Three Simple Lines, Natalie Goldberg
Three Simple Lines, Natalie Goldberg
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Three Simple Lines
A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku

Author: Natalie Goldberg

Narrator: Natalie Goldberg

Unabridged: 4 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/29/2020


Synopsis

One of the world’s foremost writing teachers invites readers on a joyful journey into the reading and origins of haiku

A haiku is three simple lines. But it is also, as Allen Ginsberg put it, three lines that “make the mind leap.” A good one, he said, lets the mind experience “a small sensation of space which is nothing less than God.” As many spiritual practices seek to do, the haiku’s spare yet acute noticing of the immediate and often ordinary grounds the reader in the pure awareness of now.

Natalie Goldberg is a delightfully companionable tour guide into this world. She highlights the history of the form, dating back to the seventeenth century; shows why masters such as Basho and Issa are so revered; discovers Chiyo-ni, an important woman haiku master; and provides insight into writing and reading haiku. A fellow seeker who travels to Japan to explore the birthplace of haiku, Goldberg revels in everything she encounters, including food and family, painting and fashion, frogs and ponds. She also experiences and allows readers to share in the spontaneous and profound moments of enlightenment and awakening that haiku promises.

About Natalie Goldberg

Natalie Goldberg is a poet, teacher, writer, and painter. A student of Zen Buddhism for 24 years, she trained intensively with Katagiri Roshi for 12 years, and is ordained in the Order of Interbeing with Thich Nhat Hanh. Natalie Goldberg teaches writing workshops nationally based on the methods presented in Writing Down the Bones. Her other books include Wild Mind; Long Quiet Highway; Banana Rose; and Living Color.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Mark on January 07, 2021

Natalie Goldberg is a wonderful storyteller...taking readers on her journey to visit and experience the lives of her Haiku heroes, while uncovering influential underrepresented female haiku masters. She also shares, very candidly, her journey to become a author of haiku poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed......more

Goodreads review by Scott on March 11, 2021

I had known for a while that Natalie was writing a book about haiku (disclaimer: I'm the Scott of the "Wanting to See" chapter), but till I read this, I was under the impression it was going to be a writing manual of sorts. It is not--but it is a "thinking manual," one that explains Natalie's "pilgr......more

Goodreads review by Deb (Readerbuzz) on September 29, 2024

Natalie Goldberg is the author of the how-to-write classic, Writing Down the Bones. Three Simple Lines begins with Natalie's venture into Japan, in search of the roots of the four masters of haiku. It's a book combining classic haiku, prose text, and recent (including those written by Goldberg) haik......more

Goodreads review by Artemisia on October 11, 2021

Well known writing teacher, Natalie Goldberg turns her attention to one of the shortest forms creative writing can take….that of the haiku. This small volume focuses on the art of writing these 3 line poems which traditionally describe a spare moment in time and that often glean some kind of deeper......more

Goodreads review by John on January 09, 2021

I’m a haiku innocent. This became clear when, deep into Three Simple Lines, I read this haiku by the author: This black pen feels meaty in a writer’s hand I loved it. Indeed, it was my favorite of all the haiku I’d seen so far in the book. But in the next paragraph Natalie Goldberg tells us that this......more