The Other Side of the Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume 7:1967-1968 [Hardcover]

Thomas Merton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 1998 | Series: Journals of Thomas Merton (Book 7)

The year 1998 marks the 30th anniversary of Thomas Merton's death, and this seventh and final volume of his celebrated journals completes the story of a remarkable man and his lifelong search for spiritual fulfillment.

With the Election of a New Abbot at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton enters a period of unprecedented freedom, culminating in the opportunity to travel to California, Alaska, and finally the Far East -- journeys that offer him new possibilities and causes for contemplation. In his last days at the Abbey of Gethsemani, Merton continues to follow the tumultuous events of the sixties, including the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. In Southeast Asia, he meets the Dalai Lama and other Buddhist and Catholic monks and discovers a rare and rewarding kinship with each. This final year is full of excitement and great potential for Merton, making his accidental death in Bangkok, at the age of fifty-three, all the more tragic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Other Side of the Mountain is the seventh and final volume of Thomas Merton's journals, covering the last two years of his life. In this book, Merton finally makes peace with his ambivalent relationship to the Church: his civil rights and anti-nuclear work, his interest in Eastern spirituality, and his love for Catholic orthodoxy coalesce into a mature voice that avoids the frosty pieties to which he was often partial in his younger years. This volume takes its title from an entry made during his final travels in India and the Far East. In this entry, he relates a dream about gazing at the mountain Kanchenjunga:

I heard a voice saying--or got the clear idea of: "There is another side to the mountain." ... There is another side of Kanchenjunga and of every mountain--the side that has never been photographed and turned into postcards. That is the only side worth seeing.

The next month, Merton died from accidental electrocution in a hotel room in Bangkok. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

This final volume of Thomas Merton's journals is filled with enthusiasm and vitality. Merton finally was out from under the thumb of Abbot James Fox, and the new abbot, Flavian Burns, one of Merton's former students, was ready to let Merton do just about anything that was likely to result in genuine spiritual renewal for Merton or the Abbey of Gethsemani. Merton's joy is almost palpable in his journal entries: "It is so utterly new to have an abbot here who is completely open to new possibilities! And it is certainly much more stimulating for the spiritual life!" During the years prior to those covered in this journal, Merton had been turning eastward toward Buddhism, in which he found great depths of spiritual energy. In these journals, we find Merton excitedly and thoughtfully preparing for his December 1968 trip to Thailand as well as notes from his visit to Alaska. With this final journal, we meet the Merton whose Catholicism had become truly catholic.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1ST edition (June 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060654864
• ISBN-13: 978-0060654863
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) is arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century. His autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain, has millions of copies and has been translated into over fifteen languages. He wrote over sixty other books and hundreds of poems and articles on topics ranging from monastic spirituality to civil rights, nonviolence, and the nuclear arms race.

After a rambunctious youth and adolescence, Merton converted to Roman Catholicism and entered the Abbey of Gethsemani, a community of monks belonging to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Trappists), the most ascetic Roman Catholic monastic order.

The twenty-seven years he spent in Gethsemani brought about profound changes in his self-understanding. This ongoing conversion impelled him into the political arena, where he became, according to Daniel Berrigan, the conscience of the peace movement of the 1960's. Referring to race and peace as the two most urgent issues of our time, Merton was a strong supporter of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which he called "certainly the greatest example of Christian faith in action in the social history of the United States." For his social activism Merton endured severe criticism, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who assailed his political writings as unbecoming of a monk.

During his last years, he became deeply interested in Asian religions, particularly Zen Buddhism, and in promoting East-West dialogue. After several meetings with Merton during the American monk's trip to the Far East in 1968, the Dali Lama praised him as having a more profound understanding of Buddhism than any other Christian he had known. It was during this trip to a conference on East-West monastic dialogue that Merton died, in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, the victim of an accidental electrocution. The date marked the twenty-seventh anniversary of his entrance to Gethsemani.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The End of the Journals, August 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other Side of the Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume 7:1967-1968 (Hardcover)

As in other volumes of the Merton Journals, the volume editor provides an introduction and background for the text. In this case, the editor's introduction is weak in summarizing this journal and closing the seven volumes - but the words of the journal invariably speak for themselves. The journals are a joy to Mertonphiles. As with the previous volume (Learning to Love), the text is a bit distressing. Merton is petty, catty about his fellow monks, rarely reflective, and seems to live the life of a Bon Vivant - drinking wine and beer, picnicking, going out on the town, etc. - not the usual vision of a cloistered contemplative monk of a "strict observance." At times, he appears to be a perpetual college student. One can't help but wonder if he wrote and lived as he did just to prove to later readers of his work that he was not a saint. One particular event in this volume seems to be significant - even more than the celebrated meetings with the Dali Llama. His reaction to the death of his Aunt Kit in a ferry accident in New Zealand reveals the loneliness of a man orphaned in his early teens, leaving the reader to wonder how much of a persona he put up and how truly insecure he was.

As the final volume progresses, it appears that Merton is just going through the motions in keeping the journal. Some entries are casual or offhanded - his departure from Gethsemani, for example. He also hints about not returning. One feels he is living in a dream or living a dream. He is letting go of his past. He discusses getting his affairs in order with the Merton Trust at Bellarmine. He speaks of not having his papers (of which he says there are plenty) "merely to rot or get lost in the monastic library." He wants his papers to be read and seems to be planning for how people will view him in the future.

A few final words on the Journals of Thomas Merton. It was well worth reading the seven volumes and they are now a permanent part of my library. They covered the majority of his life as a religious, and a bit of the time before. The editing and preparation of the journals was very well done. The volumes are meticulously indexed, a great help to readers and scholars. The journals are unvarnished Merton. The text bears careful word-by-word reading because flashes of brilliance and insight appear quite unannounced. Publication of the journals is a literary event, but not necessarily a spiritual event - his spiritual legacy has been distilled into his other books. These will continue to be the medium by which most people will come to know Merton.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The long awaited finale, December 1, 2000

By 

B. Warrick "Flynnatic" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Other Side of the Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume 7:1967-1968 (Hardcover)

As an avid Thomas Merton fan who owns almost every book this Trappist monk ever wrote, I have been eagerly anticipating each new volume of the Merton journals as they have been released over the past few years. This final volume is the last in a simply superlative set, every volume of which is a "must have" for any Merton devotee.

As the books are journals that were not really intended for publication, the voice is not "Thomas Merton, Best-Selling Author and Religious Thinker". The voice we hear now is "Thomas Merton, Sinner Just Like the Rest of You, But Doing the Best He Can". And the bottom line is that I really like this voice! I like Merton! Not just the best-selling author Merton, but the every-day guy Merton - who makes mistakes, gets angry or even irratible, and sins in spite of himself.

Highly recommended for any Merton fan, but also of interest to religious scholars and biographers (the books are well indexed) and even everyday folks who are merely interested in the life and times of a Trappist monk in the 20th century.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Didn't Know Whether to Give it 1 Star or 5 Stars?, November 24, 2003

By 

R. Kirkham "jrkirkham" (Rushville, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Other Side of the Mountain: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume 7:1967-1968 (Hardcover)

IF You are a died in the wool Merton fan this journal is a must read. It (along with the other 6 volumes) helps the reader understand the person behind the books. It took me a long time to read this book because I chewed on a few pages each day and tried to picture the last year of Merton's life in my mind as I compared it to my own struggles. I loved the book! Give it 5 stars.

IF you are looking for quick insights to the contemplative mind and think Merton is a good place to look, you are correct, but this is not the volume for you. Remember this is a journal, not a book. It is open with Merton's struggles and anxieties. Often Merton quotes small portions of other works and sketchy notes that are important to him, but confusing to the reader. You probably will not finish the volume. Give it 1 star.

IF you are interested in the biographies of notable Christians, and I am, you will find this volume intriguing, inspiring, and at times troubling as you wrestle with the imperfections of a person that many put on a pedestal. Give it 3 stars and prepare to wrestle.

IF you journal, and I do, you will feel an urge after each section to go to your own journal and fill in a few pages. Give it 5 stars and sharpen your pencil.

That's as much as I can say about this book, but it should be enough for you to know if you want to add it to your library.