Thomas Merton Book Review

Cunningham, Lawrence S. A Search for Solitude: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume Three 1952-1960. New York City: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997. (394 pp)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Thomas Merton was born on January 31, 1915, in France. His father was an artist from New Zealand and his mother a Quaker from the United States. He lost his mother at age six and father at age sixteen. After a disastrous first year at Cambridge University, during which time he fathered an illegitimate child, Merton moved to the United States to live with his grandparents. There he gained his bachelors and masters degrees at Columbia University in New York City. Merton was converted to Catholicism in his early twenties while writing his thesis on William Blake.

He entered the monastery at the Trappist Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky in December 1941. During his years there, Merton wrote more than fifty books, two thousand poems and a countless number of essays, reviews and lectures that have been recorded and published. His ultimate goal was solitude, which he achieved in a hermitage in 1965. He died in Bangkok on December 10, 1968, after having touched a badly-grounded electric fan while stepping out of his bath. Merton's body was flown back to Gethsemani where he is buried. Since his death, his influence has continued to grow and he is considered by many to be a twentieth century American mystic. Merton put a ban on publishing much of his work until twenty five years after his death. After that time his diaries, this one included, were published.

SUMMARY:

A Search for Solitude: The Journals of Thomas Merton Volume Three 1952-1960 , the third volume of Thomas Merton's private journals covers, sporadically, the period between July 1952 and 1960. When he wrote his 1952 entries, Merton had already been Gethsemani for over a decade. Merton kept rather brief journals in the last months of 1952 and in 1953, with a hiatus from 1954 to 1955. In 1956, he again began keeping his journal on a regular basis. The journal entries from 1956 through 1960 must be read against his role as novice master , as he saw to the formation of the many young men who were coming to try their hand at the monastic life. Since he was in such a crucial position his thought constantly focused on who and what a monk was. These journals were written in those brief moments in his crowded schedule or on those days in which he had a bit of freedom to go for a few hours either to the little woodshed that he called his "hermitage" or into the woods that were part of the abbey property. Merton wrote on legal-size ledgers, dating his entries with a calendar notation and sometimes the feast days of the liturgical calendar.

It is very difficult to specify the contents of this journal. Sometimes he was speaking to himself in reaction to his reading, or musing about possible strategies for a project. In other places he commented on what he was researching or what he did on a particular day. Some of his most beautiful lines are impressions of what he saw, people he met, or snatches of conversation. Finally, there are arguments with himself, pleas to God or unverbalized comments to others. What the journal only mentions in passing is that he kept the full monastic vows, taught, did his share of manual labor, kept up a vast correspondence and continued to write for publication.

CRITICAL EVALUATION:

The critical evaluation of A Search for Solitude will cover purpose, value, strengths, weaknesses, bias and audience. This serves to give any interested readers a better idea of what is contained within its pages.

I. Purpose.

The purpose of this book was simple and similar to what you would expect from any journal. Merton sought to write down his feelings, impressions and ideas. It is without doubt that he achieved this purpose in this publication. It is possible to see throughout the journal how Merton works through problems, both of this world and spiritual, by his writing. Although he did not intend it for such a purpose, this book also serves to help others understand what it means when someone dedicates their life to be a monk. The most important purpose, I believe, this book serves is to show the value of solitude and one way to achieve it.

II. Value.

This journal is of the utmost value when it comes to studying solitude. There has never been a publication, to my knowledge, that has so clearly explained the importance of solitude in modern day life. Christians and especially the lost would gain much from the reading of this volume. Solitude is a classical Christian discipline that is often ignored in today's culture. To find someone so dedicated to achieving this goal is a rare thing in and of itself. For this man, Merton, to be an example for the masses the process to achieving it is beyond wonderful.

III. Strengths and Weaknesses.

While Merton has an extraordinary ability to paint pictures through his words, reading his journal can sometimes be confusing. It is, after all, a journal and not a researched explanation of a subject. Never meaning for this to be published, Merton did not hesitate to scribble down his random thoughts in order to work them out in his head. Since we cannot