Mary+Immaculate<3 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) I'm thinking about reading "Seven Storey Mountain" by Thomas Merton, have any of you read it? I'd like to know if you recommend it, and how you liked it, obviously without any spoilers! Edited December 27, 2013 by Mary+Immaculate<3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotreDame Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Read it about 7 years ago. Really nice autobiography. He's a good writer. I don't know what it was about the first half of the 20th century, but it spawned many incredible writers, including merton. I'd like to read it again to see if I pick up on more of the spiritual aspects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary+Immaculate<3 Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 Great, I'm glad you liked it. Quality writing appeals to me, especially for books that are communicating som sort of theological/moral/philosophical ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Two of Merton's early works had a much impact for me "The Seven Story Mountain" and "Opening The Bible". I would recommend "The Seven Story Mountain" as a really good read with much to say, sometimes with thoughts 'between the lines'. "Opening The Bible" triggered a life long love of Scripture and interest in most all books related to Scripture including the geography and historical known facts around the Old and New Testament, their times - and of the times of Jesus especially. But "Opening The Bible" triggered much deeper than a hunger to know geographical and historical facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary+Immaculate<3 Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 Good to know. God bless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClemensBruno Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I read The Seven Story Mountain around 2008. It had been in my library for years; my brother must have given it to me. My interest piqued after seeing a PBS documentary about Thomas Merton. I was in the midst a spiritual catharsis and disillusionment similar to what Thomas Merton experienced around the time of his conversion, although mine was much less dramatic I suppose. Seven Story Mountain provided me with invaluable guidance at a key juncture in my life. I related so much to Merton's perspective, I recall musing that he wrote it specifically to help someone like me. Merton was exceptionally intelligent and, at times, arrogant--a fault of which he would have been keenly aware. To say that Seven Story Mountain changed countless lives is not hyperbole. It hit the core of the zeitgeist of its time, and contributed immensely to the subsequent jump in numbers entering religious life, especially among contemplative orders. So... yeah... I highly recommend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotreDame Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 To say that Seven Story Mountain changed countless lives is not hyperbole. It hit the core of the zeitgeist of its time, and contributed immensely to the subsequent jump in numbers entering religious life, especially among contemplative orders. Nice use of "zeitgeist" in a sentence. Is it making a comeback? It's the third time I've seen it this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luigi Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 "Zeitgeist" is definitely making a comeback. It's the direct and immediate result of the Obama selfie - the selfie being the zeitgeist of the current age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClemensBruno Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 NotreDame: "Nice use of "zeitgeist" in a sentence. Is it making a comeback? It's the third time I've seen it this week." Three times this week?! Wow. I didn't even know it had become passé. I had zeitgeist in mind after reading a lengthy blog the other day in which the blogger argues that we are experiencing a major change in our collective thinking. He called it The Great Perspective Shift. My immediate reaction was, "Why is he using an awkward phrase when he could have simply said zeitgeist?" Although I completely disagree with his supporting arguments, I think the "Great Shift" observation is valid. (After revisiting the blog just now, which btw is posted on a Serbian website, he may have avoided using zeitgeist for cultural reasons possibly? ...Just a wild guess.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotreDame Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 It's not passe yet, but it's no longer obscure. About cultural shifts... The funniest part of the Seven Storey Mountain to me, was when Merton joins up with the communists and one week they are out in the streets protesting against war, then they get new instructions from the International Comintern and the next they are out there protesting for war. The more things change... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 I loved the section when he talks about going to the silent Mass at Gethsemane Abbey. It gave me shivers as a child, and still has a quality about it that is absolutely mystical.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary+Immaculate<3 Posted January 29, 2014 Author Share Posted January 29, 2014 I loved the section when he talks about going to the silent Mass at Gethsemane Abbey. It gave me shivers as a child, and still has a quality about it that is absolutely mystical.... The monastery itself or the description of the monastery from the book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted January 30, 2014 Share Posted January 30, 2014 Good question. Neither one. Merton was describing his first experience of visiting the monastery for a retreat as a layman. He does kind of a stream-of-consciousness reaction to his first experience of Mass at the Monastery. At that point it was done in total silence and I guess it was a very spiritually significant moment for him. I don't have the book handy right now...or I would quote the section for you... perhaps someone else has it available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faithfulflockstar Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I'm in the middle of reading it now - it's amazing how much he remembers when he was so young. My spiritual director had recommended the book to me in an effort to find the quiet among the noise of my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Sounds like a great suggestion. When you get to the section where Merton goes to that first Mass at Gethsemane and does the stream-of-consciousness reaction to it.... would you indicate what chapter it is in FaithfulFlockstar? I am sure that MaryImmaculate would appreciate it too!!! Some people remember a lot of their very young lives, others not so much. Certainly St. Therese did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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