Markings (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Leif Sjöberg (Translator), W.H. Auden (Translator, Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Perhaps the greatest testament of personal devotion published in this century."—The New York Times

"The conviction when one has finished [Markings is] that one has had the privilege of being in contact with a great, good, and lovable man."—W. H. Auden


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Description

Dag Hammarskjold left behind the manuscript of this book to be published after his death. It is a remarkable record of the spiritual life of a man whose public image was universally known and admired -- a record that reveals the extent of his commitment to the Way of the Cross.

Hammarskjold himself described the manuscript as a "sort of white book concerning my negotiations with myself and with God." The first entry is a poem written about 1925; the notes made during the 1940's and 1950's reflect a period of constant spiritual growth, self-questioning, and resolution; and the book ends with a poem he wrote only a few weeks before his death.

In Markings Hammarskjold felt that he gave the only true profile of himself. Lacking as it does any reference to the external world, the book constitutes only haft a portrait, as W. H. Auden points out in his Foreword. But as we read it, the outer image of the Secretary-General persists and heightens the sense of loneliness Hammarskjold conveys, the severity with which he marked his own spiritual conduct and measured the integrity of his soul, his conception of life as a summons, and his premonition of death.

Many will read this book primarily as a unique historical document; many will find in its meditations an unusual devotional book. But, above all, almost every reader is bound to feel, with Auden, that he has had "the privilege of being in contact with a great, good, and lovable man."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; First Thus edition (September 12, 1964)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039443532X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394435329
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #774,364 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Active vs. contemplative life, August 11, 2000

By	Brian Melendez (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hammarskjold was a Swedish diplomat who served as secretary-general of the United Nations at the height of the Cold War (and whose death in a plane crash in Africa in 1961 may not have been an accident). Throughout his life he struggled with balancing the tension between the active life and the contemplative life that always faces the political intellectual. This book is his private journal, in which he struggles with a deeply personal and private faith in the context of a vocation that called him to one of the most visible and influential offices in international politics. That struggle, which emerges in bits and pieces in entries that span nearly four decades, both celebrates life and indulges deep feelings of doubt and isolation.

"Markings" is far more a work of philosophy than autobiography. Hammarskjold's frend W.H. Auden contributes a moving foreword that supplies a context for Hammarskjold's writing. But as the foreword notes, Hammarskjold does not "make a single direct reference to his career as an international civil servant, to the persons he met, or the historical events of his time in which he played an important role."

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Meditations for the modern world, May 19, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Markings (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought my first copy of Dag Hammarskjold's book of meditations, Markings, shortly after its release in the early 1960's. It was a strange and haunting book and left me deeply affected. Hammarskjold, for many years the Secretary General of the United Nations - at a time when there was still high hope for the U.N. to eliminate war and improve human welfare around the globe - wrote this journal of spiritual search and dispair in apparent recognition of his failure to achieve the high goals he aspired to. I forget who I gave that first book to, but I have since purchased and given away many copies of this book. There is much that all of us modern, media drugged folks can learn from the insights he penned in his dark moments. It is both uplifting to realize the depth of soul that can exist behind public action and at the same time depressing to recognize that no amount of fame or power will necessarily bring happiness or overcome one's sense of isolation in the universe.

This is not a book one can just sit down and read. It is, as the title suggests, a journal of isolated notes or 'Markings' that Hammarskjold made over a long period of time. Many similar ideas and themes are repeated in different words throughout the book and the reader really has to pause frequently to think about what he has read. This is not an uplifting book but ultimately it is a very moving one, and to the extent that it encourages similar meditations from the reader, potentially a very valuable one as well. I highly recommend this book for those hours when a reader wants to turn inward and shine a light on what is really meaningful in life.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey into the Soul, March 20, 2002

By	S. Miska (Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I like this book. It captures the innermost struggles and thoughts of a man who achieved greatness in many senses. Dag Hammarskjold's musings illuminate that even people of worldly importance wrestle with the same internal conflicts that the rest of mankind does, when we take the time to reflect. That a man as busy as the U.N. Secretary General took the time to engage in such introspection speaks highly of his humility and character.

Markings has given me inspiration to continue exploring my own innermost struggles through journaling and taking counsel with my conscience on long runs. If we could all emulate Hammarskjold's ability to capture the essence of a moment, feeling or internal conflict, we would probably be more at peace with the world and ourselves. Highly recommended for any wishing to peer into the thoughts of a philosophical leader.