The Stones, the Crows, the Grass, the Moon

By: Walter Kirn

Narrated by: Walter Kirn

Length: 1 hr and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

The New York Times bestselling author of Up in the Air and Blood Will Out embarks on a journey that begins with the death of his beloved mother - and ends in an inexplicable spiritual awakening.

After the utter grief of taking his mother off life support, Walter Kirn is compelled to understand his recurring visions of a Native American holy site. With his children and girlfriend, he follows them. In opening himself up to the mysticism he sees in religion, music, and nature, Walter discovers something magical and transcendent: solidarity and solace in the world around him.

Walter Kirn’s The Stones, the Crows, the Grass, the Moon is part of Missing, a collection of six true stories about finding, restoring, or accepting the losses that define our lives - from the mysterious to the inspiring. Each story can be listened to in a single sitting.

©2018 Walter Kirn (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing Inc., all rights reserved.

The Stones, the Crows, the Grass, the Moon

I’m not sure what I expected when choosing to read this short story but by it’s ending, I found tears streaming warm down my cheeks. I found the words touched my soul & sounding familiar personally. I considered the message to be very thought provoking & reinforcing my own feelings that we are all connected. I’m glad I chose to read it.

A Rare Bird

I've never read a story that so eloquently captures an event from so many different points of view so perfectly. I spent my career as a critical care nurse and I've experienced critical illness as a family member, both when a family member's end of life wishes were made clear to me and in the case of a severe MVA involving my 17 year old sister, which was an unpleasant surprise for the entire family.

As a nurse, I spent every hour of every working day trying to hold death at bay - even when it's clear to the health care team that we are only prolonging suffering and death. This is why health care workers often joke about having DNR tattooed across our chests. It's in large measure a result of the combination of complete lack of understanding of how medical science works and also (perhaps even more so) the unfortunate consumer model of medicine that has taken over medicine. (Also, intellectual relativism and the "democratization" of experts/truth has landed us in a new intellectual dark ages that has led to serious public health disasters and hundreds of thousands of deaths, as we try (and fail) to navigate the current covid19 pandemic, as the current administration values the economy over human life.)

The scenario of "euthanasia light" is a real one and was realistically portrayed in this story. As is the mystical component, which is not easy to describe in language. In spite of my own status as a card-carrying atheist, there are experiences that I've witnessed that have convinced me that agnosticism is the philosophically more responsible position.

I'm particularly grateful that the author read it himself. Too often Audible has narrators who sound like a computer "voice" or narrators who blow it on timing and emphasis.

Many thanks to Walter Krin for getting such complex issues so spot on; and special thanks for giving nurses a leading role, which is entirely consistent with 'in real life.' Very well done! Thank you!

We would all do well to remember that there are things worse than death.

This gentleman went on a Spiritual Journey

I am Native American and I am aware that Spirt speaks to all who will listen no matter what color the skin. I heart is glad he had these experiences to easy his grief.

Nice

I struggle a little with the appropriation aspect, but I think this is a little older when we weren't as aware as we are now. Understanding and respecting Native American culture can bring such peace and help us move forward with our allyship. The story of grief and continued healing was real and heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing.

A Mixed Up Man, Like a Lot of Folks

After listening to Catching Murphy, another in the Missing Series, I had high hopes for this one . . . but it fell flat. First of all, I hate that Walter Kirn lost his mother . . . and I hate it worse that he helped her to leave this world. There is a lot of difference in a DNR (Do not resuscitate) order and euthanasia. A living will, the directions that the author's mother always had in her possession, shows that she did not want any extraordinary means taken to prolong her life. Perhaps the mother and son had discussed euthanasia (assisted suicide) as well. I don't know. But morally that is a long way from removing a person from life support. After his mother's death, when Mr. Kirn finds his mother's Bible and begins his "spiritual journey", I was hopeful that he would find real fulfillment and hope. What he found, in my opinion, is a mixture of new age mysticism, pieced together in his mind, hurting by many years of loss. I can't recommend this short listen, unfortunately.

I liked it but...

it was interesting enough. compelling during the first few chapters where he was talking about the internal conflicts that surrounded his mothers passing as well as the responsibility he pulled onto himself as the older son. it was loving yet still honest in the pain and to be frank sheer desire to be done with her whole passing which I dont blame him for. it all sounded very traumatic and im glad he was able to work through this as well as the few other issues that plagued him later on.

Have Always Felt A Relationship With Crows

I fell in love with the Story as if I were there while reading it

A diary excerpt not self help

This is a story of how the author chose to remove his mother from life support. The story has way too much detail about removing his mother from life support. I'm glad that the author eventually found healing and comfort but I don't see how this is primed to help others. The author spends his time talking about removing his mother from life support, which I empathize with but I don't see how this information is useful to others at this level of detail. I feel the author's points is lost amongst his own decision making and grief. I found very little usable information aside from being empathetic towards the author's situation.

Loved this book!

Speechless. If you have felt or had similar mystical experiences after losing a loved one, this book makes complete sense. I can not wait to listen to the remaining collection. Bob Marley, "Three little birds" is our song.

Needed More of Something

I didn't hate it, but it didn't stick with me either. There were a few good parts to the story, but some things needed to be tied together. There were a few parts I thought were disconnected to the story. Message was good though. I think this is subjective to the "reader". Just not my taste.