Customer Reviews

Waters Of Siloe (Harvest/HBJ Book)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is surely one of the warmest, most intelligent, most readable works of scholarship ever composed! The not inconsequential history of the Cistercian Order, the men and women that have peopled it like robins arriving and defining their eternal Spring, and at the same time, the sacred history of one man's soul are all found here in a text beautifully composed with order, entrancing prose, and the humility of true faith. This is my favorite Merton book, I think because it is so full of his new love! Written in 1949, "The Waters of Siloe" is rivaled only by "The Sign of Jonas" for its beauty and depth of meaning. Layers of beauty and solitude pervade every page, taking the reader into Merton's own heart, really, into the deep still water of his life as a priest and Trappist monk. Merton's astounding facility as a writer is always subordinate to the searching of his own heart, so that even while he writes like a prophet, he plays at no pretense of knowledge or superior understanding, keeping his formidable gifts focused on the object of his love and study, his Christ and the monastic vocation. Such a delicate balance only shows forth his literary genius all the more, yet leaves such a sweetness in the heart that one wants to give up all literature for the love of God, whatever one's natural inclincations, whatever one's tradition. Merton's is a rare and matchless talent, the gift of true understanding, really, and never used more wisely or more warmly than in "The Waters of Siloe". If you are a seeker who desires to know what it is to enter upon the path, to suffer and be glad, read this book. There isn't another like it.

Originally published in 1949, this will probably be the most entertaining source the otherwise uninformed reader will initially have on the history of the Trappist monastic order. Written by the order's most famous champion, Merton's talents for story telling come through to make this a truly engrossing tale of heroics in the face of constant adversity by some very remarkable men over several centuries. There is a wonderful lack of religious pontificating on the part of the author, however that message is abundantly clear in the examples of the lives reported on. An especially engossing story is found in the tale of the monastery lost to the Communists during the early 1940's in China, and the death march of the captive monks. If there is any fault in the book, it is the lack of further detail expected when so much history is crowded into one volumne. An entertaining read and a worthwhile addition to any library.

While agreeing with the previous reviews about the extraordinary amount of material here and Merton's ability to write narrative in a way that engages in an entertaining way, I have one problem with the book. He frames it around the premise that when Cistercians/Trappists are faithful to their carism as a contemplative order they flourish and when they are unfaithful, they decline. Simplistic enough to remind one of the similar premise of the Deuteronomic Historian, this pattern cannot truly cover all eventualities. Surely there are times when they failed though being faithful - especially the monks of Our Lady of Consolation in China. Also, his remarks about Communism here and in his lectures really reflect American thought in the late 40s and 50s to a surprising degree considering the later Merton.
The photos and monastic glossary at the end are also useful. A good book but not as rigorous intellectually as one would expect from a man of Merton's background.
Actually, the inspiring stories of the hardships faced by the new foundations in the US were enough to carry me through committing myself to solitary life in poverty in a very beat up house. When I made the comparison to a monk friend, he replied, "But they were men." Please, Father, the were COMMUNITIES of men. The book shows what such groups with God's help can accomplish. And eventually I fixed the house enough.

Há uma quantidade estrondosa de informação, porém é extremamente prolixo. A segunda parte no entanto é fantástica, cheia de encanto e poesia. Foi o resgate de toda uma fé impressionante...