Book review entries

The Seven Storey Mountain

Title:

The Seven Storey Mountain

Author:

Thomas Merton

ISBN:

0281044740

Rating:

So after many people have said how amazing a writer Thomas Merton is, I finally got round to reading his autobiography. It was there in the Oxfam by the Union, so I had no reason to not buy it and read it.

It took quite a while to get into, he had an interesting childhood, but it mostly involved travelling and going in churches (which was fairly dull). Then there were the rebellious teenage years, which were dull as he didn’t really want to go into anything and referred to stuff he had done as being sinful and he did not want to tempt fellow yoiung readers.

Once you get past this bit he goes to university at Cambridge and then to America, which was interesting. He then converts to catholicism, which is very dull and not particuarlly special, but other people may find it more interesting. So up to this point the book is not great, and has much to be desired. But then he gets baptised and the book becomes amazing, the baptism is so beautiful and brings so many new ideas to what it is all about. And then he searches for his vocation, wants to become a priest and can’t within the Franciscan tradition, so trundles along for a couple of years and then becomes a Trappist. I know very little about the Trappist, but after this book they sound very interesting.

The book brings up some very interesting and original theological points, and puts them within a friendly environment, with the effects on the main poeples lives being clearly seen. It is a shame that the book takes so long to get going, and also Merton’s prejudice against protestants, as that is annoying.

: 01 Sep 2006 20:19 |  Tags: Books Review |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem