Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton ISBN: 0-8112-0102-3 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 June, 1970 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: lost a star due to $- per-page...
Comment: but, this book was a very pleasant surprise; perhaps because I had no conception / or misconceptions, of the subject. After all, 'everyone' knows that monk-hermits have absolutely no contact with anyone, ever- right??
Wrong!! the first of many myths shot down.
I was looking for spiritual advice. What was constantly hammered [seemed to me ] was : don't criticise anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances- at least over a number of consecutive 'vignettes'.
Rating: 5
Summary: Perfect for What it sets out to do
Comment: As another reviewer notes, Merton's selections are not as comprehensive as Helen Waddell's, and his introduction does not provide nearly as detailed an account of the historical and literary context of the desert fathers' sayings. This is not Merton's purpose. He is trying to give us a sense of the spiritual essence of the fathers, and he does it brilliantly. Although he is not as elegant a writer as Waddell, nor as learned, he has a much deeper intuitive understanding of the fathers' search for God and their love for each other. His selections emphasize the importance of this love and downplay the fanatical asceticism that many people associate with the fathers. Throughout his introduction, he emphasizes that love is far more important in the Christian life than either mysticism or asceticism. Thus, although a sympathetic reader may not learn terribly much about the history of the desert fathers from Merton, she will begin to understand "the wisdom of the desert".
Rating: 2
Summary: A Drop of the Water of Wisdom
Comment: This small book (81 pages, including a 24 page introduction) is a collection of short sayings and stories out of the early Christian desert tradition predating monasticism. Taken from a classical collection called Verba Seniorium, in Migne's Latin Patrology, Merton selects a somewhat arbitrary group of personal "greatest hits", and adds an essay-introduction on the importance of the Desert Fathers as representing "a discovery of man, at the term of an inner and spiritual journey that is far more crucial and infinitely more important than a journey to the moon" (introduction, page 11).
Thus launched, the sayings spill out in no particular order or chapters, without name or context to read against. As an introduction to the desert tradition, this book may provide a small opening to test interest. Other collections, however, (The Desert Fathers, translated/introduced by H. Waddell; The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, translated/introduced by Benedicta Ward) are better grounded historically, and give a far wider rnage of material than does this personal gathering of favorites. This book sheds little light on either Father Merton or desert fathers.
 |
Title: The Desert Fathers: Translations from the Latin by Helen Waddell ISBN: 0375700196 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
 |
Title: Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton ISBN: 0814605486 Publisher: Liturgical Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1956 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
 |
Title: The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton ISBN: 0156010860 Publisher: Harcourt Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
 |
Title: New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton ISBN: 081120099X Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation Pub. Date: 01 March, 1972 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Spiritual Direction and Meditation by Thomas Merton ISBN: 0814604129 Publisher: Liturgical Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1986 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
