Customer Reviews
A Snapshot of a Time - By: Mark Twain, 27 Jan 2008 
This book was for me a gift from God as I am considering that type of vocation & this book gave me a glimpse into what it is like. Although the book is looking back to a timein the 1960s before the church began to modernize as a result of Vatican II it is recent enough for the reader to identify with each the monks as modern peoplein a very challenging environment.
The Carthusian Experience - By: M. A. Ramos, 07 Oct 2007 In this book we follow five men as they enter the Parkminster, England's only Carthusian Charterhouse,in 1960. We are given a rare glimpse inside Saint Hugh's & the life of the Carthusian monks. The author has done a fantastic job at being allowed to look inside & share what she learned with us.
We follow these five men as they apply to become a member at Parkminsiter & what it takes to become a Solemn Professed Carthusian. They share their thoughts & feelings as they progressin their vocation. And their hopes & fears are laid out for us to see. What it takes to stay & the strength required leaving.
I felt I was living those years with these men as they sought God. How hard & rewarding the solitary lifestylein a community of hermits really is. And how few are truly called to this life. I felt that nothing was hidden from the reader. We are given an honest & clear view of the life. And we even get a summary forty years later from both those who succeededin the life & those who left.
I got the book today & read itin 4 hours. I could not put it down. If you ever thought this was the life for you, this is a must read.
Silence and solitude - By: Tilly Valle, 12 Sep 2007 I first heard of the Carthusians whilst reading about Thomas More. He spent three years with them & considered joining them before realising that his vocation lay elsewhere. I remember the passagein the book that told of his standing by the window of his cellin the Tower of London, watching the monks he knew from the Charterhouse being 'drawn' behind horses to their agonising deaths for their refusal to swear agreement to the act making Henry VIII head of the churchin England. More's comment to his daughter Margaret was that they were going to their wedding feast.
I found this book fascinating, but more than that I got so involved with the experiences of each of the novices it almost felt like an intrusion! The struggles, spiritual, mental & physical of these young men seeking to know Godin a way that they all felt strongly called to are sensitively & honestly shared & I felt very privileged to be allowed inside the Charterhouse.
Many are called but few are chosen - By: Siriam, 03 Sep 2007 I have to admit to an historic link with Parkminster (the location of this book) & the monasteryin Switzerland through professional work not religiousin the 1980s. My dealings with one of the monks named (Dom Bruno Sullivan) entailed a one day visit to Parkminster & the memory still lives with me (the bus trip into the middle of forest land from Worthing after a train ride from Victoria station & the long walk from the bus stop to the Carthusian abbey gate to ring the bell to gain entry are exactly as depictedin the book). The photo contained of the two floor library with all its old priceless editions of religious books was one of my fondest memories during my visit.
But this book is much more than just story telling - it is a well recorded journey of how five novicesin the early 1960s took the step close togetherin time to enter Parkminster to see if they had sufficient spiritual vocation to be able to remain for lifein a virtually silent contemplative religious order where monks, brothers & novices spend most of their timein their private cells praying or involvedin solo activity, mainly leaving their cells to only participatein set daily services with the rest of the Order. The repetitive daily routines little changed from the Middle Ages with no major routine changes exceptin diet & religious prayer when holy feast days arise, would be a test of anyone's spirit. The fact few made it through the five years to becoming a monk did not leave any of those failing as bitter - rather they saw it subsequently when the author contacted them recently as the high point of their lives.
What makes this book so exceptional is thatin covering a very private & personal approach to religious life where the inward thoughts & emotions are everything, is all accurately captured by the writer, herself a lady married to one of the ex-novices. Over the nearly seven years writing the book she was surprised at the level of openess & honesty she encountered both with the ex-novices & the monks currently still at Parkminster. She also is able to balance the personal stories with the history of the Order, the Order's approach & administrationin their chosen life & the wider context within the Catholic church.
Overall she writes lucidly & keeps your interest - never oncein the 240 odd pages did I find the lack of action or her coverage of the simple repetitiveness of the lifestyle boring.
As with the almost contemporary film release "Into great silence" on the French monastery at Grande Chartreuse, one wonders why the Order has decided to open itself upin this way at this pointin time but we are certainly the richer for the knowledge gained as a consequence.
What type of person is drawn to an austere monastery and why? - By: Jacqueline L. Brown, 12 Apr 2007 A two-year commitmentin mountain wildernessin the French Alps; could you do it? Would you be votedin to remain for the rest of your life?
Find out how Nancy Klein Maguire was able to personally enter into their
world - a world of only menin an existence of bare necessities! It started with her husband who had experienced it as a sincere Novicein search of a spiritual struggle. Is it like an addiction? Why are they
letting herin now to study & expose their way of life? Some answers are given - other questions are posed. This is an excellent backgroud to the latest movie about the Carthusians, "INTO GREAT SILENCE."
Jacqueline Brown, lover of unusual books
