Customer Reviews

Climbing Brandon: Science and Faith on Ireland's Holy Mountain

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Climbing Brandon by Chet Raymo was a little bit of a disappointment to me. The last book I read by Raymo, Walking Zero, felt like being in a college science class with a great, enthusiastic instructor. This book just wasn't as engaging. While Raymo does a good job with his descriptions, they tend to be a bit dry. If ever a book called out for pictures or illustrations, this is it. I'm not familiar with all of the terms for parts of mountains so when he talks about a corrie or a moraine, I'm lost as to what I should be picturing in my mind. The book is supposed to trace Irish faith with the history of Mount Brandon, and I felt that Raymo wandered from that goal a bit often as well. He says over and over that the Celts infused their brand of Christianity with their naturalistic beliefs, but he never gives any examples of it. Ultimately it seems that the book is about Raymo's own search for faith and God, and I ended up feeling a little sad for him. He decries the belief in a transcendant God who answers intercessory prayer and cites double blind studies proving that it doesn't work. But then he offers prayer himself to a immanent God who exists in all of nature and is worth of praise and thanksgiving for the beauty of creation. Raymo is missing the most important part of God: the personal relationship and joy of talking to a God you know is listening. I get the opinion that Raymo isn't done with his search, and I hope that he finds what he's looking for.

Raymo does it again! As in his book: "Skeptics and True Believers", his continuing search for harmony between religion and science leading to universal admiration and awe of God's creation, he writes a compelling argument for removing the detritus of dogma and the sterility of science- not that easy for a person who was brought up on Catholicism and schooled in science (physics, astronomy) where he started to articulate his personal misgivings about strict dogma and contradictions.

Climbing Brandon was written at his part time home in Ireland on the Dingle Peninsula near the foot Mt Brandon where pilgrims/tourist come from all parts of the world to walk the paths and visit the contemplation centers of long passed saints and monks, i.e., St Patrick, Brendan, et al.

With geographical descriptions, especially those garnered from various view points in the surrounding mountains where past contemplatives meditated/prayed, poetical/prayerful/anecdotal/scholarly treatments of Irish/Celtic religious history, including numerous citations, this beautiful book comes off as part: Travel Guide (and watch out- after reading this book, one might be compelled to drop everything and go tour the region!), a crash course in Irish/Celtic cultural history (Paganism, Pantheism, Christianity, etc.), Religio/Science dissertation, etc.

The premise that God is in all and not the exclusive property of humans (anthropomorphism) is cited in an early Irish poem attributed to one of the "Milesian" princes, Amergin: "Song of Amergin" or "The Mystery". Think of everything that exists and the poem covers it- this is God. Same notion as in the sermon of St Columbanus which ends with: [Those who wish to know God, he says,] "must first review the natural world". This same notion is put forth with citations from: Thomas Berry , E.O. Wilson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and many others. Thanks again to Chet Raymo for another beautiful, thought provoking book!

I only recently reencountered the writings of Chet Raymo. For some number of years a first edition copy of HONEY FROM STONE has graced my bookshelf. This summer though I picked up a copy of NATURAL PRAYERS and THE SOUL OF THE NIGHT the latter of which was my favorite, that is until I read CLIMBING BRANDON.

For anyone with a passion for Raymo's dense yet wonderfully expressive writing style so reminescent of Loren Eiseley's best, for anyone captivated by the tensions posed by the mysteries of science and faith, and for all of us who are fascinated with things Celtic, you can't do better. This is a prayerful book -- there is no better companion to climb and discover the mysteries of Mount Brandon with than with Chet Raymo.
R. Bruce Craig

Mr. Raymo has a seasonal home near Mt. Brandon, has climbed the peak dozens of times and clearly loves the region and its history. The author interweaves tales of local natural and human history - both documented and legendary - with religious history, a smattering of Irish literature and his personal experiences on Mt. Brandon. But this book fails, in my opinion, to capture the feel and atmosphere, much less the spiritual aspect of the region of the Holy Mountain.

Instead the author focuses on how his interpretation of pre-Christian and early-Christian Celtic spirituality - mostly conjectural due to absence of contemporaneous written records - contrasts with what in his view is the rigid, obsolete, anti-human, anti-science Roman Catholic dogma that came to dominate pre-Enlightenment Europe as well as Ireland. That's the same dogma taught to Raymo in his alter boy childhood, a worldview he totally rejects in favor of the "truth" of contemporary western science which Raymo asserts is only reasonable modern worldview (Try telling that to the mullahs!).

At the same time Raymo keeps referring to the need for the scientific world view to incorporate "mystery" as a means to meet what he acknowledges is an innate human need for spiritual matters. But the religion-rejecting author never explains how this can be done. As near as I can tell he endorses - seeming for others but not himself - a return to a sort of pantheism that encourages people to replace prayer - demonstratably meaningless according to Raymo - with exaltation and celebration of daily natural phenomenon such as a mountain sunrise. In the single instance in which Raymo tells of a semi-supernatural personal experience - a solitary night vigil in an ancient Christian church in which he becomes "spooked" by his sense of an unseen "presence" - the entire experience is explained in the light of day - to himself at least - by the discovery of a bird's nest with newborn birds just above where he sat in the dark during the night. Mystery solved, once again, by science. Apparently Raymo thinks only other people - those too weak-minded, unlike himself, to boldly live in the "real" world where human logic and reason reign supreme - should experience or even believe in the possibility of mystery.

Finally, Raymo's obsession with Roman Catholicism's supposed blight on human thinking and history limits his ability to assess the reasonable proposition that a lot of the early Irish Christian church's supposed (superior) Celtic spirituality actually came, at least in part, from its documented historical connections directly with what we now refer to as Orthodox Christianity as opposed to the Roman variety.

There's an excellent generalized map of southwestern Ireland opposite the title page (a much needed map of the Mt. Brandon region is lacking), some nice sketches of local scenes illustrate the start of each chapter and there are reference notes and an index. The most interesting hisorical tidbits involved the author's version of the origin and practice of celebrating "cross dates" that evolved into Groundhog Day, May Day and Halloween.

Recommended to those who enjoy one-sided arguments for Mr. Raymo's worldview, but of limited interest for those seeking information to explore the Dingle Peninsula and its fascinating history, landscape and residents, much less, may I say, its spiritual aspects and opportunities.

Raymo is an essayist, science writer, fiction writer and philosopher, and author of the acclaimed column in the Boston Globe, "Science Musings," which is also online at www.sciencemusings.com, which I follow avidly. Raymo writes much in the style of the renowned anthropologist, science writer, ecologist, and poet, Lorne Eisley (whose STAR THROWER I can't recommend highly enough). I've been reading Raymo for years, having first discovered his fiction through the delightful DORK OF CORK (which I bought in a Cork bookshop!) and IN THE FALCON'S CLAW. I have been consistently thrilled with the scope of Raymo's curiosity and learning, but more than anything else, it's Raymo's beautiful prose, combined with his sense of awe,that keeps me coming back for inspiration. For example, "Knowledge is an island in an infinite sea of mystery; as the island grows, so does the shoreline along which we encounter the mysterious."

His reverence for the natural world is contagious and as I read I feel I am walking beside a trusted, deeply knowledgeable guide and mentor, listening to him chat about the plants I'm seeing, the rocks under my feet, the salt on my lips, the wonders of the ocean before me, the living history all around me. He is a splendid guide, and one who inspires delight and awe in the marvels of creation.

In this book, he concentrates on the early Irish Christian philosophy of the immanence of God as opposed the the Roman concept of transcendence, and contemplates what the world might have been, and might yet be like, if we adopted, as the early Irish Christians did, a celebratory sense of God's greatest revelation -- creation itself -- rather than asserting abstract dogma.

As always with Raymo, I come away with a new reading list as well - Columbanus, Augustine Hibernicus, John Carey, E.O. Wilson, Noel Dermot O'Donoghue, Marina Smyth...

All in all, a highly recommended read!

Mr. Raymo has a seasonal home near Mt. Brandon, has climbed the peak dozens of times and clearly loves the region and its history. The author interweaves tales of local natural and human history - both documented and legendary - with religious history, a smattering of Irish literature and his personal experiences on Mt. Brandon. But this book fails, in my opinion, to capture the feel and atmosphere, much less the spiritual aspect of the region of the Holy Mountain.

Instead the author focuses on how his interpretation of pre-Christian and early-Christian Celtic spirituality - mostly conjectural due to absence of contemporaneous written records - contrasts with what in his view is the rigid, obsolete, anti-human, anti-science Roman Catholic dogma that came to dominate pre-Enlightenment Europe as well as Ireland. That's the same dogma taught to Raymo in his alter boy childhood, a worldview he totally rejects in favor of the "truth" of contemporary western science which Raymo asserts is only reasonable modern worldview (Try telling that to the mullahs!).

At the same time Raymo keeps referring to the need for the scientific world view to incorporate "mystery" as a means to meet what he acknowledges is an innate human need for spiritual matters. But the religion-rejecting author never explains how this can be done. As near as I can tell he endorses - seeming for others but not himself - a return to a sort of pantheism that encourages people to replace prayer - demonstratably meaningless according to Raymo - with exaltation and celebration of daily natural phenomenon such as a mountain sunrise. In the single instance in which Raymo tells of a semi-supernatural personal experience - a solitary night vigil in an ancient Christian church in which he becomes "spooked" by his sense of an unseen "presence" - the entire experience is explained in the light of day - to himself at least - by the discovery of a bird's nest with newborn birds just above where he sat in the dark during the night. Mystery solved, once again, by science. Apparently Raymo thinks only other people - those too weak-minded, unlike himself, to boldly live in the "real" world where human logic and reason reign supreme - should experience or even believe in the possibility of mystery.

Finally, Raymo's obsession with Roman Catholicism's supposed blight on human thinking and history limits his ability to assess the reasonable proposition that a lot of the early Irish Christian church's supposed (superior) Celtic spirituality actually came, at least in part, from its documented historical connections directly with what we now refer to as Orthodox Christianity as opposed to the Roman variety.

There's an excellent generalized map of southwestern Ireland opposite the title page (a much needed map of the Mt. Brandon region is lacking), some nice sketches of local scenes illustrate the start of each chapter and there are reference notes and an index. The most interesting hisorical tidbits involved the author's version of the origin and practice of celebrating "cross dates" that evolved into Groundhog Day, May Day and Halloween.

Recommended to those who enjoy one-sided arguments for Mr. Raymo's worldview, but of limited interest for those seeking information to explore the Dingle Peninsula and its fascinating history, landscape and residents, much less, may I say, its spiritual aspects and opportunities.