Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading [Hardcover]

Nancy M. Malone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 2003

Who doesn't have a list of books that changed his or her life? Reflecting on her own reading life, Nancy Malone examines the role that reading plays in defining ourselves. Throughout, she likens the experience of reading to walking a labyrinth, itself a metaphor for our journeys through life. The paths within the labyrinth are not straight, but winding, and in the end, it is not the small circle in the center that defines the self, but the whole grand design of the labyrinth-every experience, every person we meet, and every book we read-that makes us who we are.

Malone draws from diverse sources, both spiritual and secular-Augustine, George Herbert, George Eliot, Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Virginia Woolf, Paul Tillich, Elie Wiesel, James Agee, e.e. cummings, Tom Wolfe, Patrick O'Brien, Nadine Gordimer, Margaret Atwood and Sue Grafton, to name a few.

The author's thoughtful and beautifully articulated analysis of influential books covers a broad range of subjects, including childhood reading; books as sacred objects; reading and social responsibility; "dangerous" reading (that challenges us to examine our prejudices and beliefs); poetry; and erotic literature.

The book includes a bibliography to inspire readers to seek out the unfamiliar or return to old favorites. In Walking a Literary Labyrinth, Malone invites readers of all religious traditions, or none, to consider the influence of reading in their own lives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The labyrinth is a meditative path that "symbolizes our journey through life," writes Malone, an Ursuline nun with an omnivorous reading habit-she reads not solely for enlightenment but for the sheer labyrinthine pleasure of it, and confesses she is "more likely to miss my night prayers on occasion than my reading." This delightful memoir/rumination draws on an astonishingly wide range of books, from the expected St. Augustine to John Donne, Isak Dinesen and even Sue Grafton, as Malone traces the human journey "from orality to literacy," considers the impact of F. Scott Fitzgerald on her "sophomoric self," discusses her work in interreligious organizations and its effects on her understanding of other faiths, and ponders the Church's diminution of sexuality to the physical. "Reading is an intimate act," Malone quotes Harold Brodkey. And readers will enjoy their intimacy with this wise, insightful woman who shares their passion for books.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Nancy m. Malone, O.S.u., is an Ursuline nun with a degree in theology from Harvard Divinity School. She was an editor at Religion and Intellectual Life and a coeditor of Cross Currents.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; 1ST edition (June 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573222461
• ISBN-13: 978-1573222464
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,816,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for bookworms and avid readers!, July 17, 2003

By 

Alvin C. Romer "The Jackal" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading (Hardcover)

Walking A Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading by Nancy Malone

Our journey through life can be enlightened with pleasurable nuggets worth recording. Recording the remembrance of a literary life was done ever so eloquently in the name of Walking A Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading as told by Nancy Malone, an Ursuline Nun with a voracious reading habit. This memoir is appealing and quite interesting as it delves into a wide range of books giving us an inside view of a woman who not only shares her passion for books but conveys a definitive analogy for self awareness in literacy. The bibliophile that I am drew me to this book, and I'm glad that I did! It spoke of the need to continue to keep books at the forefront of my existence...one that harkens me to not forget why having a list of books at the ready to reinforce how important the reading life is. The fact that the author draws from diverse and far-reaching sources to compile this narrative gives it a flavor that is unmistakable. The spirituality and secular ambiance of the author's peripheral vision should give readers viable reasons to believe that the substance therein is both qualitative and quantitative.

Walking A Literary Labyrinth is a structured book. Follow the author as she examines the role that reading plays in giving meaning to the worthiness within ourselves as it pertain to those books that makes a difference in your life. In allowing the title to breath life into what is written, she likens the experience of reading to walking a maze of symmetrical meanderings where each book is a metaphor for life's experiences. In other words, you ARE what you read. Know too, that the paths within this maze, or labyrinth as the author puts it are not straight that leads invariably to a small circle in the center that is definitive of the self. This `self-awareness' through reading, the author opines is what makes us who we are. As I read the book I truly was amazed at how Ms Malone extended me the welcome to examine and consider how the influence of reading selected books can have staying power to shape our thoughts, and mold us to enlarge the humanistic value of knowledge. As indicated elsewhere in this review, the author's insightful and articulation of influential books covers a broad range of subjects, including her childhood readings; books that are iconoclastic in nature, bordering on religious objectivity; reading and social responsibility; "immoral" reading (that challenges us to examine our predilection for erotic literature, and the joys of poetry.

The book is arranged in eight beautiful chapters, each with a reflective analysis relative to the topic being discussed. The Prologue and The Epilogues are congruous to all that has been conveyed and gives the reader extra-added substance with a well endowed recommended reading list. The aforementioned she sections off by giving books that have shaped her life in some manner, i.e., Short Pieces That Have Made Me Laugh; Biography and Autobiography; Spiritual Reading and Theology; Fiction; Nonfiction, et al. The book includes a bibliography to inspire readers to seek out the unfamiliar or return to old favorites. In Walking a Literary Labyrinth, Malone invites readers of all religious and secular traditions to consider the influence of reading in their own lives, and let it be the barometer to measure the worth you gain from books. This is an excellent read!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Approach To A Spirituality of Reading, September 19, 2004

By 

Timothy Kearney (Haverhill, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading (Hardcover)

WALKING A LITERARY LABYRINTH is a book I stumbled upon accidentally, but it is one that seems tailor-made for people like me who love to read and wish to incorporate their reading into their spiritual lives. The author, Nancy Malone is Roman Catholic nun and a member of the Ursuline order. In the book we meet the author as a child and as the book progresses we learn about her progress in religious life. We also discover how reading has touched her life. She shares the wisdom she has acquired along the way, and offers some reflections to help reading buffs see ways in which literature can help us understand our world and grow closer to God. The literature that inspires her spiritually is vast. Sources include classic writings of Christianity, classic and popular pieces of literature, biographies, and a variety of non-fiction. Since she is a Roman Catholic nun, her insights are very Catholic, stemming form her faith tradition, but are catholic in the universal sense of the word. The literature that nourishes her spirituality leads her to God and helps her to find God in new ways. She invites readers to do likewise.

Sometimes I hear some people whop read books on spirituality complain that the book is the same information, just a different author. Nancy Malone's book is fresh and offers its readers a new way of drawing closer to God and seeing God in a new way.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the pure pleasure of it...., March 24, 2004

By 

M. H Mele "Mary H. Mele" (Bellingham, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading (Hardcover)

"She must be quite a character," my husband commented and that is probably true, but while Nancy Malone's gentle reflection on the act of reading is personal, she does not dominate the pages. Here is a voice carefully paying attention to how and why we read and what happens to us when we do. It is not abstract, but tangible; her story is that of Catholics coming of age in the last 50 years. I find myself saying, "Ah, yes, this is how reading illumines my life." She advocates reading for the sheer pleasure of it, and that's what reading Walking a Literary Labyrinth has been.