Praying with Jane Eyre: Reflections on Reading as a Sacred Practice - Vanessa Zoltan Audiobook

Written by Vanessa Zoltan
Read by Vanessa Zoltan, Cassandra Campbell
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Release date: July 6, 2021
Duration: 07:22:06

A deeply felt celebration of a classic novel—and a reflection on the ways our favorite books can shape and heal us.

Our favorite books keep us company, give us hope, and help us find meaning in a chaotic world.

In this fresh and relatable work, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan blends memoir and personal growth as she grapples with the notions of family legacy and identity through the lens of her favorite novel, Jane Eyre. Informed by the reading practices of medieval monks and rabbinic scholars from her training at the Harvard Divinity School and filtered through the pages of Jane Eyre as well as Little Women, Harry Potter, and The Great Gatsby, Zoltan explores topics ranging from the trauma she has inherited as the granddaughter of four Holocaust survivors to finding hope, meaning, and even magic in our deeply fractured times. Brimming with a lifelong love of classic literature and the tenderness of self-reflection, the book also reveals simple techniques for reading any work as a sacred text—from Virginia Woolf to Anne of Green Gables to baseball scorecards.

Whether you’re an avowed “Eyrehead” or simply a curious reader looking for a richer connection with the written word, this deeply felt and inspiring book will light the way to a more intimate appreciation for whatever books you love to read.

Library Journal
“ Somewhere in between self-help-type books like The Novel Cure and memoirs like My Life in Middlemarch, this debut is, in Zoltan’s words, a collection of sermons of sorts, written from the vantage point of an atheist Jew “using fiction written after the age of miracles as scripture.” …. The “Toolkit on Sacred Readings” alone is worth the price of the book; it could be useful for framing book group discussions in ways that help readers find sustenance, community, and strength in and through literature. VERDICT More than just a celebration of Jane Eyre, Zoltan’s touching account, spanning spirituality, literature, memoir, and self-help, will resonate with fans of re-reading as a meditative practice.—“

Literature is a great “tool” for many things. I have uploaded several books about using literature at different times of life: The End of Life Book Club, The Maximum Security Book Club, and Shakespeare Saved My Life.