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The Man In The Sycamore Tree
Rice, one of Merton's oldest friends, is a figure in "The Seven Storey Mountain" and this biography, for all it's brevity, enhanced as it is with marvelous pictures, is likely to be the best and most sensitive one. This is a work that no future student of Merton will want to bypass. It is a wealth of facts (spiced with some gossip), and of insights into the heart and mind of Merton.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 22, 2023
The title is an allusion to the Biblical Zacchaeus, a tax collector, who to get a better view of Jesus, climbed a sycamore tree. Similarly, Thomas Merton in his quest to find an authentic identity in Christ joined a Trappist monastery. This short book, written by a longtime friend, discusses Merton’s search , from his early days as a student in New York to Merton’s tragic death on a trip to meet with Buddhists in Asia
He concentrates on Merton the man he knew, not the image of a saintly monk that some ascribed to him. In fact, he subtitles his book, an “entertainment with photographs”, suggesting an aspect of Merton that is overlooked, an individual who remained in many ways what he was before he entered the Trappists, a good friend always concerned about the affairs of the world. Most of the photographs are of Merton, both as a young man and an older man, but there a few shots of Merton’s playful cartoons and sketches, some of nudes, drawn during his college days.
He writes of Merton’s reactions to his most famous book, the autobiography THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. Merton said the fan mail he received was a “surprising and sobering experience,” and that it made him “ashamed of being famous.” Rice’scomment is that “What seemed to have occurred to him was that he was being asked to grow up, to stop playing at monk and saint, and to be one.”
What that involved, in Rice’s opinion, were “two main themes in Merton’s later life, peace in various forms: social and racial justice, freedom, love, liberty – and the interior life, and neither excluded the other . . . everything he wrote was connected with one or the other.” His views on social and racial justice, particularly his pacifism, often brought disagreement from American bishops and political leaders, and even with superiors in his own order.
Merton was always independent and at the end of his life, he was exploring eastern religions, particularly Buddhism as another valid approach to the transcendental. Rice hints at the possibility that Merton might not have returned to monastic Christianity after his Buddhist experiences. But of course with his accidental death at age 53 in 1968, no one will ever know what direction Merton’s life would have taken.
All that can be said with certainty, according to Rice, is that his spiritual inner life , in trying to integrate Christian and Buddhist interpretations of reality was deepening. I think Merton’s widening search is the reason that he is still relevant as people try to find religious meaning in their own lives.
He concentrates on Merton the man he knew, not the image of a saintly monk that some ascribed to him. In fact, he subtitles his book, an “entertainment with photographs”, suggesting an aspect of Merton that is overlooked, an individual who remained in many ways what he was before he entered the Trappists, a good friend always concerned about the affairs of the world. Most of the photographs are of Merton, both as a young man and an older man, but there a few shots of Merton’s playful cartoons and sketches, some of nudes, drawn during his college days.
He writes of Merton’s reactions to his most famous book, the autobiography THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN. Merton said the fan mail he received was a “surprising and sobering experience,” and that it made him “ashamed of being famous.” Rice’scomment is that “What seemed to have occurred to him was that he was being asked to grow up, to stop playing at monk and saint, and to be one.”
What that involved, in Rice’s opinion, were “two main themes in Merton’s later life, peace in various forms: social and racial justice, freedom, love, liberty – and the interior life, and neither excluded the other . . . everything he wrote was connected with one or the other.” His views on social and racial justice, particularly his pacifism, often brought disagreement from American bishops and political leaders, and even with superiors in his own order.
Merton was always independent and at the end of his life, he was exploring eastern religions, particularly Buddhism as another valid approach to the transcendental. Rice hints at the possibility that Merton might not have returned to monastic Christianity after his Buddhist experiences. But of course with his accidental death at age 53 in 1968, no one will ever know what direction Merton’s life would have taken.
All that can be said with certainty, according to Rice, is that his spiritual inner life , in trying to integrate Christian and Buddhist interpretations of reality was deepening. I think Merton’s widening search is the reason that he is still relevant as people try to find religious meaning in their own lives.
July 26, 2024
AN INSIGHTFUL BIOGRAPHY BY A CLOSE FRIEND OF MERTON'S
Biographer Edward Rice (1918-2001) was an author, publisher, photojournalist and painter, as well as a close friend of Thomas Merton. Rice wrote more than 20 books, such as 'Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography.This 1970 book (three years after Merton's accidental death) is richly-illustrated with black-and-white photographs, many of them taken by Rice.
He observes, "His early writings are good and important, and if we had them alone and his purely religious works ... we would still judge Merton as a seminal writer of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century... It is the later writings, on war and peace, nonviolence, race... and above all on Buddhism, that show Merton as his best and most creative." (Pg. 11) He records that The Seven Storey Mountain "was set down in what seemed like one long swoop of enthusiastic writing, with a freedom and vitality that he was unable to obtain in the biographies of saints that Dom Frederic assigned him to write during this period..." (Pg. 85-86)
He asserts that "Ordination obviously had not brought Merton the peace and isolation and solitude he had hoped for. Perhaps he had expected that his creative instincts would be diverted into other channels, that creative writing would now play a minor role in his life, but in his crisis he found that even writing had suddenly become almost impossible because of a certain kind of psychic impotence." (Pg. 101)
Significantly, Rice notes that "His thinking was given a sharp turn, when in the spring of 1959 he sent a copy of his book on the Desert Fathers to Dr. D.T. Suzuki... His life was now to be focused on Buddhism and peace... a lot of his readers, particularly the devout ones, began to drop out... But the fact is, what was to come in the 1960s was not an aberration but the entire point of his life as a layman and especially as a Trappist. The trip... was independent of rules, regulations, bad health, monastic discipline, constant tensions and the very severe attempts of the Trappist censors to silence him." (Pg. 107-108)
While Merton was on his (final) tour of Asia, Rice notes, "My strongest impression at the time---and he said it quite clearly too---was that he did not intend to return to Gethsemani... I am firmly convinced now that not only did he NOT intend on returning 'home' but that he knew he was going to die abroad and perhaps in Asia..." (Pg. 166)
A fascinating biography, this will be an excellent introduction to Merton's life for those who want to learn more about the man behind the books.
Biographer Edward Rice (1918-2001) was an author, publisher, photojournalist and painter, as well as a close friend of Thomas Merton. Rice wrote more than 20 books, such as 'Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography.This 1970 book (three years after Merton's accidental death) is richly-illustrated with black-and-white photographs, many of them taken by Rice.
He observes, "His early writings are good and important, and if we had them alone and his purely religious works ... we would still judge Merton as a seminal writer of the Catholic Church in the twentieth century... It is the later writings, on war and peace, nonviolence, race... and above all on Buddhism, that show Merton as his best and most creative." (Pg. 11) He records that The Seven Storey Mountain "was set down in what seemed like one long swoop of enthusiastic writing, with a freedom and vitality that he was unable to obtain in the biographies of saints that Dom Frederic assigned him to write during this period..." (Pg. 85-86)
He asserts that "Ordination obviously had not brought Merton the peace and isolation and solitude he had hoped for. Perhaps he had expected that his creative instincts would be diverted into other channels, that creative writing would now play a minor role in his life, but in his crisis he found that even writing had suddenly become almost impossible because of a certain kind of psychic impotence." (Pg. 101)
Significantly, Rice notes that "His thinking was given a sharp turn, when in the spring of 1959 he sent a copy of his book on the Desert Fathers to Dr. D.T. Suzuki... His life was now to be focused on Buddhism and peace... a lot of his readers, particularly the devout ones, began to drop out... But the fact is, what was to come in the 1960s was not an aberration but the entire point of his life as a layman and especially as a Trappist. The trip... was independent of rules, regulations, bad health, monastic discipline, constant tensions and the very severe attempts of the Trappist censors to silence him." (Pg. 107-108)
While Merton was on his (final) tour of Asia, Rice notes, "My strongest impression at the time---and he said it quite clearly too---was that he did not intend to return to Gethsemani... I am firmly convinced now that not only did he NOT intend on returning 'home' but that he knew he was going to die abroad and perhaps in Asia..." (Pg. 166)
A fascinating biography, this will be an excellent introduction to Merton's life for those who want to learn more about the man behind the books.
January 9, 2025
I think it would be valuable for all individuals to imagine they have a friend who like Edward Rice will have been with them long enough to get the short of it, and a way with words to allow the medium of a lived-life to diffuse through time. Some of you may be lucky enough to not have to imagine a Rice in your life, so today, please focus on how better you can serve this dedicated audience of one, how best to provide honesty and presence and openness to change. It may be your mail person or dentist, cousin or husband. I suppose you will never know if any of them are a Rice. Best to assume all are Rice, and that it is one task of many to let them into your world. Of course, this begins by listening to their's. Absolutely stunning book I would recommend to anyone interested in Merton, or for that matter, humans.
August 30, 2017
As a person who wants to really get to know Thomas Merton, I loved this book. It was fun to read about him from his friends perspective.
January 31, 2025
A memoir by Ed Rice a Columbia University classmate & lifelong friend of Fr Louis (Thomas Merton). The memoir has many photos of Merton from college until his death in Bangkok, Thailand.
February 20, 2012
Excellent treatment of the life of Thomas Merton, with photographs. If the only Merton you know is the one who wrote "The Seven Storey Mountain", there is much to learn here. Fascinating discussions of his views on war, race and Buddhism. It also explores his ambiguous relationship with the Trappists in great detail. Well worth reading.
February 21, 2010
This is a gem, written by a guy who knew Merton well. A bit weird, off balance; a totally necessary correction to the straight-laced Catholic appearance that some of Merton's more popular works present (e.g., 7 Storey Mountain).
June 29, 2010
There's a lot I resonate with the life and work of Thomas Merton. I resonate with his deep search for inner and outer peace. Rice provides an intimate reflection on the life of a friend, who chose a untrodden path.
September 12, 2008
Fascinating insights by one of Merton's closest friends
March 16, 2011
Stuck between a 3 & 4. It's very short, and I'm very interested/confused by Thomas Merton. I loved parts and drag through a couple. Good read from a perspective of friend. I would recommend.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews