The Intimate Merton: His Life from His Journals (A Lion book) Book

Thomas Merton is one of the world's most famous monks, but can a monk be famous and still be a monk? Merton is captivating because he is a contradiction. He wrestled with his vocation to be a Trappist monk, hidden in the Kentucky woods, and his call to be a writer. Voicing the struggle in his journal, Merton quotes the Chinese sage Chuang Tzu, "Who can free himself from achievement and from fame, descend and be lost amid the masses of men...such is the perfect man." Merton kept a journal from the age of 16, and this selection from its seven volumes shows him struggling almost daily with the clash between his monastic vocation and his desire to move on a bigger stage. Lovers of Merton will love this book; those who view him with more scepticism will find it hard not to be attracted by his clear style and pursuit of an innocent vision. Edited by Patrick Hart, a fellow monk at Merton's old monastery, and Jonathan Montaldo, the director of the Thomas Merton Centre, the book redacts Merton's journals to a fascinating chronicle of his life from just before he entered the monastery to the day of his death in an electrical accident in Bangkok. Eight pages of black and white photos capture the zest and spirituality of the man, while a complete index illustrates the wide range of his reading and friendships. Together with a handsome design and solid feel they make The Intimate Merton an excellent companion to Merton's classic autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain. --Dwight LongeneckerRead More