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Title: The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day ISBN: 0-06-061751-9 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 15 January, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.9 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Life Of Love In Practice
Comment: THE LONG LONELINESS is one of the deepest and most beneficial books for soul-searching that I have ever read. The only books akin and deeper are those in the Bible. Perhaps this is because Dorothy Day lived the life depicted in the books of the New Testament; she lived with Jesus as her guide.
After reading Dorothy's autobiography, I continued to re-read it time and again. Each time, I was moved in a different way. She provides a transcendant power of example through her works -- works, that is -- for the other.
This book makes clear her determination to practice the life of love and not simply to dwell on theories thereof. Dorothy had many an encounter with difficult predicamets, yet, none overwhelmed her. She constantly moved; moved towards the poor.
To live among the poor, that was her goal -- a goal that she not only completed but, also, enjoyed.
She loved each person in this world. This is seen throughout these pages when references are made to mentors like Saint Theresa of Avila. Dorothy refers often to St. Theresa's synopsis of this world: ...Life is like a night spent in an uncomfortable inn... Which, to Dorothy, makes it all the more neccessary to live this life helping those who need the most help, the poor.
To let go of the material and hold onto what you can not touch; that is the goal of this life -- that was Dorothy's goal. And to reach that goal -- to find not only herself but her very soul and the Creator of that soul -- she lived among the poor. Doing so out of love.
The crux of this book, then -- to me, at least -- is that you can say and think many things but if you do not act upon and, hence, practice those thoughts, they will remain only in your mind. And it behooves us to practice the Gospel because our lives are merely eighty-years or so, if that. So to focus on the material in life instead of the Godly, is a life of sadness. Sadness because a void from within is constantly present if you are not close to God, and the only way to become close to God is by loving His creation.
To love His creation, we must work with one another because we are His creation -- and when we work with love, He is loved and we feel that love.
Read this book. You will cry, laugh, think cunningly and, ultimately, find yourself. Your interpretation will be different than mine, but one thing is clear: love in practice is the message.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Worthy Read
Comment: More than a story of the life of a great and determined woman, this book is really the story of the Catholic Worker movement. The purpose of Ms. Day's life, and the Catholic Worker movement, was to make the kind of society in which it is easier for people to be good.
To that end, Ms. Day wrote of her life. I've often heard this book compared to Merton's Seven Storey Mountain. However, it does not show the level of introspection that one finds with Thomas Merton. This autobiography does touch on the personal level when Ms. Day speaks of her faith, her love of God and what that means to her. These portions of the book are worth reading and re-reading.
Unfortunately, this is only about one quarter of the book. The remainder regards the Catholic Worker movement and Ms. Day's journey through communism, pacifism etc. In short, the book is more about utopia than it is about Ms. Day.
Nonetheless, it is far more than a drab read about the socio-economic condition of man in the 20th century. I'm very glad that I've read this book, and I will read it again no doubt.
If you have an interest in putting your faith into action, this book will inspire you. It should inspire, and for the most part it does. For that reason I recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Classic Conversion Story
Comment: Catholic faith fascinates people. How did her spiritual life develop, and how did it influence the remainder of her life? Many wonderful authors, including but not limited to people such as William Miller, Robert Coles, and most recently Paul Elie, have written extensively about Dorothy Day and help us understand this amazing and complex woman, but nothing is more rewarding than reading the writings of Day herself.
THE LONG LONELINESS is a classic spiritual tome and is often referred to as Day's spiritual autobiography. In many ways it is similar to Thomas Merton's SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN, and it is easily a close second in popularity with many Catholics. Though Day's writing style is much drier than Merton's writing and her story is not quite as spellbinding as the artist and aspiring writer turned monk, the reader can sense God working powerfully in Day's life. If the book were published today, it would probably be categorized as a memoir, rather than an autobiography since day does not as much tell her story as reflect on how God called her to a life of faith.
The book is a "must read" for anyone who loves and admires Dorothy Day. It is also a book that will interest people interested in religious social activism. Yet the book may speak most powerfully to those who are on a spiritual quest themselves, either knowingly or unknowingly.
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Title: Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Robert Coles ISBN: 1570751560 Publisher: Orbis Books Pub. Date: September, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Learning True Love: How I Learned and Practiced Social Change in Vietnam by Chan Khong, Cao Ngoc Phuong, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ngoc Phuong Cao ISBN: 0938077503 Publisher: Parallax Pr Pub. Date: September, 1993 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Dorothy Day: Selected Writings by Robert Ellsberg, Dorothy Day ISBN: 0883448025 Publisher: Orbis Books Pub. Date: September, 1992 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Dead Man Walking by Helen Prejean ISBN: 0679751319 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 31 May, 1994 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Essential Gandhi : An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas by Mahatma Gandhi, Louis Fischer ISBN: 1400030501 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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