Letters from the Desert [Paperback]

Carlo Carretto (Author), Rose M. Hancock (Translator), Lawrence S. Cunningham (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Orbis Books; Anv edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570754314
• ISBN-13: 978-1570754319
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcends the Liberal/Conservative Divide, April 14, 2005

By 

Stephen Triesch (Shoreline/Seattle USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters from the Desert (Paperback)

In middle age, Carlo Carretto left a full life as an "outstanding Catholic layman" to begin a new life as a hermit-priest of the Little Brothers of Jesus, a religious order inspired by the example of Charles de Foucauld, the playboy-turned-priest who left France a century ago to live as a hermit amongst the Tuareg nomads of the Sahara. Carretto is a worthy successor to the example of Foucauld, living a life of prayer and poverty and silent witness in a precarious Islamic environment.

Carretto speaks movingly and without apology in the language of his inherited Catholicism, yet always succeeds - without affectation or pandering - in making ancient teachings seem new, alive, and relevant. His theology is solidly based in the Bible and in Catholic tradition, yet he speaks with a personal authority grounded in sacrifice and a lifetime committment to God, the Church, and his fellow man.

Above all, in a Church increasingly riven by struggles between right and left, liberal and conservative, Carretto combines in himself the best aspects of both, i.e., an inward piety grounded in prayer, meditation, and the sacraments, coupled with a social awareness open to the problems and concerns of the world, especially the world of the poor and disaffected.

This book is both timeless and contemporary, the hallmark of a book written from the heart and to the heart.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing, March 8, 2004

By 

Kathleen A. Peck "New Review" (MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters from the Desert (Paperback)

In a day and age where following Christ has been brought down to wealth, health and a membership to all the Bless ME clubs...this book is worlds apart. Mr. Carretto has the gift of taking deep...penetrating truths...and translating them into an easily understandable read....that will change the heart and mind of any life who's sincerely hungry for a more intimate life with the Lord Jesus Christ. Mr. Carretto allowed Christ to strip him of a life of selfish...self serving, self seeking ways...and as he surrendered his all to the Master...he shares how Christ gave him back so much more than he'd ever had.
True oneness with God. The reality of how genuine their relationship was...is all through this book.

I cannot say enough good things about this book.....just buy it...read it and be prepared to have your foundation rocked...if that's what you're looking for....if anything at all is propping you up...anything at all...money...prominence...vanity or society....even one's own vices...get ready to make some changes...
If change is not what you're looking for...you better pass on this one....I cannot imagine one reading this...and staying the same.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radical dependence on the Saviour produces peace and growth, October 9, 1999

By 

Kenneth Robinson (Downingtown, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters from the Desert (Paperback)

This book is a marvelous witness to the peace and power available to us through the quiet welcoming of God into our lives each day. Carretto says, "Deep down the soul has understood that it must let itself be carried, that it must abandon itself to its Saviour, that alone it can do nothing, that God can do everything.... What matters is to let God get on with it." The author's lived-out, radical commitment is extraordinarily impressive.