| Title | : | In Search Of Stones |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 067100476X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780671004767 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 448 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1995 |
In Search Of Stones Reviews
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The author, a psychiatrist, is famous for his 1978 world-wide multi-millions-selling pop psychology book The Road Less Traveled.
This later book (written ten years before he died in 2005) is also mostly pop psychology, pop philosophy and meditations in quite a potpourri of styles that is pretty good in part because of that wide variety. It’s also to a large extent the author’s autobiography in which he confesses things such as his marital infidelities amounting to almost a sexual addition. His wife took her pleasures from literature and suffered black, deadly depressions. He doesn’t come across to me as very apologetic or sincere in his “I’m sorry these things happened and that I hurt people” type of explanation.
The book’s title and the chapter titles are out of sync. Yes, the story is framed around a long trip in search of dolmens and stone circles in England, Scotland and Wales, but look at the chapter titles: Money, Death, Romance, Pilgrimage, Peace, Art, Consideration, etc.
Each chapter has its own approach to its topic. Religion is not a story of his own Christian convictions and conversions but basically a brief history of the development of various Protestant sects. Whereas the chapter on Finance is literally about the business side of his empire as an author and world-wide speaker right down to how much he charged for speaking engagements.
And yes we get a lot about stones with archaeology and some geology. Often he and his wife are searching for stones that locals don’t even know about. There is constant rain, unmarked roads, missed ferries to the islands, getting lost in woods and then enjoying fine wine and a smiley waitress at the B&B. The stone stories are mixed in with legends of King Arthur and Merlin.
Here are some examples of the type of content and the style of writing:
In the chapter on Aging: “Yet another kind of stripping away is that of interests. It began with the Dark Night of the Senses, that stripping away of some of my appetite for beauty and art and elegance. Television bores me. Very few books - poetry, novels, words of wisdom - hold my attention for long. I feel as if I’ve read it all before, and in a sense I have. Into this vacuum of my mind our sudden fascination for stones has come as a surprising, most wonderful gift. But this, too, shall probably pass, and the day will likely come when a great standing stone will look merely like a rock. For the moment, however, I am grateful.”
In the chapter Parenthood, I have to give the author credit for candor, if nothing else. For a guy who is a famous psychiatrist and philosopher, listen to him talk about his own children: “So why should I be surprised that our own children at ages 23, 30 and 31, all successful in their own right and financially independent, are very angry with me for unclear reasons and giving both of us clear messages that they want us to keep our distance from them? Particularly since Lily and I are strong-willed people who would also run their lives if we could, albeit with the very best of intentions?...Instead, in their presence, we feel we must walk on eggs. Our most idle remarks or facial expressions may evoke their scorn or precipitate a hurtful silence.”
In the chapter on Time: “We measure time by space and space by times. Indeed, time can best be defined as a change of space. It is the changing spatial relationship of the sun and the earth that determines whether it is morning, midday, evening, or night….The clock….can tell time by the way its hands move through space. …Conversely, we often measure space by time. It is valuable to know that Lily and I are a hundred miles away from Culloden House….It is a more valuable measurement to say the we are a two-hour drive away from our destination.”
On Gratitude: “So we have these three words: grace, gratis, and gratitude. They flow into one another. Perceive grace and you will naturally feel grateful. We did not earn this morning’s great stone. We hadn’t even spotted it on a map and gone off in search of it. We didn’t lift a finger. It was simply there for us, glittering in the sunlight, and we were profoundly grateful.”
On Holiness: “Some Catholics have a concept I much admire: the Sacrament of the Present Moment. It suggests that every moment of our lives is sacred, and that we should make of each moment a sacrament. Were we to do this we would think of the entire world as diffused with holiness…Occasionally I remember to strive for it, but I never achieve it. While I intellectually acknowledge that everyone and every place may be holy, I actually go around experiencing the holy in very few places and people.”
Being a geographer, I liked the travelogue-stones part of the book best. My edition has dozens of sketches of the stones. I won’t read more by this author because he seems to be a guy who gives advice but was never able to get his own act together. 3.5 rounded to 4.
Top photo, Standing Stones of Callandish, Isle of Lewis, Scotland from framepool.com
Middle photo, the Eagle Stone, Scotland from librarylink.highland.gov.uk
Photo of the author from mscottpeck.com
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Rating only for the information and lovely descriptions of the standing stones. Author is an insufferable prick.
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I was attracted to this book by the title & the cover; I'm interested in all the megalithic stones and henges of England. The parts of this book that were about them was very interesting. Peck and his wife stumbled across the first ones in Wales and then over a 3 week car trip through Wales, the Lake District, Scotland and some of its islands, they continued to search them out. I had no idea there were so many. Great fun to follow along with look ups in Wikipedia to learn more about the individual stone outcroppings. Enjoyed the drawings of the stones included also.
Also enjoyed the chapter about their visit to the first Quaker church in northern England & its story of George Fox, the Puritan who became the first Quaker leader.
But there's lots here of Dr. Peck talking about himself and his family -- some of it very interesting and some not, some of it is too personal.
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I listened to this while on a long trip and was able to give it a lot of attention. Scott Peck and his wife take a trip to England to find standing stones. Some are prominent with signs and careful tending, but others are out in pastures involving climbing fences and long treks. Along the way, Scott goes over his spiritual and psychological journey and relates it to his trip.
The book isn't as thought provoking as most of his other books, but I still found that I had to stop the tape from time to time and ponder over things he said and relate them to my life. It's a fascinating book and I enjoyed it very much. -
It takes a special breed of narcissist to write a book like this. It takes a rare mixture of glib pretension at honesty and integrity, a certain openness to sharing one’s sins and struggles and be so deeply critical of one’s family, while still professing to be a spiritual guide to others. Unfortunately, as the author and I share the precise Myers-Brigg personality score (this author is clearly an ENTJ), I recognize that the author and I share the same sort of tendencies and therefore the most critical things I have to say about him, and there are plenty of critical things to say about him based on this book, are criticisms I must make of myself. Whether they are humble or arrogant in their own fashion is something of which I am not qualified to be the judge.
This book is organized as a set of essays on such profound subjects as reason, romance, addiction, holiness, change, religion, aging, parenthood, money, death, pilgrimage, gratitude, peace, adventure, consideration, space, time, art, integration, and despair that is structured around a vacation that he and his wife Lily (an INFJ from the account presented, the same type of personality as my own mother and one of my fellow teachers here at Legacy). It is difficult to determine who the precise audience of this book is, as the book is a strange mixture of deeply uncomfortable oversharing about his family life, including his problems with his children, his rather hostile thoughts about his own parents and the WASP culture in general (the two are probably not unrelated), his marital infidelity, his largely unrecognized addictions to smoking, drinking, and painkillers, his unconventional religious beliefs, but his smug superiority over fellow New Agers, and his sometimes tedious ramblings about the importance of his search for understanding community and peacemaking.
One addiction the author is willing to admit is his shared addiction, with his wife Lily, over the megalithic stones of a prehistoric culture. As someone who shares an attraction for the romance of ruins, and an interest in general archeological material, as well as “art” in its larger sense, I can understand where the author is coming from. But one issue I found with the book that might be common is the rather unsettling feeling of being both too close to the author in approach as well as too far in worldview to be truly in sympathy with this author’s narcissistic journey through Wales, northern England, and Scotland in search of ancient pagan standing stones as well as luxurious hotel rooms, and his general attitude of hostility toward sharing this beauty with other people. The author strikes me as a particularly offensive sort of hypocrite, but also the sort of hypocrite I must be very careful to avoid becoming, making him instructive and unsettling at the same time.
One striking similarity the author and I share is our identity at the point where faith and reason meet, with a strong inclination for rationality, but also an appreciation of the irrational within ourselves and others and our world in general, and a general acceptance of tension and paradox that many ascribe (in my case falsely) to a sort of Eastern religion approach. The author talks a lot about his previous practice as a psychotherapist, as well as a little about his participation in a couple of exorcisms, and about numerous other matters as well, which are quite varied, sometimes entertaining, and sometimes highly awkward and uncomfortable. He comments, wisely, at the beginning of the book that he pities the booksellers who have had difficulty sorting this book, and this difficulty is genuine, as this book is a strange mixture of travel book, personal memoirs, and speculations on matters far beyond the author’s competence.
The fact that the author considers himself a person of high sensitivity to others and high personal integrity despite his rather open admission of numerous sexual affairs suggests a level of self-deception that is rather frightening. But it is a level of hypocrisy to which none of us are immune, and as a sensitive soul he is perhaps a bit too prone to reflect on the guilt-induced sufferings of being born into privilege as a sign of genuine spirituality rather than being a self-loathing pathology typical of “white liberal guilt.” The fact that the author’s Christianity is largely doctrine free, and that he certainly is of the antinomian variety of Christianity that thinks nothing of committing sins of massive syncretism (of which this book is a product), therefore completely failing to understand the just and moral aspect of God’s character, and the fact that moral laws were created for all people to obey, even intellectuals like ourselves.
The author does have some wise insights to make, but his knee-jerk hostility to the accoutrements of traditional religion and culture (including his hatred of the military, and his rather lengthy rant about locked bathrooms at a Scottish memorial that he happened to visit on Sunday, totally oblivious to the serious Sundaykeeping of the Scottish Presbyterians of the area, which he comments on as being a sign of a “Sunday-morningism” rather than being a legitimate part of a different and coherent worldview to his own rather vague and wishy-washy one and his extreme dislike of sheep, which seems to suggest an arrogance at being above the common herd of humanity), cut against the value of those insights. Instead, he offers somewhat trivial cliches about the need to build genuine communities through frequent community-building workshops, to develop personal integrity (without some kind of firm moral code to base that integrity upon), and frequent travel critiques about the poverty of such cities as Cardiff and Glasgow and their effects on his own creature comforts. He therefore misses the chance to make more substantial contributions to amateur archeology because of the basic indulgent and trivial approach he takes to his journey. He talks about numinous places, but in such a solipsistic way that it fails to offer relevance to anyone who does not think as he does.
Therefore, this book is overall a rather mixed bag. It offers occasionally valid critiques of traditional culture, while at the same time showing that neither the faith nor ultimate the rationality of the author are founded on the ground of a sufficiently deep spirituality as to appreciate God as lawgiver and judge as well as loving Father and gracious giver of good gifts. In having a universalist approach to God and religion, the author appears to deny anything distinctive about Christianity, making this a poor case for Christ, given that it comes from someone whose genuine biblical knowledge and practice is slight. If he is not a Sunday morning Christian, he might be something that is just as offensive, a Christmas and Easter Christian who cannot understand that the proper grounding of his personal crusade for peace and social justice lies in the severe moral justice of the Law under which all of us are sinners in need of grace, and where God shows no partiality. The book, which is a somewhat lengthy work at more than 400 pages of solid text (no scholarly footnotes or endnotes here), will prompt serious reflection in the reader, but also a fair degree of well-earned harsh criticism towards the author’s rather smug and self-satisfied version of left-wing New Age spirituality. Caveat lector. -
One of the most influential books that I have read in my life.
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I need to start by saying I have read several of Scott Peck's books and enjoyed them all - until now. This book is little more than a self-indulgent example of cognitive diarrhea. Peck opines on a number of topics with more than a hint of narcissistic entitlement. Absolute tripe.
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Traipsing around Britain in the damp, looking at mysterious stone circles. What could be better?!
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In Search of Stones: A Review and Thoughts
In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason, and Discovery, author M. Scott Peck.
Having heard of Scott Peck and his writings, especially in regard to community building I decided to give this book a read. It is not his last book, but he describes it in his narrative as the closest he will ever come to an autobiography. It is packed with his insights and thoughts about live, living and all that surrounds it. As the author says: “It is probably the closest thing to an autobiography that I will ever write. But it is not autobiography. I am too clever for that, and possibly too humble.” I believe the clever part, not sure about the humble part.
At first the rocks seem to be in the way of the story. However, as we read on the rocks may be central to his quest for discovery and enlightenment. We learn about the ancient megalithic stones in the countryside of Wales, England, and Scotland, he gained insight into such issues as parenthood, holiness, romance, art, and his own shortcomings. Alas the author has left on another journey when he died in September 2005.
The book is divided into themes, that coincide with the Chapters:
• Chapter I: Reason
• Chapter II: Romance
• Chapter III: Addiction
• Chapter IV: Holiness
• Chapter V: Changing
• Chapter VI: Religion
• Chapter VII: Aging
• Chapter VIII: Parenthood
• Chapter IX: Money
• Chapter X: Death
• Chapter XI: Pilgrimage
• Chapter XII: Gratitude
• Chapter XIII: Peace
• Chapter XIV: Adventure, 267
• Chapter XV: Consideration, 291
• Chapter XVI: Space, 313
• Chapter XVIII: Art, 345
• Chapter XIX: Integration, 361
• Chapter XX: Despair, 381
• Chapter XXI: Conclusion(s), 403
The writing already inspired one blog post, and I sense others are coming. The book often refers to causes or reasons being overdetermined. A definition of overdetermination is when a single-observed effect is determined by multiple causes, any one of which alone would be sufficient to account for the effect. That is, there are more causes present than are necessary to cause the effect.
Some of more of Peck’s insights include:
• The Age of Reason actually promotes intellectual bigotry, and that in this Age such bigotry is the norm. Either the Age of Reason has a long way to go or else we need to evolve into some yet more sensible age.
• To have a full-blown taste for mystery one must take delight both in solving mysteries and in solving them; in finding explanations for thins and in living with things for which there currently is no explanation and which may be forever beyond explanation. (Page 54)
• The English root of the word holy is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word for whole (75).
• The principle of tenuousness – that partners need to flexibly adjust to each other’s changes – means that patterns of change are interdigitated. Indeed, they may be almost literally woven together in the ongoing tapestry of a marriage. (91)
• (Marriage): It’s not all been a matter of good luck. Both of us brought to our marriage some characteristics such as loyalty and pertinacity that have allowed us to hang in together over the rough spots. 148:
• Some spiritual writers have diagnosed the human race as suffering from a “psychology of scarcity” and urged us to what they call a psychology of abundance – a mind-set where we feel that there will always be enough and that God will plentifully provide. 178
And perhaps we will end with this thought: “The point of resurrection is not that we can beat death; it is that there is more to us than our death, than our mere bodies.”
It is not a religious book per se, but it does speak about religion and spirituality.
It is not a community book per se, but it does speak about building lasting community and the work involved.
It is not a book about self improvement, but it does have many suggestions and thoughts for doing exactly that.
It is not, always, an easy read, but it is a book that is well worth the effort to read, and it should provoke some contemplation as well.
Happy readings.
Lino Matteo ©™
Twitter @Lino_Matteo
PS: You might also be interested in an earlier Sunday Thought culled from this book.
https://linomatteo.wordpress.com/2021...
https://linomatteo.wordpress.com/2021... -
"M. Scott Peck, whose book The Road Less Traveled has become both a part of popular culture and a spiritual and inspirational guidebook for a generation, now gives us his most personal book; one that tells more about himself than he ever has before, while at the same time helps readers see truths about themselves, their own lives, and the greater community around them.
"On the surface, this book is the story of a three-week journey that Dr. Peck took with his wife, Lily, looking for the ancient megalithic stones that became an obsession for them. But the search for stones is a search for meaning and mystery, and ultimately an unveiling of the pilgrimage of life itself.
"Each day of the journey Dr. Peck discusses a related realm of human experience -- parenthood, holiness, romance, art, to name a few -- and we travel with him on an adventure of the spirit, striving to understand the journey of life in all of its complexities and secrets.
"Illustrated with exquisite drawings by Dr. Peck's son, Christopher. In Search of Stones is a beautiful book of spirituality and quest, faith and mystery, and the most intimate book to come from one of our most distinguished thinkers."
~~back cover
This is a stunning book: it delves into subjects that most of us don't talk about, or even think about: addiction, changing, aging, parenthood, death, gratitude, despair. Perhaps it's me that needed to hear about these subjects, and the other in the book, but it felt compelling, spiritual. I read one chapter a day -- I could have sat down and devoured the whole book at on go but I wanted to savor each one, to think about what was said, to hold that template up against my own life. This is a book to be cherished, to be kept, to be taken out and a chapter reread here and there, a book to contemplate in order to facilitate your life. -
I cannot explain how interesting it is to read about certain parts of the life of this author (especially where he speaks about his infidelity and the strength of his marriage at that point - knowing that they got divorced 10years after the publication of this book and a year before his death). But this is no gleefulness on my side - what I enjoy about these facts is exactly what Peck says in his book: an imperfect spiritual example is better than one we cannot reach (in my own words), and Peck make sure to emphasise that he have many faults.
Many of his other ideas in this book is great spiritual food. However, I wish I could see Scotland and the stones for myself - it sound absolutely wonderful. -
I enjoyed the travelogue aspects of this, but the rest was just the gripes and half baked opinions of a self centred old man who wrote one bestselling book. He talks a lot about integrity for a guy who justifies a considerable number of extramarital affairs in this book. His faith is more in some kind of narcissistic cosmic genie and is quite far from any kind of historif faith in the judeo/Christian God.
I wouldn't have finished this if I didn't have a thing about finishing books. Don't bother. -
In Search of Stones is the closest thing to an autobiography that Scott Peck ever wrote. Written in a very unique style encompassing themes of Aging, Art, Despair, Parenthood and many more, alongside his Journey with his wife through the UK looking for stone formations similar to Stonehenge.
I felt that Peck manages to combine all the content quite beautifully to create a cohesive book that's quite different to anything else he has written. -
What struck me most about this book was its honesty: the author is completely frank about his infidelity, and the fact that, even as a therapist, he does not always know what to think or do at times. If nothing else, read it for the candidness.
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Hard to follow...not one of his best.
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3.8. Not quite ready to make final evaluation. Need to ask my therapist why he asked me to read it.
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I am such a fan of Dr. Peck that I love everything he writes. This book was a little different in that he writes about his search for megolithic stones in Great Britain.
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Very personal. Reads like a chatauqua.
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Sorry not for me. Referred by a friend but not really my style.
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A delightful book. Awfully difficult to categorise as he covers so many topics but for me this is part of the book's attraction. The eclectic mix of topics are all knitted together really well. Part autobiography (and he is searingly honest especially about his adulterous behaviour and the difficult relationships with his children), part road trip (Wales, the Borders and Scotland), part history (the megalithic stones that he goes in search of contain many mysteries and he narrates this aspect really well), and psychological in approach as you'd expect from a practicing psychiatrist. However, he doesn't claim any great insight into the complex nature of human lives. "The longer I stayed in practice the more I gradually became aware that I was largely operating in the dark not only in relation to my patients but also in relation to myself." He also has come to the opinion that there are no simple answers to anything because events always have more than one cause. "For any single thing of importance, there are multiple reasons." Worth always bearing in mind I think - saves us from rushing into simplistic knee jerk responses.
I've deducted a star because I found his constant references to a community that he and his wife created and continued to be actively involved in a little tedious after a while. He seems to think that community and the loss of it is at the root of a lot of society's problems and whilst he may be right I found this aspect of his writing an intrusion into what otherwise was really entertaining and educational. I learned quite a lot from this book.
He is religious (of sorts)and this is discussed as the book and his journey progresses. For Peck "prayer is a radical response to the mysteries of life." Really, he is a meaning junkie and this is what he has searched for in his life. "I remain a rebel of sorts, a rebel with a cause, and that cause is meaning." He believes that he actually has an addiction to consciousness, he can "no more pass up a new insight than a cigarette." His addiction to consciousness is intertwined with mystery and this is where the spiritual dimension enters.
He addresses the issues of ageing and seems to feel its ravages deeply. "Perhaps the thing that has surprised me most about ageing is the pure physicality of it. Whatever one's attitude about it - however different its individual schedule and distant it may seem, however much it may be denied - it comes. It is inexorable." However, he admits that we not have to grow old mentally.
As in his earlier book, the road less travelled, Peck tries to encapsulate what it means to live a good life. He points out that life is am inherently insecure business and that it is foolish to seek the illusion of any form of security. "The only real security in life lies in relishing life's insecurity." he also likens life to a journey. "One's destination is quite likely to not be nearly as important or meaningful as the journey itself."
It is a shame that a man with such insight and helpful ideas about living did not seem able to take his own advice. His longstanding wife, who went with him on this trip, actually divorced him a couple of years before he died. Whether it was due to his serial adultery or something else is not known but he certainly had difficulty in building the integrity required to live what he would claim to be a better life. Nevertheless, he makes so much sense in so many ways and does so in a light and accessible manner.
"Society's task is not to establish equality. It is to develop systems that deal humanely with our inequality - systems that, within reason, celebrate and encourage diversity."
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Author of the 'Road less travelled' sets of on a tour of the UK with his wife and they become entranced by pre-historic stone circles and standing stones. The journey promotes a series of essays on subjects like reason, pilgrimage, peace, gratitude etc. I read this book in the late nineties when my partner died and quest for stones helped begin to make sense of my loss. More recently, I visited a stone circle on the Isle of Man - not featured in the book - and the beauty and power of the experience reminded me of Peck's book and dig it out. Re-reading is always like time travelling and I found totally different sections spoke to me today. In particular, I liked his story about mild narcissism (after his wife can't find a unlocked toilet) and how much we expect our partner to be like us (only slightly misguided). Therefore, the great temptation to tell his wife, for example, 'you can pee behind a bush, don't worry I'll keep an eye open for you' (and getting angry when she doesn't listen) - because he has no problem letting go in the open air, rather than understanding that she has different needs and treating her with kindness. I know from my clients how easy it is to think our partner is misguided and if only they'd listen to us, we could point out the error of their ways! So keep on and on and on. I'd never heard it called mild narcissism before - and even though I hate labels - it struck home. So why only three stars? Perhaps it was because I was looking for more about stones and less philosophy. Perhaps because he tends to ramble. Perhaps I'm in a better place but it doesn't speak to me in the same way as before.
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Wanted to read this as I liked his earlier 'The Road Less travelled' but found it heavy going and didn't finish it.
'Peck, author of the phenomenal best seller The Road Less Travelled (1978) and a number of other respected books on personal growth, continues his journey with a thoroughly readable account of a vacation trip he and his wife took through Great Britain in search of megalithic stone monuments built by Neolithic people several thousand years ago. Peck and his wife are archaeology enthusiasts, and their quest for prehistoric standing stones takes them to many small towns and interesting out-of-the-way places. Against this backdrop, Peck interweaves philosophical musings and personal wisdom on a variety of subjects, including peace, parenthood, aging, religion, art, money, and death. He speaks openly and candidly of his own shortcomings as well as his triumphs, successes, and outlook on life. His search for ancient stone monuments leads to a deeper quest? - an exploration of the mind and of one's own humanity. Peck masterfully integrates travel, archaeology, history, philosophy, and autobiography to provide useful insights into many of life's basic issues. This thoughtful work is sure to be popular with those who are already familiar with Peck's writings.'
A contemplative read, though I found it a bit slow and introspective. Having enjoyed his 'Raod Less Travelled' I was slightly disappointed in this book. -
This book I took with me to read while exploring parts of England "in search of standing stones" as well, to a certain extent...ie visiting Stonehenge, and other places. Of course the traveling in this book is inner as well as outer and is also about ageing. I was particularly struck by his comments about having parts of oneself stripped away layer by layer, piece by piece,taking away one's illusions, vanities,dignity and self sufficiency (another illusion)....Nothing like going thru a life threatening illness and experiencing other "take aways" to make one become more poignantly aware of this. However, he points out this is inevitable and has its lessons. It made me think which is the highest praise I can give for a book.
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Peck is one of those writers who has the gift of taking two disparate and seemingly unrelated items and linking them in unimagined ways. Transforming a journey through the UK looking at standing stones and other Bronze Age structures into an inner spiritual pilgrimage is a connection that most modern humans do not make.
In fact, archeological research in the past 20 or 30 years has come to the same conclusion, that our very ancient forebears built sacred structures in sequences intended to lead a seeker along both an inner and outer path.
How many of us today can see the sacred among our own "stones?" Read this book and you may develop the ability, or not. The quest is the thing. Put another way, fishing isn't really about catching fish. :-) -
I read The Road Less Travelled many years ago and it certainly changed my perspective. I thought it was an honest and generous reflection on living. This book, an account of a three week vacation that he and his wife spent in Wales and Scotland, was uneven. It is in part a travelogue in which they pursue their interest in prehistoric stones - megaliths, dolmans, and menhirs put in place by the early inhabitants. It is also a meditation on ageing, and the meaning of it all. I finished it, but would not recomment it.
