I feel safe in my tent, so safe, that I don't feel safe in my tent anymore.
anyway, a book on privacy issues written in 1992 is dated now.
honestly, from the title, I thought this was going to be a book about people leaving society to spend more and more time alone. I read a book about silence that was like that, the author going various places to try to experience silence. but "solitude" or "privacy" was just a concept loosely tying the essays together. look, in the icu, people are not or barely able to communicate, so alone in the bustle, with no privacy. look at the monks, they don't talk so you have solitude with other people around. look at this guy, he wants to sell expensive equipment you can use to spy on people.
ugh. I went from disappointed to annoyed to really freaking annoyed. I ran a bath and got in it and didn't get out until I'd finished it because I wanted to get this book over with. I don't even want to put it in a little free library because then someone else will read it. if I was the kind of person who abandons books without finishing them (I have several I have started and not finished, but I *plan* to finish them, and it wasn't because I hated them, I just got bored or bogged down or something), I would have stopped reading this. it was not powerful, it was not fascinating, it was not moving, it was not informative. it was outdated and really rubbed me the wrong way. do not recommend.
October 21, 2022
Very misleading title. Had much more to do with privacy, or lack thereof. I wanted a book that would go into the experience of being alone, and give examples of people who live this way. Not even extreme instances as given in the book, but just day to day people that spend a lot of time alone. I think that would be a fascinating book. But that was not what this book was. I did not enjoy any of the essays really. It seemed like the author just wanted relate all these essays after she had written them, and went back and changed them slightly to make them all touch on privacy. Would not recommend.
January 23, 2020
This was not quite what I was expecting. It was less like reading a book about Waldon Pond and more about the forced solitude and lack of solitude that is afforded marginalized communities, who are ignored by most while being under constant surveillance by those who think they know what is best for them. In addition, some of the stories also did not age well.
February 21, 2021
This was written in 1994 and it is obviously out of date with a couple of the essays. However, it is still meaningful.
January 1, 2023
Halpern writes in the book's final chapter, "People talk about the silence of nature, but of course there is no such thing. What they mean is that /our/ voices are still, /our/ noises absent." Interviewing others is an interesting format for studying solitude & privacy. To write an interview piece, the author here must constrain the "self" to make room for another's voice and experiences. That is the "silence" of interviewing. However, the quiet background hum of the interviewer inevitably must return to its full fledged voice. Your private life ends as wet clay thrown onto the writer's pottery wheel, in complete mercy of their vision.
What does a contemplation on privacy mean when the means of doing so are publishing people's personal lives; recording minute details of a homeless woman hanging her coat on a water pipe or seeking out hermits- who fought very hard not to be found- to interview? This isn't an accusation of immorality (there was clearly consent from the interviewees and Halpern treats each with respect,) rather an open wondering. The book feels a tantalizing and teetering oxymoron.
Perhaps solitude, whose "true vocation" Halpbern describes as forcing the self to confront the self, necessitates this breaching of others' privacy. She writes that "solitude would appear to be defined by place as well as dependent upon it." Place, as understood here, can be interchangeable with "our relations with others." We must know others, breach their privacy, in order to know ourselves. In truth, if you were born into /true/ solitude and privacy, never encountering any other living being, would there ever arise a need to confront the self? The invention of selfhood only exists in order to help our minds relate to and distinguish from others; there is no "self" without "others" inasmuch as there would be no (oft referenced) Walden without Thoreau's mother and friends. As Halpbern writes when contemplating about why birds "sing" but trees "rustle, our concept here of firm distinctions is all a "learned, not intuitive" perception.
If "self" and "others" are a symbiotic entity- what is privacy? And is, perhaps, the invasion of others' privacy that Halpbern performs here only a more kindly-packaged form of the same exact parasitism which we all existentially require in order to sustain and continue our selfhood?
_______________________________
Standouts:
- "New Heaven and Earth"
- "The Place of Solitaries" (I appreciate so much the inclusion of Ned's poem)
- "A Room of One's Own"
What does a contemplation on privacy mean when the means of doing so are publishing people's personal lives; recording minute details of a homeless woman hanging her coat on a water pipe or seeking out hermits- who fought very hard not to be found- to interview? This isn't an accusation of immorality (there was clearly consent from the interviewees and Halpern treats each with respect,) rather an open wondering. The book feels a tantalizing and teetering oxymoron.
Perhaps solitude, whose "true vocation" Halpbern describes as forcing the self to confront the self, necessitates this breaching of others' privacy. She writes that "solitude would appear to be defined by place as well as dependent upon it." Place, as understood here, can be interchangeable with "our relations with others." We must know others, breach their privacy, in order to know ourselves. In truth, if you were born into /true/ solitude and privacy, never encountering any other living being, would there ever arise a need to confront the self? The invention of selfhood only exists in order to help our minds relate to and distinguish from others; there is no "self" without "others" inasmuch as there would be no (oft referenced) Walden without Thoreau's mother and friends. As Halpbern writes when contemplating about why birds "sing" but trees "rustle, our concept here of firm distinctions is all a "learned, not intuitive" perception.
If "self" and "others" are a symbiotic entity- what is privacy? And is, perhaps, the invasion of others' privacy that Halpbern performs here only a more kindly-packaged form of the same exact parasitism which we all existentially require in order to sustain and continue our selfhood?
_______________________________
Standouts:
- "New Heaven and Earth"
- "The Place of Solitaries" (I appreciate so much the inclusion of Ned's poem)
- "A Room of One's Own"
September 13, 2019
This book, about the human need for privacy, was written more than two decades ago but seems even more relevant today. Halpern explores the lives of people whose solitude is a matter of choice, punishment or condition.
May 1, 2023
This book started out strong and then just delved into chaos. There were chapters that just seemed to meander with info dumps or obscure stories that never got to a point that had to actually do with the topic of the book.
March 1, 2019
I think this book is dated and I was disappointed in the subject matter for some of the essays. I love this author, so I won't give up. This one just wasn't what I was expecting.
March 7, 2021
so bad
June 25, 2016
This book was not at all what I expected, based on it's title and blurb. It's really not about solitude, or at least not directly. It's more about privacy, I suppose, although the author chooses very political topics through which to address the issue--abortion rights, AIDS, the right to die and how modern medicine treats the dying, just to name a few. Although the book is over 20 years old, the topics she chooses are still pertinent and, of course, the problem of privacy has become even more pressing in the intervening years. But I came to the book looking for new perspectives on solitude, which were hard to come by.
Halpern does spend some time at the monastery where Thomas Merton, the most famous of modern eremites lived. She also visits some self-proclaimed modern-day hermits, living off the grid in the wilds of the Adirondack mountains. But neither of these essays really explores solitude as a theme. The modern-day hermits, besides being a couple and thus not entirely solitary, become the focus of a study that is more anti-consumerist than pro-solitude. The monastery piece seems like it's a little bit about solitude, but it's really more about religion or spirituality as a personal experience, with solitude as a bit player.
The overall feeling of the book is that solitude is nowhere to be found. The book feels claustrophobic and crowded, as are most of the environments Halpern explores. Her final, personal essay, confirms this sense. In it, she seeks solitude by camping alone for a week along the shore of a lake, only to give up after a day because there are so many fishermen on the lake she cannot feel alone--but also because she does not seem to know what to do with herself, by herself. Is it okay to read when sleeping in a tent rather than a house? If Thoreau was able to sit in a daze from morning until noon, observing nature, why is she bored after 2 minutes, she wonders. What I wondered, is if Halpern ever learned to be comfortable with herself. She clearly seeks solitude, but the ways from which she approaches it make it unreachable. Instead she finds various invasions of privacy and a great many kinds of loneliness and isolation. Disturbingly, the most devastating kinds of isolation often co-occur with the most degrading denials of privacy.
For a journalist, Halpern is a lyrical writer. Even if I didn't find what I expected in her book, I did enjoy her way with words and her ability to spin a picture or atmosphere.
Edit: Since I wrote this review, I've learned a lot more about Halpern. I knew already that she's married to writer/activist Bill McKibben, whose work I've admired, even when I've disagreed with him, but I'm not one to give "like points" for marrying well. I am, however, definitely one to give "like points" for being a really super person, and Halpern certainly is one. She's a teacher of narrative journalism--pretty cool--but she's also the human half of a therapy dog team and a great promoter and supporter of therapy dogs. She also taught her darling dog, Pranksy, to say "I love you" (sort of) and has enough of a sense of humor to put the video on her website. Seeing these other sides of her makes me look at the book differently as well. I still think it's mis-titled, but I also think one of the reasons Halpern cannot achieve or enjoy solitude is because she is so deeply empathetic; other people not only touch her, they stay with her, so perhaps it really is more difficult for her to feel solitary.
Halpern does spend some time at the monastery where Thomas Merton, the most famous of modern eremites lived. She also visits some self-proclaimed modern-day hermits, living off the grid in the wilds of the Adirondack mountains. But neither of these essays really explores solitude as a theme. The modern-day hermits, besides being a couple and thus not entirely solitary, become the focus of a study that is more anti-consumerist than pro-solitude. The monastery piece seems like it's a little bit about solitude, but it's really more about religion or spirituality as a personal experience, with solitude as a bit player.
The overall feeling of the book is that solitude is nowhere to be found. The book feels claustrophobic and crowded, as are most of the environments Halpern explores. Her final, personal essay, confirms this sense. In it, she seeks solitude by camping alone for a week along the shore of a lake, only to give up after a day because there are so many fishermen on the lake she cannot feel alone--but also because she does not seem to know what to do with herself, by herself. Is it okay to read when sleeping in a tent rather than a house? If Thoreau was able to sit in a daze from morning until noon, observing nature, why is she bored after 2 minutes, she wonders. What I wondered, is if Halpern ever learned to be comfortable with herself. She clearly seeks solitude, but the ways from which she approaches it make it unreachable. Instead she finds various invasions of privacy and a great many kinds of loneliness and isolation. Disturbingly, the most devastating kinds of isolation often co-occur with the most degrading denials of privacy.
For a journalist, Halpern is a lyrical writer. Even if I didn't find what I expected in her book, I did enjoy her way with words and her ability to spin a picture or atmosphere.
Edit: Since I wrote this review, I've learned a lot more about Halpern. I knew already that she's married to writer/activist Bill McKibben, whose work I've admired, even when I've disagreed with him, but I'm not one to give "like points" for marrying well. I am, however, definitely one to give "like points" for being a really super person, and Halpern certainly is one. She's a teacher of narrative journalism--pretty cool--but she's also the human half of a therapy dog team and a great promoter and supporter of therapy dogs. She also taught her darling dog, Pranksy, to say "I love you" (sort of) and has enough of a sense of humor to put the video on her website. Seeing these other sides of her makes me look at the book differently as well. I still think it's mis-titled, but I also think one of the reasons Halpern cannot achieve or enjoy solitude is because she is so deeply empathetic; other people not only touch her, they stay with her, so perhaps it really is more difficult for her to feel solitary.
October 3, 2013
This book consists of an incredibly beautiful (and touching) set of essays on the topics of privacy and solitude. Halpern looks at what we do to set us apart from the rest of society--or what we do to escape it and how it imposes itself upon us. The book contains a dozen essays in which Halpern talks about experiences like visits to an AIDS hospice, visiting a Trappist monastery, or spending 24 hours in the Intensive Care Unit of a busy hospital in New York.
Even more than the dignity and courage of the various characters in these essays, what stands out is the beauty and poetry of Halpern's descriptions of what she sees and experiences. I found these essays to be incredibly moving, as well as thought-provoking.
Even more than the dignity and courage of the various characters in these essays, what stands out is the beauty and poetry of Halpern's descriptions of what she sees and experiences. I found these essays to be incredibly moving, as well as thought-provoking.
November 9, 2015
A nice collection of stories that I enjoyed reading steadily amid a busy stretch of graduate school. Although Halpern's endnotes spoke much of privacy as a theme in her stories, I found that the theme of solitude resonated more strongly with me... and how it, like privacy, can be seen as a privilege, if not a right. From the cells of a monastery to those of a jail, from the isolated wilds of the forest to those neared only for a short time, I found her reflections on the human desire for seclusion and safety balanced nicely with how community and society can support, but also detract from, the fulfillment of this desire.
November 30, 2010
This book sucked the life out of me, but in a good (?) way. I got vwry engrossed in each of the essays. Halpern explores the differences between being alone and being lonely as well as the the difference between solitude and solitary confinement. The diversity of settings, people and emotions shown in this book of essays is impressive. It is hard to imagine that "alone" can have so many meanings.
This was not an easy or casual read, but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand a bit more about what it means to be alone in a crowd or truly alone.
This was not an easy or casual read, but I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand a bit more about what it means to be alone in a crowd or truly alone.
July 17, 2014
Almost done ... I started this with a very different conception of what the books was about and find that its not being what I anticipate makes me a bit disappointed. The essays are interesting for the most part and provocative in their own ways but I also am finding them uneven.
Finished ... still is in the interesting yet not compelling realm for me ... the idea of solitude and personal experiences with solitude (forced or chosen) remains interesting but I'm still not sure about what I gained overall from this collection.
Finished ... still is in the interesting yet not compelling realm for me ... the idea of solitude and personal experiences with solitude (forced or chosen) remains interesting but I'm still not sure about what I gained overall from this collection.
October 7, 2009
Halpern's essays start out strong and provocative and her writing is consistently good, very descriptive and almost poetic at times, but by the end of the book it felt that she was stretching the boundaries of her subject and the final chapter of personal solitude when camping could have been much more moving and somehow didn't tie all the thread together as well as I'd hoped.
July 31, 2011
First time I read Migrations to Solitude was after it being published in 1992,being attracted to it by it's title mostly. Really liked the different views on solitude the author took. Now I chose one essay: In Solitude for Company, about the Trappist monastery of Getsemani near Louisville, Kentucky. Very interesting thoughts about our soul's need for privacy and solitude.
October 13, 2010
Some essays that were "nice" without being profound, some that were interesting without being particularly emotionally engaging, and a few that had teeth and raised some interesting questions. A nice mix, actually, and fairly light but moderately though-provoking.
May 18, 2012
The book has a dated feel at times especially when it is talking about issues of technology and government intriusion into privacty (written in the early 90's) but it is overall well written, thoughtful and I enjoyed thinking about what it has to say about solitude, connection, silence.
May 27, 2008
Well-written essays on all aspects of privacy and solitude.
September 1, 2016
Clear prose with a few stretches of nice, meditative moments. Overall, however, the book did not feel cohesive. There were a lot of short, random chapters that didn't add up to a complete whole.
March 29, 2017
This is a curious assortment of essays that hover around notions of solitude, estrangement, imprisonment, or social disconnectedness. I found it strangely diverse. A few of the essays (A Room..., In Solitude...) were very interesting, while others (I Spy) felt as though they did not belong in the same book.
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