An intriguing collection of thoughts and impressions that offer a rare glimpse into a solitary life.
A Trappist monk reflects on such subjects as spirituality and the daily minutiae of monastic life in a series of journal entries spanning more than half a century.
Quenon has spent the last six-and-a-half decades as a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. Having authored multiple other works, including In Praise of the Useless Life (2018) and the poetry book Unquiet Vigil (2014), he now offers pages from his journals, which he’s divided into five parts spanning from 1970 to 2022, and added footnotes to provide additional context and definitions of terms that may be unfamiliar to readers. Some accounts are highly personal, such as one of the death of his twin sister in 1995, while other musings are more philosophical and esoteric, as in this entry from 1993: “The act of wanting belongs to the idiom of the ego….Beyond that is a desire which is not set by the ego or derived from self-knowledge in the usual sense of the word. On that deeper level, I do not know what I want, in terms of a clear definition of a goal. I only know that I do want and even that is not always clear to me.” Overall, the author offers a unique mix of reminiscences, philosophical musings, and historical connections, as when he presents his impressions of the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Throughout, Quenon makes the disparate parts of his unique life feel universal by regularly including events that will be relatable to people outside the monastery. Some passages, such as his middle-of-the-night thought that “God is not the predator but the prey,” may befuddle more than enlighten, but most observations—including his wry comments on mass consumerism or his ideas regarding connections between Taoism founder Lao Tzu and Jesus—contribute to the work’s accessibility.
An intriguing collection of thoughts and impressions that offer a rare glimpse into a solitary life.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781958972410
Page Count: 166
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.
An examination of how the U.S. can revitalize its commitment to freedom.
In this ambitious study, Snyder, author of On Tyranny, The Road to Unfreedom, and other books, explores how American freedom might be reconceived not simply in negative terms—as freedom from coercion, especially by the state—but positive ones: the freedom to develop our human potential within sustaining communal structures. The author blends extensive personal reflections on his own evolving understanding of liberty with definitions of the concept by a range of philosophers, historians, politicians, and social activists. Americans, he explains, often wrongly assume that freedom simply means the removal of some barrier: “An individual is free, we think, when the government is out of the way. Negative freedom is our common sense.” In his careful and impassioned description of the profound implications of this conceptual limitation, Snyder provides a compelling account of the circumstances necessary for the realization of positive freedom, along with a set of detailed recommendations for specific sociopolitical reforms and policy initiatives. “We have to see freedom as positive, as beginning from virtues, as shared among people, and as built into institutions,” he writes. The author argues that it’s absurd to think of government as the enemy of freedom; instead, we ought to reimagine how a strong government might focus on creating the appropriate conditions for human flourishing and genuine liberty. Another essential and overlooked element of freedom is the fostering of a culture of solidarity, in which an awareness of and concern for the disadvantaged becomes a guiding virtue. Particularly striking and persuasive are the sections devoted to eviscerating the false promises of libertarianism, exposing the brutal injustices of the nation’s penitentiaries, and documenting the wide-ranging pathologies that flow from a tax system favoring the ultrawealthy.
An incisive, urgently relevant analysis of—and call to action on—America’s foundational ideal.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780593728727
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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