In 1962, at age seventeen, Karen Armstrong entered a convent, eager to meet God. After seven brutally unhappy years as a nun, she left her order to pursue English literature at Oxford. But convent life had profoundly altered her, and coping with the outside world and her expiring faith proved to be excruciating. Her deep solitude and a terrifying illness–diagnosed only years later as epilepsy–marked her forever as an outsider. In her own mind she was a complete failure: as a nun, ... (show more)
In 1962, at age seventeen, Karen Armstrong entered a convent, eager to meet God. After seven brutally unhappy years as a nun, she left her order to pursue English literature at Oxford. But convent life had profoundly altered her, and coping with the outside world and her expiring faith proved to be excruciating. Her deep solitude and a terrifying illness–diagnosed only years later as epilepsy–marked her forever as an outsider. In her own mind she was a complete failure: as a nun, as an academic, and as a normal woman capable of intimacy. Her future seemed very much in question until she stumbled into comparative theology. What she found, in learning, thinking, and writing about other religions, was the ecstasy and transcendence she had never felt as a nun. Gripping, revelatory, and inspirational, The Spiral Staircase is an extraordinary account of an astonishing spiritual journey. (show less)
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Oh, darn it. I am trying to read through books that I don't plan to keep in order to lighten the load on my shelves. I was really enjoying this w... (show more)
Oh, darn it. I am trying to read through books that I don't plan to keep in order to lighten the load on my shelves. I was really enjoying this work, which is an entertaining, touching memoir that spans perhaps 25 years post-covent life of the author (heavy on the beginning years--the end races). It kept my interest and I was glad to be reading it and learning about the author's internal and external struggles with religion, the world, other people, academia, etc.
And then, late last night, I was racing toward the last page...and WHAM. 15 pages from the end, as she talks about her (then-)current state of spiritual belief, she began to resonate so strongly with a lot of where I am spiritually that I haven't been able to verbalize. Darn it...another keeper. :-)
I know this is more about me than an actual review, so: My recommendation to those who look at this is to read the back cover as well as the front. To me the front, if you know nothing about the author or the work, gives the impression that she DID suffer from some form of mental illness/mood disorder; the back clarifies more of what her journey was (Including undiagnosed epilepsy). In my defense, I don't usually acquire books without checking them out a LITTLE more thoroughly, but I'm pretty sure I picked this up on a freebie shelf. I certainly don't remember buying it. But however it came here, I'm so glad I read it! (show less)
Too long and rather dreary. Some of the detail about life after leaving the convent held my interest, but not enough to get all the way through th... (show more)
Too long and rather dreary. Some of the detail about life after leaving the convent held my interest, but not enough to get all the way through this supremely long chronicle. My limited interest in the subject would have been better served with a shorter, more succinct work. (show less)
"The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness" by Karen Armstrong, is one of the very best books I've read...ever. The book is not at all about grief or bereavement, but has helped me more than anything else has in my daily coping. Everyone is not going to relate to its content in the same way I have. It's worth picking it up to see what you might find in it. I loved her themes and she uses my favorite theological concept and pratice--empathy. She also advocates how compassion is ... (show more)
"The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness" by Karen Armstrong, is one of the very best books I've read...ever. The book is not at all about grief or bereavement, but has helped me more than anything else has in my daily coping. Everyone is not going to relate to its content in the same way I have. It's worth picking it up to see what you might find in it. I loved her themes and she uses my favorite theological concept and pratice--empathy. She also advocates how compassion is a gateway to understanding people of all walks of life. Perhaps this is nothing new, but it is something we don't put into pratice. "Compassion," she writes, is the litmus test....for Jesus for Paul...." And the more compassionate we are, the more it transforms us. Before the end of our lives, that's what has to happen--transformation, growth, conversion. It is easy to read and filled with so much good information and good ideas. Please check it out! (show less)
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This book was recommended to me by a fellow book worm with excellent taste in books. That said, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. I was horrified by Karen Armstong's experiences as a postulant in a convent. I frequently found myself wondering if nuns I knew in Catholic schooling felt as subjugated as Armstong did. I was horrified by the convent's unwillingness to accept actual physical or mental conditions as the reason for Armstrong and her friend's confusing ailments. The beginning of t... (show more)
This book was recommended to me by a fellow book worm with excellent taste in books. That said, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. I was horrified by Karen Armstong's experiences as a postulant in a convent. I frequently found myself wondering if nuns I knew in Catholic schooling felt as subjugated as Armstong did. I was horrified by the convent's unwillingness to accept actual physical or mental conditions as the reason for Armstrong and her friend's confusing ailments. The beginning of the book focuses entirely on the convent chapter of Armstrong's life. I admit that I am hardly sure what to make of that portion, and am still processing it in my mind.
The second portion of the book focuses on her path to healing, which includes an actual diagnosis of her ailment, as well as her own coming to terms with faith, both Catholic and non-Catholic. Her conculsions about faith and religion were so thought provoking that I intend to read more of her works. I'd recommend this for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. (show less)
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