stephen11's review against another edition
It was much more Christian based than I thought it would be. I tried reading past, or through, the Christian ideas and get the wider reaching spiritual ideas, but I think they're too embedded in his writing for me to get through. I quit at page 72 / 303
davehershey's review
5.0
Over the last few years, I have found it beneficial to include reading a bit from different spiritual masters each day. I've been reading a chapter of this book each morning, and it is absolutely fantastic. The first 2/3 of the book was a wealth of thought provoking spiritual depth. This book could easily be included in my top ten books of all time. The last 1/3 started to get away from me. I'm not sure how to explain it. Merton is writing on a different level of spiritual connection with the Divine, a level I am sure I've never experienced. I know Merton would not want his book to be read an forgotten, so I think I need to spend more time chewing on his words (and the words of scripture, and sitting in silence and other spiritual disciplines). In essence, you can't just read about contemplation without putting yourself in a place to experience it. I look forward to a time, maybe when I'm around fifty, and I pick this one up again and hopefully, with a dose of grace, the whole book hits me the way the first 2/3 did this time.
volivier's review against another edition
5.0
i have finished it once and am confident i will pull it out and read at random for many years to come. I could start over right now and it would be a different book because i missed so much the first time.
booknerd_therapist's review against another edition
4.0
I have some mixed feelings about this book.
It reads like one long prayer, which is lovely. Thomas Merton clearly has a very intimate, very passionate relationship with God. And of course, there were some things that were relevant to me, and some that were not. However, sometimes when I was reading, I just felt lost. Like I was missing something. Maybe some of it was just over my head, because I don't have that kind of relationship with God. I partly wish that Merton would have used simpler language in expressing his "seeds of contemplation."
On the other hand, as the title implies, this book absolutely does its job in provoking ideas for contemplation. I especially loved the chapter called "Sentences" which, unlike the other chapters, just contained short, proverb-like expressions instead of long paragraphs on a given subject. I found these very inspiring and excellent for meditation.
I would recommend this to someone who is working on deepening his/her prayer life. I don't think I'd recommend this to a new believer.
It reads like one long prayer, which is lovely. Thomas Merton clearly has a very intimate, very passionate relationship with God. And of course, there were some things that were relevant to me, and some that were not. However, sometimes when I was reading, I just felt lost. Like I was missing something. Maybe some of it was just over my head, because I don't have that kind of relationship with God. I partly wish that Merton would have used simpler language in expressing his "seeds of contemplation."
On the other hand, as the title implies, this book absolutely does its job in provoking ideas for contemplation. I especially loved the chapter called "Sentences" which, unlike the other chapters, just contained short, proverb-like expressions instead of long paragraphs on a given subject. I found these very inspiring and excellent for meditation.
I would recommend this to someone who is working on deepening his/her prayer life. I don't think I'd recommend this to a new believer.
nickjonesreadsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
While this isn't a difficult book to read, it is a deep book. It is rich in philosophical insights and simple in form. Towards the end of the book, Merton began to seem so foreign and exotic to my Western Christianity that I had trouble hanging with him as he entered the realm of the mystic. This book is definitely one to come back to after years of spiritual growth and development, but I am glad I read it now because it gives me something to look forward to in the future and it provided much light for the journey at present.
jgroden's review
3.0
Merton alternates between beautiful insights and the tangled philosophizing he separately deplores. Reminds me of Lao Tzu paired up with George R.R. Martin's editors.