Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku

I've now read this book twice and I love it. It was a great introduction to serious and thoughtful Haiku.

I first purchased Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bone's decades ago and after reading it I gave it to a friend who said she wanted to write a book. Years later, I purchased the 30th anniversary edition of "Bones" and it's been hard to put down ! In the interim I have read "Old Friend From Far Away", "Let the Whole Thundering World Come Home", " Long Quiet Highway", "The Great Spring" and most recently "Three Simple Lines".Absolutely love Natalie's writing...her use of words, language and how she chooses to express herself. She takes you with her throughout her journeys. Allows you to feel what she was, perhaps still is feeling on some level.I am a writer of music, but thanks to Natalie Goldberg I am trying my hand at memoir. If I ever get through it, I will dedicate it to her !I highly recommend this book...IF you love Japan, and the subtly of how these poems open up space within our monkey mind..poems written by the great masters of Haiku, PLUS the brilliance of a very seasoned, detailed and often humorous author, it would be difficult to imagine your not cherishing this sweet read ...Kanpai Natalie Goldberg on yet another delicious read !

I like the part when Natalie Goldberg buys a man ice cream. He shared it with people. She wanted him to eat it himself because she thought he looked too skinny. It's a cool book. It's the third in her cancer trilogy.

I had not thought about haiku in many many years. Certainly the way I had been taught to view haiku was too simplistic. Natalie’s book gave me a new interest in and love for this art form.

The story of one writer’s adventures on the Way of Haiku that testifies—and invites us to—inconceivable intimacy with the world.Master writing teacher Natalie Goldberg has lots of experience with haiku and Zen, writing and life. I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of attending one of the haiku weekends she has co-taught in recent years at Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe.In these diary-like essays, Ms. Goldberg invites us with her as she goes to Japan a couple or more times, each time exploring deeper layers within herself, her relationships, and her life. She models and invites us to explore with her and her friends how this brief form of poetry can open us up to the world.Most importantly, she shows how the Way of Haiku—like the Way of Zen to which it is related—can be a way to strip off the clothes that may be constricting us, allowing us to plunge into a refreshing, deeper intimacy with the now-hot, now-cold rapids of reality.

Natalie Goldberg's books are always worth reading.

I’m a haiku innocent. This became clear when, deep into Three Simple Lines, I read this haiku by the author:This black penfeels meatyin a writer’s handI 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 one was a misstep and a bad haiku. I’m not convinced! Though it lacks the usual evocation of nature, it rings true. I loved, as well, how gently the author nestles this and a hundred other haiku into her pages. Whether they were written a few years ago by an American, or centuries back by some famous Japanese poet, I found all of them engaging. Goldberg, who has always been a great storyteller, explores here the culture that gave birth to haiku, opening up a world for both innocents and experts. What a lively and perceptive book..

I found Natalie Goldberg's "Three Simple Lines" helpful for its connection between her prose about the backgrounds of each haiku poem in the book (hers and other poets). William Hengst

Love this book. Will definitely be reading it multiple times.

Goldberg explores the history, the art and the heart of Haiku. She shares her own search for understanding the enigmatic three lines, especially in her travels to Japan. A small treasure.

When even the wisdom traditions fall like autumn leaves and I’m left with the taste of cardboard.... the winter long I'm broken and bewildered, and by chance and delight this world so eloquently opens and bows before me.The blend of memoir, Zen practice and Haiku and some history are poetically entwined. A rich blend which offers much. 3 simple lines is my new practice.Gratitude Abounds 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽Meryl

I Iiked it, well written and interesting. I am into haiku so makes it work.

It's more of a personal journey than of the art of writing haiku.