Official Review: antithesis of yoga by jocelyn

[lesler]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "antithesis of yoga" by jocelyn.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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In The Antithesis of Yoga by Jocelyn, Roslyn lives in Auroville and is struggling to survive. Armed with the power of meditation and help from The Mother, Roslyn travels the world with the hopes of finding a permanent place for her and her infant daughter Bliss. The book chronicles the places they go, the people they meet, and the challenges they face with the constant need for money, food, and shelter. Photographs and Sri Arubindo quotations open and close each chapter in this detailed book.

One of the main characters of this story is the town of Auroville itself, detailing its first twenty-five years of existence. This book is the nonfiction tale of the wonderful and terrible life of this "City of the Future." The author is an early settler of Auroville and provides details about this historical community founded by The Mother in 1968. Roslyn is a young American mother of an infant who follows her calling and travels to Europe and Asia, eventually discovering Auroville and immediately settling there. This story is full of wonder, heartbreak, failure, and triumph.

I enjoyed this story and felt I learned a lot. I have never heard of this southern Indian community of Pondicherry but knew these free communities exist. It is so different from the daily grind of life that I am used to, and I understand how this life is intriguing multitudes of people. I enjoy learning about different cultures, and the characters in this story were captivating from the start. I live close to an area in the Midwest section of America called the Maharishi, and have studied their culture. Auroville reminds me of the Maharishi, and it was nice to connect personal stories from similar communities.

I connected strongly with the main character Roslyn and was fascinated by her journey. In some accounts, she is a spoiled American who is looking to find a community to support her without contributing to society. The author does a good job personalizing her and making the reader understand that Roslyn is merely trying to attain inner peace. Her struggle in raising her daughter Bliss as a single mom is endearing, and contributes greatly to the storyline.

I give The Antithesis of Yoga 3 out of 4 stars for its interesting storyline, wonderful characters, and good supplementary visuals to the text. I deducted a star for its somewhat disjointed writing flow-the dialogue seemed forced and unrealistic at times. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the story of Auroville and the people of this community.

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antithesis of yoga
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[Book Lover 35]

Thank you for the review! I enjoyed it a while lot better than the summary of the book. It sounds interesting.

[kandscreeley]

This does sound interesting. Roslyn is merely in search of peace as the rest of us. Still, I just am not sure I would be that fascinated by her journey; it also sounds a bit too spiritual for me. I'm glad that you enjoyed it, though. Thanks!

[Espie]

I wonder what happened to your post's heading.

It seems that this true account could appeal to those looking to widen or deepen their understanding of other cultures. Thank you for your honest review.

[Fozia-Bajwa]

strange story having ups and downs, efforts and failure, search and research and most of them is the role of a mother who is wandering in the search of a place where she can exist with he infant.

I can say my personal point of view that in this temporary world there is no alternate of the task and if a task is focused by anyone then it is not less than a case of life and death to reach it. whether it is a low task or great task, to achieve it is not so easy.

Thanks for your encouraging review.

[vinkipc]

Great review. I, am glad that the book gave you great insight. You are interested with learning new cultures around lucky you. I like the part that the story is filled with wonders, heartbreak, triumph and failure. All those in one book? then the story must be captivating indeed.