Author KATHLEEN NORRIS
Publisher RIVERHEAD BOOKS
ISBN 1-57322-584-3
This became a New York Times best seller when first published in 1996. Kathleen Norris is a somewhat frustrating writer if you are looking for something that is consistent and keeps closely to and honors the subject matter suggested in its title. This book certainly does not do that. Although the overall idea is to unfold aspects of Benedictine Monastery life there are plenty of the author’s own views on other matters, some of them red hot with subtle invective. She has entered monastery life on a number of occasions as Benedictine oblate and has plenty of experience of monks and nuns and their lives. She is principally a poet and her love for words and language shines through and this is a particularly pleasing aspect to the book. On occasions she inveighs against what she regards as patriachalism and even uses the ‘f’ word unnecessarily occasionally, almost as though she is endeavoring to indicate that she, whilst being a Christian with a spiritual appetite is not one of those frustrating believers whose Christianity (in her opinion) simply comprises a litany of do’s and don’ts. In a way this book is a bit strange, its mixture is annoying, but it is interesting too. Possibly we should say it is more a book on ‘spirituality’ (that buzz word of the last twenty years) rather than Christian truth as manifested among the followers of St Benedict’s disciplines. She does intend to immerse the reader in a liturgical world and probably the best way to describe her style is that it is idiosyncratic. Kathleen Norris has lived in New York, traveled widely as a writer and lecturer. She has spent extended periods participating in monastery life, and has, for many years moved to live in a quiet corner of South Dakota. She forsook her earlier faith only to return to it later in life to even become a minister of the Presbyterian Church. So, all that makes for a lady of wide experience and she shares liberally of that wideness leaving the reader to make up his or her mind as to what to swallow and what bones to spit out. The book does not lead the reader into deep spiritual thought; it may even provoke strong reactions either for or against some of her gender ideas and social commentary. One thing she will do for you though, is to widen your perspective and perhaps introduce you to some words and writers you had not considered before.
