Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home
A Memoir
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- USD 13.99
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- USD 13.99
Descripción editorial
A powerful memoir from Natalie Goldberg—the woman who changed the way writing is taught in this country—sharing her experience with cancer grounded in her practice of writing and Zen
Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home begins at the grave of Katagiri Roshi, Natalie’s Zen teacher, in Japan. Twenty years after Katagiri’s death and Natalie’s return to New Mexico, she is permanently settled in Santa Fe with her partner, Yukwan. Except that, as Buddhism teaches us, nothing is permanent. Natalie learns that she has CLL, a potentially fatal form of blood cancer.
For two years, Natalie dances with her cancer—visiting doctor after doctor, attempting treatment after treatment. Nothing helps; in fact, one of the treatments only feeds the cancer and encourages its growth. Then Natalie’s partner, Yukwan discovers that she, too, has cancer—breast cancer—as well as an off-the-charts oncotype score that requires her to have surgery immediately. The cancer twins, as Natalie calls herself and Yukwan, now must each navigate her own illness, carve out her own cancer territory. Each can provide only limited emotional and physical energy for the other. And, somehow, they both need to find a way to stay together, to stay in love—and to heal.
As the title expresses, Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home is so much more than a cancer memoir. Through a direct and grounded narrative, Natalie illuminates a path through illness: that we need to be in love with the lives we have, to embrace the dark and the light in our lives. For Natalie, writing and painting represent the light, and her cancer takes her deeper into her art practices. Balanced with a Zen practice that helps to her face death, this book is a moving meditation on living life in full bloom.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this moving memoir, Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones) shares the story of her battle with cancer. After she is diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Goldberg struggles to make sense of her suddenly conspicuous mortality. She admits that, when she came to face her own death, her training in the Zen tradition did not leave her ready to receive the teaching that "the horror and unknown of human life and death" must be accepted. While she attempts different treatment plans, her partner, Yu-kwan, also receives a cancer diagnosis. In emotionally intense prose, Goldberg skillfully portrays the sorrow that can invade relationships when people are dealing with cancer ("Cancer demanded that I let the whole thundering world come home, that I accept the horror and unknown of human life and death") and recalls her anxiety about death, her fear of the lack of control over her condition, and her desire to avoid acknowledging the impermanence of life. Despite her suffering, Goldberg holds to the teachings of Zen: pay attention to this moment, savor every experience, and live life in full bloom with vigor and gusto. Luckily, Goldberg and Yu-kwan find a happy ending to their experience, as both go into remission. This touching book beautifully captures the frailty of human life and relationships.
