Customer Reviews

Blue Hope: A Novella

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BLUE HOPE
By Robert Waldron
128pp novella Massachusetts:
Paraclete Press

In our modern, technological society there seems to be a search for solutions to all our mental or physical problems. Today there is nearly a pill for everything - can't sleep, take a pill; can't procreate, take a pill, and on and on the list goes. This holds true to people's battles with depression. Some cases may be solved with pills or medication, but others may not and we as a society tend to ignore other remedies, specifically spirituality.

Robert Waldron's Blue Hope takes on this issue and deals with it in fine fashion. Blue Hope is the narrative of John Highet, an English professor in his 30's who has suffered from clinical depression since a young age. As the story unfolds, Highet is nearly at the end of his rope. The two things that had been keeping him going were his soul mate Paula and the verse of Ethan Seegard, his favorite poet. Now, Seegard's verse no longer comforts him in his darkest hours. Highet has tried medication, but it only seems to deepen his depression. In a last ditch attempt to lift himself out of despair, Highet sets out to write the authoritative biography of Ethan Seegard. This is not as easy as it sounds; years before, Seegard gave up his fame to become a monk at the isolated New Rievaulx Abbey in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Under the pretense of taking a weeklong retreat at the Abbey, Highet embarks on a Monday in autumn, in pursuit of his quarry.

The novella gives the reader a look inside a Cistercian monastery of today where the rhythm of life follows the Rule of St. Benedict, established nine hundred years ago, of daily prayer and work (ora et labora). In the 12th century, the Cistercians founded a monastery in England, known as Rievaulx Abbey. Once, it was the largest monastery in England, but it's now a historic ruin maintained by English Heritage ... Cistercian monasteries were located a distance from the towns and cities of medieval Europe, but they were self-supporting by farming and other trades. As Abbot Raine says to Highet, "Here you have beauty, silence, solitude, not to mention God. What more could you ask for?"

The novella reads like a detective story. Highet describes his route to the Abbey, "Narrow, circuitous, and seemingly interminable, it was a perilous road in fog and strewn with wet leaves." Perilous in its own way, Highet's pursuit of his lost, ideal poet moves swiftly through the week. From his first encounter with Brother Jerome, the retreat master, Highet's journey is marked by twists and turns. Highet has made a bargain to stay the week at New Rievaulx, and he finds more than he bargained for. His conversations with Abbott Raine, with Peter, a young man who is taking the retreat at the crossroads of his own life and, yes, with his quarry Seegard, are at times sharp as a knife, at times subtle, at times even humorous. It's a dialogue of discovery, for Highet and for the reader.

I found this book at a spirtual book store under the Fiction section. The cover grabbed my attention and so did the first few lines. In my life Depression has had a way of coming over me suddenly and staying for a intense period of time. Like the main character I have searched and found aid in poetry and later in God. The author tells a rich and very human story filled with despair and a desperation for divine intervention. The references to Church and sacrament are familiar for all of us who have sought comfort from Church. This book is awesome as it tells the story of many of us who despair and seek the Lord often by accident. Spirtually fulfilling and a must read for anyone who has ever questioned God or themselves.

I found Blue Hope to be worthwhile and hopeful. It is a gem of a book, reads easily and develops well, notwithstanding the comments in the editorial reviews above. If you have read this far you should purchase the book. I just wish I could find more like it. The author is giving the reader a small gift of hope and his story successfully conveys the gift. I was moved.
PS- the book is beautifully designed and printed.

As a priest, I read plenty of spiritual books. I was skeptical about this book through the first few pages, wondering if it would be another dreary discussion of depression and spirituality. Yet, I was grabbed within a very few pages (maybe 5) and I enjoyed reading the entire book all the way through. I felt good reading it. I liked the characters I met in this book. This book is a nice treatment on the subject of coming to faith despite intellectual and personal objections to "religion". I thoroughly recommend this book to parishioners.

I have battled with my own depression and along the way I found this book, and I found it very helpful. If you know someone who is fighting their own battle, this book can help them too. It's not an answer or any kind of a cure, it is just a statement of love, hope and understanding from one soul to another. It's hard to say how much just knowing someone else understands, that someone else has been there and survived, can help.

I picked up this book one night before bed, bad but worthwhile mistake. I finished it that very night. It's a very compelling book, and regardless of whether you have struggled with deep depression like the main character, his plight is written of in such a way that it really sheds light on struggles that we all have had at one time or another. I also think that Mr. Waldron wrote beautifully not only of the man's problems but also of his spiritual journey, and that of the other characters. In an era where many books tend to have shocking plotlines in order to grab the readers attention, it is very refreshing to find a book that is beautifully and compellingly written without having to resort to any of the base tactics of many other authors. Kudos Mr. Waldron!

i haven't read the book but he's my english teacher. He's awsome.

I am reading it for the second time,

I read it through the first time

in two hours,

and felt uplifted and this story spoke directly

to questions I have been having.

Since that is personal, I will leave it at that.

If you understand contemplation, solitude, silence,

the importance of people that show up in your life,

then you will relate to this story.