Suicide Dictionary: The History of Rainbow Abbey

by Paul Lonely

In 1453 CE an island was discovered in the North Atlantic called Ambrojjio, and was donated to the Catholic Church. Pope Nicholas V (the first humanist Pope) used the land to erect a secret monastery for an artist colony of monk-poets he employed to formulate what he called a prophetic or inspired document, that was to be published in the year 2050. This artist colony (now called the Order of Quantum Catholics) has survived to the present day and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1846940613
• ISBN13: 9781846940613
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Roundfire Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.7" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

High altitude, accessible to all

Suicide Dictionary engaged every sense available to this reader and at a high altitude of consciousness. And yet it proved accessible to lower altitudes as well, winding its way up and down an ascending descending staircase as if heaven were on its merry way to earth. Dizzying, to be sure, yet there are rails for holding on. At one level the author, Paul Lonely sets out to tell the history of a fictional 15th century monastery, complete with monkish characters, and a story line that sounds made-up but with a set-up involving a true-to-life Pope Nicholas V. The first Renaissance pope, it was said of Nicholas by a contemporary who rose to pope after him, "What he does not know is outside the range of human knowledge." Respecting Mr Lonely, it might be said, what he does not know about words, may well be outside the range of the English language. As if to prove the saying, the story Mr Lonely tells is just one level of a multi-story construction involving a series of delightful sonnets, playful acrostics, and rare poems of such simplicity and elegance and economy, they pass the test of the best literary science. The wording is so tasty it melts in the reader's heart, sending electricity across the skin. And the brain just has a field day with subject matters that include and transcend history, philosophy, the sciences, the arts, and spirituality at its utmost expression, the contemplative schools of various spirit traditions. Did I mention that the aforementioned feat is carried out under the bare guise of a collegiate dictionary, 'A' section, be it said. That's right, Mr Lonely turns to the common literary appliance for inspiration in ordering his uncommon wording. Word by word, the first 100 A's supply the scaffolding for the author's distinctive style that, when all is said and done, dares not just to take the reader's breath away, but actually to breathe for the reader. When I finished my initial reading I felt ready to join-up with the monk-poets of Rainbow Abbey. The book cover carries this endorsement by Ken Wilber: "a startling work of sheer genius . . . highly recommended, if you can handle it." I made my way to its end feeling I was the handle. Riddle by riddle of this masterful work lures the reader to see with clarity and conviction that the reader is the riddle, and at book's end, to feel less tied in knots, free to soar. Unlike any book I can recall reading in my 62 years, this one makes me want to live another 62. I have copies upstairs, downstairs, and one for the car, so I should live so long.

Erudite, Spiritual, Integral, Beautiful, Zany

If you enjoy either brilliance or poetry, then you might enjoy this book - if you like both, then you most definitely want to buy this book. The aspect of S.D. that leaves the greatest effect within me are its sonnets. I, quite frankly, am awed by how much Lonely has successfully integrated into these poems. Not only do they adhere scrupulously to traditional metric standards(most are executed flawlessly in anapaestic tetrameter, if I am not mistaken), but also do they encode and communicate various philosophical, spiritual, theological, and literary understandings, in ceaselessly beautiful language. I've read many of these sonnets several times already, towards deepening my understanding of how the meanings, metaphors, whole/parts, etc in each poem come together. This book is worth purchasing for the poems alone. Which makes a good springboard for another paragraph since, for the most part, I didn't find the rest of the book nearly as engaging. The poems are loosely contextualized within a narrative that follows the happenings and livings of the monks of Rainbow Abbey, a narrative which I had pre-purchase expected to provide a potent serving of, so to speak, "integral myth for an integral age." But I would describe Lonely's Rainbow Abbey as less a narrative and more a well-researched, vaguely postmodern collage of facts set against a ground of over-educated monks who seem to spend most of their time in conversation, intermingling and playing with their encyclopedic minds, here and there decorating their desultory chatter with pithy verbal reflections of spiritual insight. I think it could be appropriate to call Rainbow Abbey poetic semi-fiction, but certainly not a narrative. Ultimately, though, S.D. is overwhelmingly creative, and immensely beautiful - to say that Paul Lonely is unique would be an understatement. "Imagination doesn't mask reality... Routine does..." -pg. 61

Seriously, Buy It & Cherish It

When I first got ahold of Suicide Dictionary, it was the best unpublished manuscript of any kind that I had ever read. The implicit vision of this work imbues every word with a magic glow, I kid you not. Wait until they make an illustrated, illuminated version...But in the meantime, you can read my afterword to it at michaelgarfield.zaadz.com & suicidedictionary.com ...I want you to read this book, and forever alter your understanding of what it means to be a novel, or literature.

Poetic Eloquence!

I've been long awaiting the publication of Suicide Dictionary. In Paul Lonely we find one of the true creative geniuses of our time. The pages of Suicide Dictionary overflow with life as they offer us a glimpse of today's leading edge of spirituality. Anyone curious about creative endeavors surrounding human potential and the evolution of consciousness will find deep resonance with Paul Lonely's language, approach, and artistic expression. Completely versed in the works of Wilber, Aurobindo, and the wealth of knowledge contained in our world's religious traditions, Paul Lonely is firmly embedded in and dedicated to the newly emerging Integral Awareness. Lonely's ability to transmit universal wisdom in brilliant strands of poetic eloquence, leaves the reader satiated after every entry. SD provides one of the first examples of a truly Integral Wisdom Book. I highly recommend it. Dustin DiPerna Author of The Infinite Ladder www.InfiniteLadder.com