A Monk's Alphabet: Moments of Stillness in a Turning World

by Jeremy Driscoll

Book Overview

Monastic literature has inspired and challenged the world outside the cloister ever since monks started putting their thoughts on paper well over fifteen hundred years ago. With his Monk's Alphabet ,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590304624
• ISBN13: 9781590304624
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: New Seeds
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.8" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

A Monk's Alphabet

This book by Father Jeremy Driscoll shares clear introspection on phases of life and faith, using the alphabet as a vehicle of thoughtful meditation. The reader is given poetic insights into the human qualities and interests of a Catholic Monk and what this challenging life entails. I truly enjoyed reading this heart-warming book and recommend it for people of all faiths.

A monk's alphabet

It's quite the read. One hundred eighty short essays/observations, some as short as one or two sentences, some as long as three pages, arranged in alphabetical order by topic. It's very much like a journal, or even like an exceptionally well-written and entertaining blog in terms of its many-ness of subjects! The author is a monk of Mount Angel Monastery in Oregon, but spends five months of the year teaching at the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant' Anselmo in Rome. Some of the paragraphs are about his travels, some are theological ruminations, some might qualify as prose-poems about the natural world. I was worried, before buying this book, about the publisher. (New Seeds is a division of Shambhala Books, who print a lot of Buddhist authors, etc.) But I don't discern any heresies in A Monk's Alphabet (the paragraph on "Judgment," in fact, is somewhat pointed!) nor, conversely, do I discern any disaffecting narrowness of spirit or mind. Nothing that departs from the truth. A poor "review," this, but I'd probably have to begin quoting from the book to give a truer picture of what magnetizes this reader.

Appreciation

I would love to meet Father Jeremy and say thank you to him for this wonderful little book. It is so well written and thoughtful and tender and at times humerous. He makes you think aobut life in general, your life in particular and some of the essays you will read over and over again just to digest them fully. He writes the way I write so I appreciated his efforts and they are a gift to anyone who picks up these special messages.

THE LETTERS OF "A MONK'S ALPHABET" SPELL EXCELLENT

A MONK'S ALPHABET is a grand little book by Father Jeremy Driscoll, a Benedictine monk. It is an alphabetized list of short reflections, stories and observations. Whimsical humor infuses many of the pieces; a few are downright funny. There are "Ah-ha!" moments of serious truth, expressions of fear and doubt regarding faith, and insight into the human condition no matter what the faith. What binds them all is a refreshing combination of the author's innate dignity and naked honesty. The dust cover of A MONK'S ALPHABET says that the book's 210 pages contain 187 "meditations." I'm sure that's what they are, but I read them as good literature and got the unencumbered joy that comes from that. "First Love," a childhood memoir from the middle of the book, is light and airy and so readable you almost slip past the surprise--love cannot survive a lie. Then you realize this cold truth has haunted every life you know. Under Z the last entry is breathtaking in its evocation of friendship and death, sorrow and soaring hope. You can read the entire book in one sitting, but the letters in A MONK'S ALPHABET: MOMENTS OF STILLNESS IN A TURNING WORL by Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, are best taken in moderation, like caviar and vodka before dinner, and a chocolate or two after. I bought five copies of the book. One for myself and the other four as gifts for special friends who think about life and would rather celebrate much of it rather than just pass through, bitching and moaning.

Lovely and meaningful writing

I found this book through a recommendation in a magazine, and am so glad I bought it. This monk takes each letter of the alphabet and does a meditation on a word beginning with it. Sometimes several words. You do not have to be "religious" to appreciate this book. The writing is superb. I plan to read one letter a week, twice this year.