On Thomas Merton

by Mary Gordon

From the best-selling novelist and a deeply personal view of her discovery of the celebrated modern monk and thinker through his writings.“If Thomas Merton had been a writer and not a monk, we would never have heard of him. If Thomas Merton had been a monk and not a writer, we would never have heard of him.”So begins acclaimed author Mary Gordon in this probing, candid exploration of the man who became the face and voice of mid-twentieth-century American Catholicism. Approaching Merton “writer to writer,” Gordon illuminates his life and work through his letters, journals, autobiography, and fiction. Pope Francis has celebrated Merton as “a man of dialogue,” and here Gordon shows that the dialogue was as much internal as external—an unending conversation, and at times a heated conflict, between Merton the monk and Merton the writer. Rich with excerpts from Merton’s own writing, On Thomas Merton produces an intimate portrait of a man who “lived life in all its imperfectability, reaching toward it in exaltation, pulling back in anguish, but insisting on the primacy of his praise as a man of God.”

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Christianity, Biography, Writing, Theology, Christian

155 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 15, 2019

About the author

Mary Catherine Gordon is an American writer from Queens and Valley Stream, New York. She is the McIntosh Professor of English at Barnard College. She is best known for her novels, memoirs and literary criticism. In 2008, she was named Official State Author of New York.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is Catholicism intellectually and aesthetically chic? Does the world need monks and nuns more than they need writers? How can a strategic opening truly reach a, "soul"?

"From time to time Merton toyed with the idea of giving up writing altogether. Sometimes it was because he feared there was an inherent conflict between the vocation of a writer and the vocation of monk." (33)

How do artists with grief make the unbearable bearable?

"Even the ukulele is a torment in this torture chamber for the privileged young." (48)

"It is a challenge to write coherently about a form that does not put a premium on coherence." (88)

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little (133 pp.) book is an odd number, almost as if author Mary Gordon was dispatched an assignment on deadline and cobbled together a pastiche of Merton excerpts just on time.

It's divided into four sections: "Writer to Writer: But What Kind?" "The Seven Story Mountain," "My Argument with the Gestapo," and "The Journals." She's all about understanding where the monk ends and where the writer begins. It's interesting in that she delineates his weaknesses and his strengths as a writer. She finds him lame, for instance, as a poet and as a wu-wu cis-boom-bah rah, rah Catholic religion writer.

Merton's strengths, Gordon insists, lie in his descriptive abilities, his facility with figurative language in a few deft strokes, and in journal-writing. The discursive, wide-open plains for journal-writing allowed Merton to be the at-times self-contradictory cipher he was, she says.

Surprisingly, she's not a big fan of Merton's most famous book, The Seven Story Mountain.. Instead, she heralds his almost-unknown novel, the unfortunately-named My Argument with the Gestapo, which came out in 1941 and showed influences of (wait for it) James Joyce.

That's right. Merton, well-known for his interest in Buddhism and eastern religions, was also a fiend for the Irish wordsmith. Not only was Ulysses his favorite book, he also reveled in Finnegans Wake (a.k.a. "that book where angels fear to tread.").

So, yeah. Enjoyable. If you like Merton, worth the short and bumpy ride. It's choppy, too brief, and a bit all over the place, but I don't think Merton fans will mind. And if you're just curious about the man, this might be just the painless snapshot you were looking for. Take this as a positive 3-star review.

[Roy Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The renowned novelist Mary Gordon has done what few people can do: say something new about Thomas Merton. She begins announcing the paradox.
A monk vowed to silence produced more words than most writers. Though Merton was dedicated to solitude as a Trappist hermit, nevertheless an international company of seekers, celebrities, writers and activists were drawn to him for guidance. Thus the paradox: solitude gives birth to community; a community that continues forty years after his death. Silence brought forth the written word akin to a tsunami. Gordon the writer explores the paradox that is Merton, choosing selections from his writings that give insight into him not only as a monk but as writer. We learn that Merton was forever chafing under the strictures of his monastic life, especially the demands placed upon him by his superior to write for an audience that would be drawn to Catholic spirituality. What kind of writer would he be? That is a difficult question for a writer committed to a monastic vow of obedience, which by necessity gives little room for independence. This theme runs through Gordon’s book. She describes Merton’s struggles throughout his life. While committed to his vocation, he resisted what he considered the superficialities of American monasticism. Merton was a curious intellectual who had a profound conversion that led to his monastic vow described in most famous book, A Seven Story Mountain. We come to know Merton as he grew beyond his initial enthusiasm as new monk at Gethesami, expressing his frustration with the lassitude of his fellow monks, who equally found themselves offended by Merton’s criticism. Gordon reveals the serious conflicts between Merton and his superior Dom James Fox and the ways they negotiated that relationship. Dom Father, for instance chose Merton as his confessor. And he granted Merton the status of hermit that he longed for, away from the community to which he was vocationally bound. Many people know and admire Merton for his deep commitment to peacemaking. Gordon devotes a chapter to a little known novel “My Argument with the Gestapo” for an unlikely way to see Merton’s deep political engagement and commitments. The final chapter of this brief book is the most rewarding. It is focused on the journals that contain the most candid writings of Merton as he increasingly opened his horizon to the experience of God in nature. Here we learn of the famous affair he had while in Louisville Kentucky that was akin to an epiphany of God. Walking the streets of Louisville opened his eyes in a whole new way. In this book we discover a complicated Merton. Yet, that is the great gift that Mary Gordon has rendered to her readers. Thomas Merton is complicated! He struggled with his vocation to prayer and monastic obedience. He sought to be a Christian peacemaker and did his part from his own hermitage.

The journals reveal to us a man who sought after God. Here we see a man – a human – who revels in God and is committed to prayer. This is the same man who counsels writers and poets, social activists and seekers. Mary Gordon’s fine book makes one wish Thomas Merton were with us in these days of deep division and spiritual yearning. We can be grateful that she has written this book.

[Christopher Blosser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Taking the approach of examining Merton chiefly through the lens of his struggles with his identity and achievements as a writer, Mary Gordon sifts through some of his letters, his most famous autobiography (Seven Story Mountain), a rare posthumously published novel (My Argument with the Gestapo) and Merton's own journals and manages to produce a decent portrait of the contemplative monk through copious excerpts, many of which might be familiar to those well-acquainted with Merton's works. I'd say this serves as a short, readable general introduction to Thomas Merton and there are indeed interesting insights (ex. Merton's correspondence with Evelyn Waugh and Czeslaw Milosz, trading spiritual counsel in exchange for their criticism and guidance with his own writing).

I'll be honest, the one aspect of the book that really bugged me is the author's abject dismissal of Merton's traditional religious writing (though in all fairness, she does admit she's in no position to comment on his more mystical journal entries).

This is not to say Merton himself wasn't retroactively critical of his writing in Seven Story Mountain or his distancing himself from "the world" in his early years as a contemplative Trappist monk , but when Gordon criticizes (for exrample) passages in Merton's journals which in her own words "reek of the masochistic self-hatred that was too often a part of traditional Catholic practice" I'd suggest her animus against the Church-as-institution and traditional Catholicism rather gets in the way of her appraisal. As if Catholic contemplative theology itself didn't have a thing or two to say about proper "mortification of the flesh" or the necessity of self-denial in the exercise of spiritual discipline! -- then again, having acquainted myself with the author's own life as a progressive Catholic, I suppose her attitude is entirely expected.

[Paul Womack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perceptive essays on the work, and to the extent possible, of Thomas Merton. I am especially appreciative that Ms Gordon deals with his humanity and limitations as a saintly man... it makes his writings more alive and illuminative for me.

[Rob Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

In researching his published books, journals, and letters author Mary Gordon probes the influences of Merton's inner and outer lives as Trappist monk, writer, and man. Gordon draws on Merton's words to write a loving portrayal of this fascinating individual and the era in which he lived. The strength of Gordon's balanced critique and her insights about Merton are as palpable and influential as are the writings of Merton himself. The reader is enriched through the reading of each. Recommended for everyone. Great book. Easy read. A must read for those interested in the Catholic church, the processes of writing, and the writing life.

Here are several excerpts from the book.

Gordon wrote (or quoted others):

Excerpt of a letter from Evelyn Waugh to Thomas Merton August 13, 1948 
Never send off any piece of writing the moment that is finished. Put it aside. Take on something else. Go back to it a month later and re-read it. Examine each sentence and ask "Does this say precisely what I mean? Is it capable of a misunderstanding? Have I used a cliche where I could have invented a new and therefore asserting and memorable form? Have I repeated myself and wobbled round the point when I could have fixed the whole thing and six rightly chosen words? Am I using words in their basic meaning or in a loose plebeian way?" - Waugh

Merton letter to Waugh, September 22, 1948
"All you need is to stop speculating about it, and somewhere around the second step of your analysis, make a definite act of will, and rest in that." - Merton

Waugh letter to Merton, Aug 29, 1949
"In the non-narrative passages, do you not think you tend to be the diffuse, saying the same thing more than once? I noticed this in The Seven Storey Mountain and the fault persists. It is patterned-bombing instead of precision-bombing. You scatter a lot of missiles all around the target instead of concentrating on a single direct hit. It is not art. Your monastery tailor and boot maker could not waste material. Words are our materials..." - Waugh

Merton letter to Milosz, September 12, 1959
"If we were not all fools we would never accomplish anything at all." - Merton

Merton letter to Melosz, May 6, 1960
"[N]ature and I are very good friends, and console one another for the stupidity and the infamy of the human race and its civilization. We at least get along, I say to the trees, and though I am perfectly aware that the spider eats the fly, that the singing of the birds may perhaps have something to do with a hatred or pain of which I know nothing, still I can't make much of it. Spiders have always eaten flies but I can shut it out of my consciousness without guilt. It is the spider, not I, that kills and eats the fly." - Merton

"In this desire to write for a clearly imagined audience - to write, that is, for a purpose - Merton turns his back on the ideal so clearly exemplified by his beloved [James] Joyce: the idea that the writer writes for the sake of it, for the sake of the art or the form, and that his audience is not his business." - Gordon

"As the sixties progressed and Merton became more and more convinced of his responsibility to speak out against the atomic bomb and in favor of the civil rights movement, he felt the conflict more intensely, and his early romance about the church eroded." - Gordon

Merton wrote March 3, 1964 
"...I wanted to act like a responsible, civilised, responsible Christian of my time. I am not allowed to do this, and I am told I have 'renounced this' - fine. In favor of what? In favor of a silence which is deeply and completely in complicity with all the forces that carry out oppression, injustice, aggression, exploitation, war. In other words silent complicity is presented as a 'greater good' than honest conscientious protest..." - Merton

[Edward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon makes it clear at the beginning that she wants to separate Merton the writer from Merton the monk, usually associated with his conversion to the monastic life. She comments that this conversion made Merton a popular figure and contributed to his problems as a writer.

She thinks that the writer and the monk are always at odds with one another. Merton’s writing about spiritual matters, what might be called devotional books, tends to be abstract and overly self-conscious, what Gordon calls “disembodied language” of psychological reflection. Merton did write some religious poetry as well which she thinks is pretty second rate.

In Gordon's opinion, Merton is at his best, though, when he engages his talent for description, something that really shines in his journals. They are heartfelt, honest, entries often often contradicting earlier ones , and reveal a man who is facing struggles, many of which are restrictions placed on him by superiors at his monastery.

He was a prolific writer and brought considerable income in the form of royalties to his Kentucky monastery . After his acclaimed THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN, an account of his being drawn to to the monastic life, he was expected to churn out devotional books which he did, of course, but Merton had other interests as well. He was well read and was a prolific letter writer who was in contact with all kinds of people, especially intellectuals and poets.

This contact with the world led to his growing and outspoken opposition to war, especially the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the Viet Nam war, and he felt compelled to speak out, That caused problems with censors. Merton’s views were out of step with most American Catholic bishops many prominent ones who combined Catholicism and nationalism, always fatal in Merton’s view.

Gordon finds one of Merton’s most interesting books to be his MY ARGUMENT WITH THE GESTAPO, written in l941 but unpublished until 1969, a year after Merton’s death. She acknowledges that it was a youthful book, written when he was 26, and dated in many ways, but “this loosely structured narrative, or non-narrative, draws on Merton's strengths as a master of description and sensual apprehension and frees him from some of the stiffness and artificiality that marks much of his prose.” She finds Merton was under the influence of James Joyce who Merton called an “honest writer,” thinking no doubt, of Joyce’s descriptive powers.

Merton moved from one image of himself to another, both the contemplative and the public man, but Gordon finds one constant in his life , a passionate and intense relationship with God. It was essentially inexpressible, but Merton struggled to express it in all of his writings. It is this struggle as a writer that Gordon finds gripping. She concludes that the “greatness of Merton [is] ardent, heartfelt, headlong. Life lived in all its imperfectability, reaching toward it in exaltation, pulling back in fear, in anguish, but insisting on the primacy of his praise as a man of God.”

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up Catholic I knew of Thomas Merton - my mother was influenced by his writings. I haven't read his most famous book, The Seven Storey Mountain. I found this book, On Thomas Merton, on the deal shelves of an independent bookstore and bought it for a friend of mine who is strongly influenced by Merton's writings. She said to read it before I mail it to her, and I did.

The focus of this book is on Merton the writer-monk or monk-writer - the reasons that he wrote and how he reached out to other writers for support and direction.

Mary Gordon used the books but mostly the journals of Thomas Merton as her research base.

I found this read really interesting as a view into Thomas Merton as a man who struggled as a writer, as a monk in the Trappist Order with a vow to silence, as a priest, as a brother and son.

An easy read but well worth it.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library borrow. Relfections by author Mary Gordon on the works of Merton. Fairly quick read; raiss a number of issues about Merton's life that would merit reading a good biography of Merton. Doesn't really cover the religious writing other than Seven Storey Mountain.

[Larry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novelist and religious writer, Mary Gordon paints Thomas Merton the monk-writer by opening to us his many journals and his correspondence. Here in September 1, 1949, we view Merton’s early declaration of his intention:

“If I am to be a saint, I have not only to be a monk, which is what all monks must to do become saints, but I must also put down on paper what I have become. . . . It is not an easy vocation. To be as good a monk as I can, and to remain myself, and to write about it: to put myself down on paper . . . with the most complete simplicity and integrity, masking nothing . . . It is a kind of crucifixion.”

We see Merton’s friendship with Milosz develop later in the 1960s. Merton complains of his double censorship, first by the Catholic Church and then by the secular publishing world. It is a road he blazes nevertheless, while remaining loyal to both audiences as seen in his numerous books of poetry and creative prose (most published by New Directions Publishing) and in his religious examinations done through the Catholic publications.

Mary Gordon culls from Merton’s seven volumes of journals his most penetrating self-insights. She advises us on his conflicted vision as writer, “…at the same time he is disgusted with himself and his writing, he feels a responsibility to continue”:

“August 22, 1961

I have a clear obligation to participate, as long as I can, and to extend my abilities, in every effort to help a spiritual and cultural renewal of our time. This is the task that has been given me, and hitherto I have not been clear about it:…by entering myself deeply into the disciplines and experience, not for myself only but for all my contemporaries who may be interested and inclined to listen. This for the restoration of man’s sanity and balance, that he may return to the ways of freedom and peace, if not in my time, at least some day soon.”

Thomas Merton’s cultural and spiritual commitment is made clear here.

Gordon offers this final praise, “The greatness of Thomas Merton: ardent, heartfelt, headlong. Life lived in all its imperfectability, reaching toward it in exaltation, pulling back in fear, in anguish, but insisting on the primacy of his praise as a man of God.”

As fellow author James Carroll accurately points out, “Gordon is the ideal reader of Merton, matching his intelligence, irony, and authentic feel for the world beyond words. Her book brings his books back to life, and belongs with them from now on.” If Merton is to remain a living voice, it is from such honest and steadfast devotion as Mary Gordon’s On Thomas Merton.

*New York Journal of Books review https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book...

[Jim Gallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard about Tomas Merton but had not read any of his books so I picked “On Thomas Merton” in hopes of getting an introduction to Merton and his works.

Author Mary Gordon puts things in perspective with her opening lines: “If Thomas Merton had been a writer and not a monk, we would never have heard of him. If Thomas Merton had been a monk and not a writer, we would never have heard of him.”

The first chapter studies the dichotomy of the monk/writer and the writer/monk. Gordon examines Merton’s life story, his mother’s death when he was young, his years with his father in France and his place in the Abbey of Gethsemane, the Cistercian Monastery where he spent most of his adult life. Exchanges between Merton and Evelyn Waugh and Czeslaw Milosz illustrate the sharing of ideas among Catholic literati of their day. An analysis of Catholic intellectual life and Merton’s role in it sets the context of Merton’s writing.

The other chapters focus on Merton’s writings, “The Seven Story Mountain”, “My Argument With The Gestapo” and his Journals.

I have asked myself whether I should have read “On Thomas Merton” before or after reading some of his canon. I think the answer is both. I will now read his books with the knowledge that they were refined by Cistercian and ecclesiastical censors, that he was encouraged to write to raise money for the monastery and an appreciation of the evolution of his thinking about the Church and the world. While reading I will refresh my recollection with a second look at this tome.

[Artemisia Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an unflinching, authentic look at Thomas Merton, the priest, writer, and activist often seen as one of the most influential Catholics of the 20th century. Writer Mary Gordon, herself a Catholic, uses passages from Merton’s writings to help us understand the man behind all these other roles that he vacillated between as he tried to straddle his life as a monk with his very public presence. I wasn’t sure I always liked the Thomas Merton described here, for his prejudices, doubts and prickliness were on full display, especially in his personal journals. Still, there were parts where his searing vision, deep faith and a very strong desire to tell the truth (he often bristled at the control Gethsemani Abbey had over his output), brought me back to an appreciation of his flawed humanity, and especially of his own ability to recognize the ways both he and his Church fell short of his expectations.

[Jt O'Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting monograph. It is not a full biography of Thomas Merton but Mary Gordon does look closely at his engagement as a writer. There was always the conflict for Merton - writer or monk? In this book, Gordon investigates that duality as well as examines closely some of Merton's writing skills and limitations. I enjoyed the close look at his work but also some of her reflections on who Merton the human being, the not always exemplary character was. It's not the complete story by any means but it makes for interesting reading and perhaps incites a reader to further exploration of Merton and what he brought to the world.

[MaureenMcBooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

A tough read for a general-interest reader. This turns out to be an academic monograph on Merton’s writing that has interesting insights but does not achieve its goal of illuminating his life and work.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty heady literary criticism of a writer by a writer, but accessible enough for someone like me who just wanted to learn more about Merton. A great way to read the best bits of his voluminous published journals and other lesser-known works.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Gordon has a true empathy and sympathy for Merton and his dichotomies. She feels his struggles. Her robust analysis of The Seven Story Mountain and My Argument with the Gestapo is bolstered by a combination of academic rigour and a personal, nearly spiritual, connection with him. Indeed, her first two pages are a frank admittance of her personal empathetic bias for Merton. Interestingly, the two Merton books I own but have yet to read are those exact works. I especially appreciated her contextual analysis of his journals.

[Francine Apollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Mary Gordon's work and this book on Merton, who I would like to understand more, drew me.
I especially liked the section "Journals" as it through light on the man and his thought processes.

This is a great little book to read if you are a fan of the author, the subject or both!

[Bri · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd little book--not a biography but an analysis of Merton's writing. The organization is strange. Not sure what the purpose of the book is--to celebrate the richness of Merton's prose? To illuminate the humanity of the monk himself?

[Susan Isaacs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon's observations felt judgemental at times. This was, for me, an introduction to Merton. By itself, this book didn't draw me to desire deeper exploration of Merton. I have already determined to learn more.

[Larry Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspective of Merton as a writer by a writer.

[Erika Kraus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this in the giveaway! This novel opened my eyes to heartwarming feelings and perspectives on life.

[Bob Koshin Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insights

This is one of the most personal books on Merton. Her insights allows one to think of ones own spiritual journey or path. Merton is presented as real. Many thanks!

[Emily]

New and interesting view of Thomas Merton's personal life.
Never can go wrong reading one of Mary Gordon's book.

[Maureen]

Couldn’t get into this one at this time.

[Craig Bergland · Rating 4 out of 5]

We need to give the author a break because trying to write about Merton as a writer is rather like writing about Picasso as a chef, yet this is the assignment she drew - and she performed admirably. Some of her criticism of Morton's theological writing seemed to me rooted in (1) the fact that his theology is profound and (2) the fact that much of it was not necessarily written for the average lay person. I'm not sure that's really fair. On the other hand, her treatment of his journals was insightful and quite moving. This book is a different perspective on Merton, and in many ways it is refreshing!

[Pam Cipkowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very personal look at Thomas Merton, as author Mary Gordon strives to discover the answer to the question, “What kind of writer was he?” Gordon examines Merton’s letters, autobiography, and journals, and his book My Argument with the Gestapo (the inclusion of this section was puzzling to me). There is no real narrative here: It is a series of somewhat choppy observations that seem to jump quickly from subject to subject. I see it as a bit startling for the casual reader to pick up, and it is definitely not for readers who are new to Merton. Some interesting observations, but a little too limited in scope for the reader seeking a wider view and more inspirational take on Merton. I received an advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review of this title.

[Peter Reczek · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting new take on the life and writing of Thomas Merton by a fellow writer. Different perspective with a flair for the "everyday" of this famous monk