Book Review - Company of Stone - A Memoir by John Rixey Moore

Book Review

Company of Stone - A Memoir

by John Rixey Moore

Book Description

While on a lone tour in the rugged Scottish highlands, John Moore flees a freezing rainstorm by seeking shelter in a remote monastery. He nestles into the brotherhood—hardly believing what he learns about blind chance and the best of human nature. Later, a chance conversation overheard in a village pub steers him to become a rock drill operator in a large industrial gold mine. The dangers he encounters among the provocative, frightening, lost men of the mine, who seek anonymity in a world deep underground, challenge both his endurance and his sense of self.

With sensitivity and humor, Moore explores the unexpected lessons learned in the strange but rich monasticism of forgotten men—a brotherhood housed in crumbling medieval masonry and, one shared in the dangerous rocky depths of the gold mine.

This engaging adventure of discovery is full of unexpected surprises, leaving the reader torn between the call to adventure that lives at the heart of human nature and the gratitude for the safe embrace of the easy chair that affords the luxury of living vicariously.

Available to buy from...

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Our Book Review

After being involved in the Vietnam conflict the author decides to take a walking tour in Scotland to find himself and to recouperate. Unexpectedly he ends up finding a monastery and spends some time with the brothers.  In relaying his thoughts and memoirs you find that wherever you go in the world no matter how big or small the place is you need different characters and beliefs to make the system work .

In reading the writers time in the monastery it sends an important message that everyone needs peace and solace to recharge and be the best you can be, reflection and recollection are important to learn and move on from the mistakes we make.

The second part of the authors journey takes us to Canada and a gold mine were the mindset and characteristics of the workers have a different objective.  This, for me, is what makes the journey and memoirs of this writer an excellent read.

There is alot to take from this book, contemplation, reflection, and making you think about your own life and what you hold dear to yourself and treasure.

Our Rating

About the Author

John Rixey Moore in an actor and writer. He has been a contract player on several TV soap operas and the on-camera announcer in over 460 network commercials, competed internationally for several years on the U.S. Bobsled team. in the 1980s, served as boat tune-up crew and sail advisor for the America's Cup, and sailed a 73' Trimaran across the Atlantic from Plymouth, England to Newport, Rhode Island in 1976. He has flown his Beech Bonanza across the United States some twenty-three times and built a home-made car out of parts scrounged from wrecks and yard sales (with a bit of reluctant professional help) which he has driven across the US twice so far. He can be seen from time to time on The History Channel being interviewed on the crop circle phenomenon and on the subject of UFOs. An amateur historian, he enjoys walking ancient sites in Europe and maintains an extensive collection of antique books and household displays of medieval weapons. He lives in the Los Padres National Forest of Southern California, where he paints and enjoys firing his collection of antique cannons.

Find the author on the following sites...

Website   Goodreads   Amazon Author Page

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