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Raids on the Unspeakable
This collection of his prose writings reveals the extent to which Thomas Merton moved from the other-worldly devotion of his earlier work to a direct, deeply engaged, often militant concern with the critical situation of man in the world.
Here this concern finds expression in poetic irony and in meditations intentionally dour.In these brief, challenging pieces, Father Merton does not offer consolation or easy remedies. He looks candidly and without illusions at the world of his time. Though he sees dark horizons, his ultimate answer is one of Christian hope. To vary the perspective, he writes in many forms, using parable and myth, the essay and the meditation, satire and manifesto, prose poetry and even adaptations from a medieval Arab mystic (Ibn Abbad) to humanize and dramatic his philosophical themes.The themes of Raids on the Unspeakable are as old as the myths of Prometheus and Atlas, and as timely as the human evils of today. They range from the "Message" written for an international congress of poets to the beautiful yet disturbing Christmas meditation, "The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room." And there are essays inspired by the world of three significant contemporary Flannery O'Connor, the French novelist Julien Green, and the playwright Eugene Ionesco. A number of Father Merton's own drawings are also included in the book—not as "illustrations," but as "signatures" or :"abstract writings," which stand in their own right as another personal statement.
Here this concern finds expression in poetic irony and in meditations intentionally dour.In these brief, challenging pieces, Father Merton does not offer consolation or easy remedies. He looks candidly and without illusions at the world of his time. Though he sees dark horizons, his ultimate answer is one of Christian hope. To vary the perspective, he writes in many forms, using parable and myth, the essay and the meditation, satire and manifesto, prose poetry and even adaptations from a medieval Arab mystic (Ibn Abbad) to humanize and dramatic his philosophical themes.The themes of Raids on the Unspeakable are as old as the myths of Prometheus and Atlas, and as timely as the human evils of today. They range from the "Message" written for an international congress of poets to the beautiful yet disturbing Christmas meditation, "The Time of the End Is the Time of No Room." And there are essays inspired by the world of three significant contemporary Flannery O'Connor, the French novelist Julien Green, and the playwright Eugene Ionesco. A number of Father Merton's own drawings are also included in the book—not as "illustrations," but as "signatures" or :"abstract writings," which stand in their own right as another personal statement.
141 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 17, 1966
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394 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Merton
554 books1,900 followersThomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 31, 2018
I don't usually read much philosophy, the first set of essays are easier to understand and approachable than the last part of the book. I believe his main premise is to fight against the void, against nihilism "the unspeakable", by speaking out against racism, injustice and inhumanity. I overheard a conversation at work that seemed to approach what he is trying to get at, a woman was railing against "the Mexicans" and my coworker who is a Christian and a good person said, quietly, but forcefully to her, "They are our neighbors." This was so beautiful and effectively shut her down without being angry or ugly about it.
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May 30, 2017I would have enjoyed this much more three years ago, but a nice addition to the library nonetheless.
February 8, 2008
Merton's elegy to Flannery O'Connor is in here.
He describes her process: "She wrote in and out of the anatomy of a word that became genteel, then self-conscious, then obsessive, finally dying of contempt, but kept calling itself "respect"." His language is gorgeous: "...very agile fury"; "...the sweet idiot deceit"; "...rain is a festival." The chapter Answers on Art is fantastic, too.
He describes her process: "She wrote in and out of the anatomy of a word that became genteel, then self-conscious, then obsessive, finally dying of contempt, but kept calling itself "respect"." His language is gorgeous: "...very agile fury"; "...the sweet idiot deceit"; "...rain is a festival." The chapter Answers on Art is fantastic, too.
July 11, 2008
Mr. Merton was a Catholic monk, and an amazing man. I learned a new word from this book: eschatology (having to do with the "end of times"), and Merton's discourse on the subject soothed me: every ending in this world also represents a beginning in another world.
September 10, 2008
So out of all the Merton books, this was the one that I really liked. At one point I owned it, but I am not sure what happened to it. I highlighted some passages and at some point, it's due for a re-read.
March 10, 2017
The majority of these essays are as relevant today as when they were originally published. Perhaps a sad statement on our world, but it makes for a powerful and simultaneously companionable reading experience.
April 26, 2010
Appreciated aspects of every piece in here, but "Atlas and the Fatman" is my favorite – just incredible. I didn't expect to be so enthralled with Merton's experiments with fiction.
July 23, 2019
Fascinating
August 7, 2022
Wanted this to be more Jesus and less talk about art but oh well! Sure is a pretty writer.
October 22, 2017
If I get to choose someone to talk with in the afterlife, I REALLY want to have a conversation with Thomas Merton. Can that be arranged? Can I put mu request in now? Because I have SO much I want to ask him. Also I'd like to listen to jazz with him. Also he's way too smart for me and will probably bore of me after a few minutes. Regardless. Save a cup of coffee for me, will ya Tom?
There were essays in here I didn't quite understand. Others which gave me great pause. As always, I have a collection of quotes from the book which most spoke to me. Here we go:
"Can't I just be in the woods without any special reason? Just being in the woods, at night, in the cabin, is something too excellent to be justified or explained! It just is."
"This of course is the ultimate temptation of Christianity! To say that Christ has locked all the doors, has given one answer, settled everything and departed, leaving all life enclosed in the frightful consistency of a system outside of which there is seriousness and damnation, inside of which there is the intolerable flippancy of the saved-while nowhere is there any place left for the mystery of the freedom of divine mercy which alone is truly serious, and worthy of being taken seriously."
"It begins to dawn on us that it is precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous. It is the sane ones, the well-adapted ones, who can without qualms and without nausea aim the missiles and press the buttons that will initiate the great festival of destruction that they, the sane ones, have prepared."
"I am no longer certain that it is honorable to stand by as the helpless witness of a cataclysm, with no other hope than to die innocently and by accident, as a non-participant."
"No one has discovered a really perfect way to kill time. Those who do not have to work for a living are engrossed in every kind of nonsense, and those who must gain their livelihood are so absorbed in this that they have time for nothing else."
"There have grown up so many myths about the business of 'being an artist' and living the special kind of life that artists are reputed to live, that if the artist is too concerned with 'being an artist' he will never get around to doing any work."
"What is the use of art? The artist must serenely defend his right to be complete useless."
"The problem arises when art ceases to be honest work and becomes instead a way to self-advertisement and success-when the writer or painter uses his art merely to sell himself. (It is an article of faith, in Western society at least, that a poet or painter is by nature 'more interesting' than other people, and God knows, everybody wants in the worst way to be interesting!) -- My note, I wonder how Thomas Merton would feel about the social media age!
There were essays in here I didn't quite understand. Others which gave me great pause. As always, I have a collection of quotes from the book which most spoke to me. Here we go:
"Can't I just be in the woods without any special reason? Just being in the woods, at night, in the cabin, is something too excellent to be justified or explained! It just is."
"This of course is the ultimate temptation of Christianity! To say that Christ has locked all the doors, has given one answer, settled everything and departed, leaving all life enclosed in the frightful consistency of a system outside of which there is seriousness and damnation, inside of which there is the intolerable flippancy of the saved-while nowhere is there any place left for the mystery of the freedom of divine mercy which alone is truly serious, and worthy of being taken seriously."
"It begins to dawn on us that it is precisely the sane ones who are the most dangerous. It is the sane ones, the well-adapted ones, who can without qualms and without nausea aim the missiles and press the buttons that will initiate the great festival of destruction that they, the sane ones, have prepared."
"I am no longer certain that it is honorable to stand by as the helpless witness of a cataclysm, with no other hope than to die innocently and by accident, as a non-participant."
"No one has discovered a really perfect way to kill time. Those who do not have to work for a living are engrossed in every kind of nonsense, and those who must gain their livelihood are so absorbed in this that they have time for nothing else."
"There have grown up so many myths about the business of 'being an artist' and living the special kind of life that artists are reputed to live, that if the artist is too concerned with 'being an artist' he will never get around to doing any work."
"What is the use of art? The artist must serenely defend his right to be complete useless."
"The problem arises when art ceases to be honest work and becomes instead a way to self-advertisement and success-when the writer or painter uses his art merely to sell himself. (It is an article of faith, in Western society at least, that a poet or painter is by nature 'more interesting' than other people, and God knows, everybody wants in the worst way to be interesting!) -- My note, I wonder how Thomas Merton would feel about the social media age!
October 12, 2025
Timely, witty, and unflinching commentary from the evolved, jazz- and nature-drenched, early 60's version of this (per his description) previously rather rigid monk. His first paragraph on rain is worth the price of admission.
August 25, 2020
Three words to describe "Raids"? Underground religious classic. Three essays are especially noteworthy, and during a pandemic, assume a prescient poignancy that, like the coronavirus itself, upend many revered tenets of society and religion. In the remarkable opener, "Rain and the Rhinoceros," Thomas Merton gently draws on his love of Buddhism and hatred of war in soaking Kentucky woods, to juxtapose rain's wisdom with war's lunacy. (And it makes one want to grab a tent!) In another, centering on Nazi Adolph Eichmann, the monk uncannily dissects the bland respect for order and obedience that undergirded many Auschwitzes. Finally, "The Time of the End...", like something from Isaiah, revisits the cliched Nativity Story and suggests gems of hope and stewardship still endure - though often overlooked (or worse) by society's right-thinking. Overall, 'tis a book capable of changing one's entire spiritual perspective - a book to return to often.
May 8, 2020
A collection of essays--many of which speak to today. Written in the 1960s, it's frightening how many parallels still exist: civil unrest, oligarchy ignoring the needs of the people & exploiting workers & soldiers, racial tensions, lies, deception, and politicians working not for the people, but for the rich and/or their own personal interests. Some of the essays highlight how disgusting it is that so many of these problems not only still persist to today, but are far worse. Thomas Merton is fortunate, though. He has an outlet for his frustration with mankind (man-unkind?). And he's no longer alive and having to witness the horrible political climate in which we currently reside. We are a country that falsely promotes anything is possible, while the rich laugh at us hamsters on the wheels who, as this Covid crisis has shed light on, are expendable.
August 13, 2022
Here we find Merton in a different mode - not as the consoling contemplative monk but as a vigorous voice of protest... a prophet speaking out of and into the culture.
Utilising a range of short essay, experimental and alternative forms, it falls within the realms of the theopoetic. First published in 1966, it is 1960s through and through in its territory and feel, and shows Merton as a poet artist thinker in his own right. Easy to see why it might have found a publishing home in the US at New Directions (the edition I have was published in the UK in 1977). Some of it is pretty far out and confrontational, and still very relevant... was that D. Trump he was talking about in one bit...?
Great stuff.
Utilising a range of short essay, experimental and alternative forms, it falls within the realms of the theopoetic. First published in 1966, it is 1960s through and through in its territory and feel, and shows Merton as a poet artist thinker in his own right. Easy to see why it might have found a publishing home in the US at New Directions (the edition I have was published in the UK in 1977). Some of it is pretty far out and confrontational, and still very relevant... was that D. Trump he was talking about in one bit...?
Great stuff.
October 8, 2020
Later Merton
I confess I didn’t like this book as much as I enjoy some of the earlier Merton. Not because of the topics here - Merton is in his Prophet stage where he is punctuating his concerns about the world with a quasi-sarcasm and tart bluntness. I think Merton’s best prose came as a result of his spiritual journey towards God in quiet contemplation and reflective meditation. But this is a poignant book in a very similar time in the world, not as we see the possibilities of huge mushroom clouds and the sounds of war machines, but as the State intends to enslave people with the permission of the masses in the name of “fairness.”
I confess I didn’t like this book as much as I enjoy some of the earlier Merton. Not because of the topics here - Merton is in his Prophet stage where he is punctuating his concerns about the world with a quasi-sarcasm and tart bluntness. I think Merton’s best prose came as a result of his spiritual journey towards God in quiet contemplation and reflective meditation. But this is a poignant book in a very similar time in the world, not as we see the possibilities of huge mushroom clouds and the sounds of war machines, but as the State intends to enslave people with the permission of the masses in the name of “fairness.”
May 24, 2022
A little out there and theoretical for me at times, and a little poetical in the sense of fuzzy at others, but certainly interesting and often profound. I think Merton is like a good cold bath to get all the sweat of your normal work and the dust of your cultural surroundings off-- a good reminder to remember that you're always naked and alone before the God of the universe, give or take some theological niceties.
I particularly recommend the Meditation on Prometheus-- after Freud and Nietzsche, it's time to take another look at that guy-- and, even though I was baffled and kind of irritated by it, I think it's very worthwhile to think through the poem Atlas and the Fatman.
I particularly recommend the Meditation on Prometheus-- after Freud and Nietzsche, it's time to take another look at that guy-- and, even though I was baffled and kind of irritated by it, I think it's very worthwhile to think through the poem Atlas and the Fatman.
December 26, 2021
This book!!!!! Collection of essays from Thomas Merton, a Christian monk at a monastery in Kentucky in the 60s. It made me cry 2x. The truth and beauty that was given by these pages... So amazing.
He discussed the social state of modern culture and how is opposes the spiritual rhythms of nature. Also he uses myths and stories to communicate ancient ideas and truths. So much more than that, but I don’t even know how to explain it all.
It’s calling your soul home. It’s calling you to feel peace again. It’s like listening to the heart of the world idk man
He discussed the social state of modern culture and how is opposes the spiritual rhythms of nature. Also he uses myths and stories to communicate ancient ideas and truths. So much more than that, but I don’t even know how to explain it all.
It’s calling your soul home. It’s calling you to feel peace again. It’s like listening to the heart of the world idk man
January 27, 2019
The book shows us the way to stay focused on goodness during dark times. Thomas Merton is a great writer, and I have been lecturing on the book. I suggest that you will like the way that Merton explains seeking to overcome unspeakable evils.
September 21, 2019
Some of the pieces in here are pretty weird, intellectually over my head, but some awesome stuff throughout; even when I am probably missing the main point, small snippets of brilliance even I can understand. I especially liked the last two about the relationship of art and artists to society.
December 21, 2021
One of his later books, really a collection of unrelated essays, some addressing topics of current interest at the time. A few essays are experimental in style, looking at the myth of Atlas in different ways. Not one of his best.
November 5, 2022
It's good but very avant garde modernist. I don't get the poetry and pose. It seemed like he was stoned or caught up unto mystical ecstasies I'll never know. He was reading Marcel and Existentialists at the time...that may account for it.
March 7, 2018
the metaphor got murky
March 10, 2018
What if sane is insane?
January 23, 2019
This one will bear rereading. Some of the prose is like Merton's other writings from the 1960s, clear, concise, and hard hitting. Some of it is obscure, more like his poetry.
October 25, 2020
I love Merton, but this is a strange grab bag of essays.
January 7, 2022
Maybe an overstatement, but a couple of these essays were possibly life changing
April 12, 2022
interesting but not essential imo
Read
July 11, 2022A reread (. )
October 26, 2020
One of my favorite books ever. I read it for the first time more than 20 years ago, have read it once or twice since, and decided to read it again this weekend. I was wrapping up a three day getaway, a sort of mostly-silent retreat in a cabin in the woods, so it seemed fitting.
Beautiful, wonderful book. I initially thought I'd quote some of the best bits and pieces in here, but there are hundreds of best bits and pieces, and so I'd basically just be rewriting the whole damn book.
If you haven't read it, you should read it. The first half is a little easier, more straight forward. The second half shifts into some weird, abstract stuff, almost like Merton had read a little too much William S. Burroughs, but it's still good. And then it switches back to a couple of more straightforward essays to finish up.
A beautiful book about what it means to be free, fully human, to step away from the big machine, to be more than "mass man," to be authentic and complete. I love this. Absolutely love it.
Beautiful, wonderful book. I initially thought I'd quote some of the best bits and pieces in here, but there are hundreds of best bits and pieces, and so I'd basically just be rewriting the whole damn book.
If you haven't read it, you should read it. The first half is a little easier, more straight forward. The second half shifts into some weird, abstract stuff, almost like Merton had read a little too much William S. Burroughs, but it's still good. And then it switches back to a couple of more straightforward essays to finish up.
A beautiful book about what it means to be free, fully human, to step away from the big machine, to be more than "mass man," to be authentic and complete. I love this. Absolutely love it.
June 17, 2022
“Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for Him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because He cannot be at home in it, because He is out of place in it, and yet He must be in it, His place is with those others for whom there is no room. His place is with those who do not belong, who are rejected by power because they are regarded as weak, those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews