Customer Reviews

An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order

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In this book we follow five men as they enter the Parkminster, England's only Carthusian Charterhouse, in 1960. We are given a rare glimpse inside Saint Hugh's and the life of the Carthusian monks. The author has done a fantastic job at being allowed to look inside and share what she learned with us.

We follow these five men as they apply to become a member at Parkminsiter and what it takes to become a Solemn Professed Carthusian. They share their thoughts and feelings as they progress in their vocation. And their hopes and fears are laid out for us to see. What it takes to stay and the strength required leaving.

I felt I was living those years with these men as they sought God. How hard and rewarding the solitary lifestyle in a community of hermits really is. And how few are truly called to this life. I felt that nothing was hidden from the reader. We are given an honest and clear view of the life. And we even get a summary forty years later from both those who succeeded in the life and those who left.

I got the book today and read it in 4 hours. I could not put it down. If you ever thought this was the life for you, this is a must read.

Recently a book was published that tracks the life of a former Carthusian from his youth to his departure from the order (the Sounds of Silence). That book offered an interesting view of the order from the inside. However, in contrast to "An Infinity of Little Hours" it lacks what one could term editorial pruning shears. Perhaps it also helps that the current book was written by an outsider, albeit based on the testimony of monks (and former monks).

The Infinity of Little Hours is written with a lot of love and sympathy and reveals a tremendous amount about the Order, an anomaly and a timeless phenomenon in the world of today... It is a must read for all who have an interst in the order, either in terms of a potential vocation or from a more general historical/spiritual perspective.

Without the sentimentality that marks some of the older books on the subject, this portrayal shows the human nature of the men who pursue God, without rancor or malice. One is left with an enormous amount of respect for those who live the life but a realization that this institution, like any other is ultimately a 'human organism'--dedicated to God. Is it fortuitous that it comes out at the same time as the German film "Die Grosse Stille" or the interview given by the Prior of the Grande Chartreuse on Dutch television? Taken together, perhaps these media events document a turning point in the life of this venerable order.

Nancy Maguire has created a gem as she brings to life the world of the Carthusian monastery in the mid-1960s. As she emphasizes, she felt a need to recreate this world because Vatican II would change the monastic life forever, losing a collective thousand-year-old memory of religious life.

Readers who liked View from a Monastery, In This House of Brede, the Karen Armstrong books and of course Seven Storey Mountain, will probably be drawn to this book too. But Maguire's book brings both unique rewards and unique challenges. She chronicles the day-to-day life of the monks (presumably based on interviews and note) with almost clinical detachment. We get description rather than narrative -- lots of fascinating detail, but hard to follow to place in context. I would have liked to see some sort of unifying theme.

On the positive side, readers get to draw their own conclusions. I can't help noting that the most successful entrants were those who avoided fanaticism, who allowed themselves some leeway. One professed monk kept a clock in his cell and made a roaring fire every day.

Those who have read other books on monasticism will not be surprised to learn of the small pin pricks of daily life -- the tensions among the monks, the unceasing cold, the lack of sleep -- as well as the spiritual dryness and overwhelming "distractions" that drove some monks away altogether.

But I was surprised to learn that a monk's solitary "cell" actually appears to be a two-story cottage with a garden. In terms of space, the monks live more comfortably than many secular people who are forced to share housing -- certainly better off than residents of nursing homes and prisons.

The book is so rich in detail that I found myself wanting to re-read more than once. At the same time, I wish Maguire had helped her readers track the monks she profiled. I had to keep turning back to remember who was "Dom Ignatius" and who was "Dom Malachi." Rumer Godden handled the names magnificently in her best-selling novel, In This House of Brede, so we got a three-dimensional view of each person. Here the author begins with their secular names, then completely switches over and at the end, reverts back to secular names of the ex-monks.

Perhaps the best part of the book comes at the end, when Maguire meets her subjects face to face and we learn their fate. Interestingly, nearly all the ex-monks had nightmares, and nearly all felt like failures. Leaving an enclosed society -- whether it's boot camp or a monastery -- leaves lasting scars, and I wish Maguire had explored the point, perhaps by interviewing a psychologist or sociologist.

This book makes an interesting counterpoint to Patrick Allitt's book, Catholic Converts. Allitt writes of the mid-twentieth century era when conversion to the Catholic church became very attractive to many intellectuals, notably Thomas Merton, whose book drew many novices to the Trappists as well as the Carthusians discussed here.

Despite these flaws, this book deserves attention and praise. We learn about an element of Western society that was previously shrouded in mystery, a lifestyle that holds fascination. But we also learn about men who sought an ideal and the fallout from dropping out along the way.

Nancy Klein Maguire has written a book I could not put down.

This is the story of five men who entered Parkminster at the start of the 60s. I kept track of their names - and the changed names within the monastery, and significant details, on a small bookmark.

In the 60s, only one monk is described as having electricity in his cell. There is no power in the church. The monks, surprisingly, write their scripture, quotes, notes, and reflections on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, and magazines.

The story begins, Chapter 1, with a Trappist novice ringing the bell rope of the Gatehouse. He is described as wearing "the white and black habit of a Trappist novice". Trappist novices wear white - no black. It made me wonder for some time about the accuracy of what was to follow. But from then on we are presented with a carefully documented and at times, I found, deeply moving account of five men journeying to the eleventh century in order to journey to God. It is the result of years of emailing, interviewing, and research. Only in one phrase can you work out which of the five she is married to. [The only other possible error I noticed was St Bernard is quoted p103 - I recognise the quote from Eckhart - did St Bernard also say this?]

There is much in the book that is familiar, for those of us who have been interested in Carthusians. For those new - this might now be the best place to start. There were new things I did not know: four candlesticks by the altar (p57). I had never heard of Antiquior. There was mention of a stage when Vermont only had 1 monk (p15)

Warnings:

Don't read this book if you want your Carthusians plaster-cast "saints". Here they are "warts & all": fights over chanting, petty misunderstandings, breakdowns, "Dom Columba" stating Dom Leo "is no monk"... Don't read this book if you want to think of the present Carthusians as never reformed. I did not know that the broken sleep & Night Office so central to Carthusian charism and life is only of fifteenth century origin, not from their foundation.

The book is written as an account of a lifestyle that in its view since Vatican II is no more:" Maguire has produced a vivid, gripping, and deeply touching picture of a world that is now lost." (back cover)

Read this book if you appreciate real people living messy, complicated lives like yours & mine & trying to find God in this - in the book's case with heroic focus. Read this book if you are more concerned with a small eternal solid core than ephemeral changes on the surface.

The book begins with a quote from Soren Kierkegaard:

"Of this there is no doubt, our age and Protestantism in general may need the monastery again, or wish it were there. The "monastery" is an essential dialectical element in Christianity. We therefore need it out there like a navigation buoy at sea in order to see where we are, even though I myself would not enter it. But if there really is true Christianity in every generation there must also be individuals who have this need."

That quote was a gift to me from this book. The people in the book live it. And the book shows how we too can be part of the story.

Because I loved Eco's "The Name of the Rose," I looked for nonfiction about monastic life and quickly scarfed up this book. After two chapters, I was head-over-heels into it and decided to slow down and savor the chapters. I'm so glad. There are moments where you feel you are no longer in 2006, but looking in on lives in perhaps the 14th or 15th century. No small feat and Maguire pulls it off beautifully--the cells, the dampness, the isolation, the madness. "Infinity" leaves you wanting for more. Is a movie next? I can only hope.

I got this book a few days ago and read it through in a sitting. It is a chronicle of 5 young men who enter the carthusian order in England back in the early 1960's. We first meet each one as he prepares to ring the bell to the monastery to begin his postulancy. We are then taken through the years of novitiate and temporary vows. The question always is: who will leave and who will stay? The carthusian way of life is not for the faint of heart: It is intense, with lots and lots of solitude. There is plenty of room for petty annoyances to get blown out of proportion. My own personal favorite vignette/comment was the young man who thought he would never be able to learn the complex, atonal polyphonic chant -- only to discover that it was simply that the monks were offkey and not able to stay together in the singing. Personally, I found that charming. As to the nightmares -- Actually, I spent a few years in a monastic order in the mid-1960s, and have continued to dream of the monastery and the nuns at least every few months. However, no nightmares -- just friendly revisiting. I think it is such a focussed, intense life that it is absolutely formative and leaves a permanent stamp on a person. Generally, the stamp is a positive one. It helps keep things in perspective and certainly makes one a more compassionate person. I recommend this book highly. It is an honest, no holds barred, look at this life.

"Infinity" is a fascinating non-fiction about five young men that joined the Carthusians in Sussex, England. Starting in 1960, the author chronicles their five-year spiritual journey to find God and meaning in their lives through sacrifice and shunning the outside world.

I was curious about what goes on behind the closed doors of this almost 1000-year old secretive society. Driven by the need to know who stayed or left, and why, I could not put "Infinity" down. Reading about their daily ordeals, I came to better appreciate the simple pleasures that they denied themselves.

I believe "Infinity" holds interest regardless of ones faith. It is an adventure into the little know life of the Carthusian monks.

Reality, not hagiography. This is the best way to describe An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order, by Nancy Klein Maguire. I think it is appropriate to begin this review by stating from the start what this book is not. This is not the story of five "conventional" holy men although each one was "holy" in a particular and peculiar way. The author did not set out to inspire people to pray, to excite the faith of believers nor to draw a recruiting poster for the Carthusians - although it may indeed increase the faith of some and move them to pray more or to seek admission to this strict order--and that is always good. Nor is this book about the "technique" of contemplative prayer a la Chartreuse, nor a narrative of mystical, ecstatic events.

An Infinity of Little Hours could be construed as an attempt at dispassionate, anthropological observation but without the jargon that accompanies this science. Nancy Klein Maguire has an obvious interest to find out what makes this tribe of men "tick" and how they coped with their unique circumstances during their travails at the Catholic Church's "most austere monastic order." She relied heavily on personal interviews which she coupled with her extensive research material and exceptional access to the Carthusian Charterhouse in Parksminster, England and her own observations, memories, and imagination to reconstruct for her readers the settings in which the eremitic lives of these five men took place in the early 1960's. As a child born in the mid-1960's who did not witness first hand most of the pivotal events of that decade, I find her reconstruction vivid and credible. She certainly held my attention.

The five men whose monastic adventure the author narrates came from different backgrounds in Europe, Britain, Ireland, and the United States. Each one brought with them a passion, an idea, a budding vocation, and their own temperament to the task. Of the five, only one remains a Carthusian today but all of them, each in his own way and like former U.S. Marines, remain "Carthusians" to this day, forever marked by their experience.

I found fascinating Klein-Maguire's description of the inner politics of the Charterhouse. She answered several pedestrian questions I had regarding the relationships forged and the conflicts that arose between men in this rarefied environment. If one is "silent" most of the time, what does one think? What does one do? How does that affect our perceptions of others? The author's findings were very illuminating: worldly concerns, the bread-and-butter issues of lay people, even those with a contemplative bent in the world, disappeared, subsumed in an environment focused on the pursuit of God. "Little things" such as singing in tune in choir, a careless gesture, a sustained, casual gaze on something or someone, a gruff answer, all acquired rich overtones often leading to misinterpretation, ill-will, factionalism and even spiritual, mental, and emotional disaster. Many vocations shipwrecked on these very human stumbling blocks.

Her description of environmental stresses also caught my attention. The Charterhouse was a cold, damp place most of the year; the clothing and apparel often more a hindrance than an aid to prayer - although I freely concede that my perception is due more to my very American penchant for "improving efficiency" of all things material and spiritual and not from the just appreciation of ascetical practices in the Carthusian context. I mean, if a cell is so cold that it distracts one from prayer, why not get a more efficient wood stove and do away with the 14th century model? If manually cleaning a toilet distracts one from prayer and work, why oppose the installation of flushing toilets? Again, the author proves that when worldly concerns are removed from one's psyche, the mundane is amplified beyond size and reason in one's mind. The lesson I learned was that only those who are able to set aside even the little mundane things can succeed in their Carthusian vocation. Those who cannot will leave sooner or later; no matter how advanced they may be in the ranks of the order. Their subconscious distaste for their lives will burst forth unexpectedly, overtake them, and force them to leave. Finding that out was sobering to me, as I discover the repercussions of that insight in my own non-eremitical quest to seek the face of God.

Klein-Maguire seems to lose her objectivity only once throughout An Infinity of Little Hours. That occurs Klein-Maguire described the exit of one of the five protagonists who discovered his homosexuality while in the novitiate. The reader can almost feel Klein-Maguire's condescending sigh as the senior monks counseled the novice that his same-sex attraction was akin to an "illness" and therefore not sinful by itself. She then wistfully describes how the novice embraced both an active homosexual lifestyle and Catholic faith due to his perception of "acceptance" by the post-Vatican II and even, becoming "partnered" later on, while barely acknowledging the "return of the conservative Church." As a discerning reader, I would have accepted the bare narrative of this man's life and travails without judging him at all for his life choices - and I still do that. But as a believing, orthodox Catholic I did not appreciate the author's editorializing. Her stance tells me that, as a Washington DC resident, Klein-Maguire looks to Georgetown and not to CUA (Catholic University of America) for clues about the moral teaching of the Church and the pastoral care of homosexual persons. Caveat, emptor.

Yet, this disagreeable lapse in objectivity was minor compared to the whole body of the work. Klein-Maguire accomplished something I look forward to in every good literature: she made me live several lives without having to stop living my own life and learned from each one accordingly. She also moved me to deeper introspection and to discover that, although I do like solitude and quiet, I am essentially a very gregarious being who needs a constant interaction from others to crosscheck note, learn, and grow as a Catholic Christian man.

The Lord has blessed me with a dear wife, a family, and spiritual preceptors who have helped me and continue to help me along the way. I need their constant contact. Despite my very secular inclinations, my admiration continues to grow for those select men and women whom the Lord have chosen to "burn themselves" in a living holocaust of prayer and sacrifice for the rest of us. Everyday I become more convinced that the destiny of the Church stands on their suffering shoulders. Blessed be God for them!

And thank you Nancy Klein Maguire for this precious book. Will you be writing about the Carthusian nuns next?

A nearly perfect book, AN INFINITY OF LITTLE HOURS is one of the best non-fiction works I've read on any subject in some time. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, the book serves as a guide to the austere, eremitic Carthusian life as it was experienced prior to Vatican II. As the author, Nancy Klein Maguire, notes, there's not a lot available for the layperson to read about this order of monks cut off from the world, and whose way of life has changed little since the 11th century. We are truly fortunate, then, to have Maguire as our host for this journey.

Maguire follows the lives of five young men who entered the Parkminster Charterhouse in England in the years 1960 to 1961: three men from the U.S. (Chicago, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn), one from Germany, and another from Ireland. That they do not all stay in the life quickly becomes clear, but wondering who stays and who leaves is part of the charm. (Warning: the photos are spoilers for the ending.) What's really wonderful is how Maguire gives the reader a chance to experience vicariously these men's lives from the point they literally approach the door of the Charterhouse and enter into its life to the time they leave or become professed. We are seduced by the life, but also acutely feel its physical discomforts. We grow with the men as the initial romance wears off, and the political reality of divisions between the monks becomes apparent. In the end, we are enchanted by the monks who persevere in the life, but also embrace the men who leave, fully sharing their relief. Maguire is a gifted writer; her prose is like freshly made butter, smooth and delicious. I think I could read anything she chose to write next, and plan to.

What profoundly struck me in reading Maguire's book was how these men, in entering the Carthusian life presumably to stay to the end of their lives, were essentially preparing for their deaths. At first I found the notion bewildering, even suffocating. I mean, our culture celebrates youth and fears death, doesn't it. Reading this book really made me think a lot about death. Could I forgo all that the world offers, close myself off forever within stone walls, and search for God while awaiting death under the same routine for decades? Happily married and middle aged (the Carthusians don't accept candidates older than 45), I know that the question is moot--but would I have been able to accept the life at 21? And am I ready now to look straight in death's face? How deep is my faith?

If you have any interest at all in the Carthusians or in monasticism, you will want to read this book. It makes a nice companion to the recently released, splendid documentary on the Grande Chartreuse, INTO GREAT SILENCE.

As an atheist of Jewish heritage, I was surprised at my level of interest in the fates of five young men entering a Carthusian Monastary in 1960. Maquire's writing creates a page-turner that keeps the reader guessing about the outcome of their individual searches for God.

This easy read offers a remarkable, rare insight into the rites of a contemplative religious order and the minds of the men who contemplate committing their lives to this search.