jbmorgan86's review against another edition
In order to get to Paradiso, Dante must climb the seven story Mountain of Purgatorio. This is also the story of the Trappist monk, Thomas Merton. This is the story of all Christians.
In this spiritual biography, Merton (in the style of Augustine's _Confessions_) recounts his pilgrimage to the monastery.
There are nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the book. My minor review of this classic is not enough to do it justice.
In this spiritual biography, Merton (in the style of Augustine's _Confessions_) recounts his pilgrimage to the monastery.
There are nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the book. My minor review of this classic is not enough to do it justice.
madisonboboltz's review against another edition
5.0
462 pages is a bit long for an autobiography of faith. At times it felt drawn out and boring, but by the end I was so invested it was worth the length. I've never read something where I felt so strongly that the author had written it just for me. I'm sure a lot of people feel that way when they read it. It's so beautiful, profound, relatable, challenging.... It brought me to tears, it brought me to my knees in prayer, and it brought peace to my scattered brain. I would love to read more of his poetry. So good! So, so, so good.
jenwestpfahl's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
So slow with so much unneeded detail. I was expecting a lot more insightfulness than I got from this famous conversion memoir, especially toward the end. But it wasn’t there. All in all not a very memorable story.
lindseygwilson's review against another edition
5.0
I tried re-reading it this Lent (2013) and got bogged down. Maybe I'll finish a second-read-through in the future.
smchampz's review against another edition
4.0
Some really beautiful and thoughtful stuff in here!! Also a lot of disdain for participating in the world which I can’t totally get behind. I wanted it to be the book that convinced me to become a monastic and it wasn’t that book (but I know it’s out there somewhere)
michaelacabus's review against another edition
5.0
To declare that life’s project isn’t to become as wealthy as one can, or to rise to the highest class possible, or to achieve fame, but rather to investigate meaning in what seems a chaotic existence, can be met with derision. The meaning-making is at the heart of a contemplative life, and is lived out in its most extreme form as being a spiritual hermit, a monk or nun.
The problem of it, on the surface, seems to be lack of action: with so much to do, contemplation in any form seems to be wasteful, an excess, even a form of gluttony.
However, no one can seriously look at the world and think all is well with an action-driven life; we’ve had a lot of action locally, globally, but one can find this action to be often disheartening.
A prescription of more action would seem to be natural. However, in the US, with 25 candidates on one side fiercely debating how they will best one person on the other side; and in the UK, with the architect of confusion soon assuming the leadership, we may conclude we’ve had quite enough of it.
When we’ve reached this conclusion, there is no better book to spend time with than Merton’s. The beauty of his book is that his honest depiction of a life seeking meaning in some of the usual places and being left feeling disillusioned. His infatuation with the Communist party in his youth, for instance, is something he sees as childish later in life, as all parties simply crave power, no matter their noble-sounding ideals.
Literature, though, is a gateway to deeper personal experience, and Merton shows the power of literature to be a compass: we can find the spiritual there, it connects us to something we would not have access to otherwise. This twin focus on literature and spirituality leads Merton to have a radical view of community. World War II is raging in the background, and when he writes about Hitler, he uses collective language to describe the cause, even personal language: the world we created, the world he created. It is jarring in an age of finger pointing and scapegoating to hear someone admit that, in a society or world in which things have gone wrong, we all have responsibility for it, that we all allowed it to take place.
It is an example of Merton’s emerging ethos in this book: he doesn’t want to live in the space of denial or self-righteousness. This is a religious book, and that may turn off some atheist readers, but behind Merton’s spiritual quest is a quest we can all relate to. When Merton is rejected from being a monk due to his bad behavior in his youth, he comes up with a way to live this spiritual life in the world. This decision, to live in a way apart from what any external, materialistic expectations would dictate, may resonate with many of us, who feel at once a part of the world and also deeply apart from it.
In the end, we all make these choices about how to live within he world, either consciously or unconsciously. We’ve all met people, for instance, who seem to be a big bottle of resentment, the contents of which are ready to overflow at any moment (the people we tiptoe around but still mange to knock it over), and we know that some decision about the world and people led them there.
Is it too far a leap to conclude that all flows to how a larger society expresses itself in its humanity (or lack thereof)?
To actively design experience, that is where the magic lies, and is so major a part of our project of living that to skip that part entirely should enact in us that modern concept of “fear of missing out.” Merton’s book provides inspiration for the journey.
A+
The problem of it, on the surface, seems to be lack of action: with so much to do, contemplation in any form seems to be wasteful, an excess, even a form of gluttony.
However, no one can seriously look at the world and think all is well with an action-driven life; we’ve had a lot of action locally, globally, but one can find this action to be often disheartening.
A prescription of more action would seem to be natural. However, in the US, with 25 candidates on one side fiercely debating how they will best one person on the other side; and in the UK, with the architect of confusion soon assuming the leadership, we may conclude we’ve had quite enough of it.
When we’ve reached this conclusion, there is no better book to spend time with than Merton’s. The beauty of his book is that his honest depiction of a life seeking meaning in some of the usual places and being left feeling disillusioned. His infatuation with the Communist party in his youth, for instance, is something he sees as childish later in life, as all parties simply crave power, no matter their noble-sounding ideals.
Literature, though, is a gateway to deeper personal experience, and Merton shows the power of literature to be a compass: we can find the spiritual there, it connects us to something we would not have access to otherwise. This twin focus on literature and spirituality leads Merton to have a radical view of community. World War II is raging in the background, and when he writes about Hitler, he uses collective language to describe the cause, even personal language: the world we created, the world he created. It is jarring in an age of finger pointing and scapegoating to hear someone admit that, in a society or world in which things have gone wrong, we all have responsibility for it, that we all allowed it to take place.
It is an example of Merton’s emerging ethos in this book: he doesn’t want to live in the space of denial or self-righteousness. This is a religious book, and that may turn off some atheist readers, but behind Merton’s spiritual quest is a quest we can all relate to. When Merton is rejected from being a monk due to his bad behavior in his youth, he comes up with a way to live this spiritual life in the world. This decision, to live in a way apart from what any external, materialistic expectations would dictate, may resonate with many of us, who feel at once a part of the world and also deeply apart from it.
In the end, we all make these choices about how to live within he world, either consciously or unconsciously. We’ve all met people, for instance, who seem to be a big bottle of resentment, the contents of which are ready to overflow at any moment (the people we tiptoe around but still mange to knock it over), and we know that some decision about the world and people led them there.
Is it too far a leap to conclude that all flows to how a larger society expresses itself in its humanity (or lack thereof)?
To actively design experience, that is where the magic lies, and is so major a part of our project of living that to skip that part entirely should enact in us that modern concept of “fear of missing out.” Merton’s book provides inspiration for the journey.
A+
davehershey's review against another edition
3.0
This book has been on my radar for years. It has been called a modern Confessions. I enjoy reading biographies. But I just couldn't get into Merton's world. I love the Confessions and find it both exciting and invigorating. I found this book dull. Merton just meanders so much; I should have known I was in trouble when he spoke of liking James Joyce so much. Joyce is another author I tried to read and gave up on. I didn't give up on Merton, I pushed through.
I just think I expected more. Maybe I did not expect the culmination to be him moving into a monastery to live in silence. I wanted something more active, a conversion that led to some sort of action in the world. To be fair, I know Merton has written other books so it is not like he disappeared. And I have read many other mystics who lived in monasteries and I have highly appreciated their writings: Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Sienna, Benedict and others. Maybe Merton is just too close to my own time, I prefer to read spiritual journeys of people from centuries ago?
All that said, this is considered a spiritual classic. Perhaps you'll find something in it I did not.
I just think I expected more. Maybe I did not expect the culmination to be him moving into a monastery to live in silence. I wanted something more active, a conversion that led to some sort of action in the world. To be fair, I know Merton has written other books so it is not like he disappeared. And I have read many other mystics who lived in monasteries and I have highly appreciated their writings: Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Sienna, Benedict and others. Maybe Merton is just too close to my own time, I prefer to read spiritual journeys of people from centuries ago?
All that said, this is considered a spiritual classic. Perhaps you'll find something in it I did not.
raymond_rigat's review against another edition
2.0
Although there are beautiful excerpts—such as Merton's description of his dying father and his subsequent confrontation with his own spiritual poverty and dependence on God—there are far too many pompous and pretentious condescensions.
How many times are you going to say that Switzerland is "tedious"?
How many times are you going to say that Switzerland is "tedious"?
divinediana's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
judyward's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book every couple of years when I need to recharge my faith batteries. I love it. The autobiography of a young intellectual who drinks deeply from worldly pleasures and then at age 26 enters a Trappist monastery. The chronicle of his journey toward total faith in God is compelling.