Rating: 
Summary: A Work of Amazing Religious Maturity - A MUST READ!
Review: Karen Armstrong is -- here's the word again -- an amazing woman. Having read all of her other books with the exception of her autobiographies, I envisioned a solid academic, with cadres of graduate students pulling together masses of data for her review. No -- Armstrong is a theological autodidact! Her personal religious and spiritual journey has, to paraphrase one of her favorites, T. S. Eliot, said, led her to where she started only to know it for the first time. The God she ran from as a young adult has come to greet her in a very different form -- but I'll leave the specifics of this reverse quest for you to discover for yourself.Where her earlier work was clever and provocative, Armstrong has matured into one of the most thoughtful liberal religious writers of our day. She recognizes that the world cannot be healed without dialogue, and that you cannot have dialogue without running the risk that YOU may be changed. "It is not enough to understand other people's beliefs, rituals, and ethical practices intellectually," Armstrong says. "You have to feel them too and make an imaginative, though disciplined, identification." (p. 290. As one might expect from the breadth of her writings, Armstrong draws from the wells of myriad religious traditions, identifying what this reviewer believes to be the enduring truth, the thread that unities all genuine religious searching. She learns from her own varied experiences, grows from adversity (e.g. a failed PhD thesis; years of undiagnosed epilepsy; and, of course, her much-noted years as a Catholic religious) and confronts both herself and her culture with unfailing honesty. Although Armstrong is far from the end of her journey (one hopes), she has adopted a theology of orthopraxy, which draws her into authentic living, honoring and accepting both weaknesses and strengths. Armstrong attempts to ground her life in the conviction that "compassion is a habit of mind that is transforming. . . You have to be prepared to extend your compassionate interests where there is no hope of a return." This reviewer is particularly delighted by her conclusion, based on her exhaustive research of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, that "fundamentalist movements distort the tradition they are trying to defend by emphasizing the belligerent elements in their tradition and overlooking the insistent and crucial demand for compassion." (p. 295) These points and many others, emerge in the theological commentary that forms the final chapter in this book. This chapter alone could form the basis for several month's active discussion. If you read no other spiritual or religious work this year -- make it this chapter. But be warned -- Armstrong's honest exploration can be dangerous to your complacency!
Rating: 
Summary: May I suggest
Review: Karen Armstrong is a good writer. But when you get right down to it, she is wishy-washy. She can't seem to make up her mind. She wants the trappings of faith without commitment, scholarship without dedication, and belief without God. I am sorry, but you can't have it both ways. A much better and intellectually more honest title for Armstrong's book would be: "Can't Make Up My Mind". Or "How to Pretend: A Skeptical Believer". Don't waste your time on "The Spiral Staircase". Take the time instead to read Dorothy Day's "The Long Loneliness" or "Surprised by Joy" by C.S. Lewis.
Rating:
Summary: An intensely personal journey in religion and life
Review: Karen Armstrong is one of the most respected writers on religion today. Her books have served as guides to the three major monotheistic religions. She has also written movingly of her years as a nun and her failed attempts at adjusting to the cloistered life ("Through the Narrow Gate"). In "The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness," she writes about her adjustment to the world outside the convent and about how she came to be who she is today. This is her second book on the subject ("Beginning the World," published in 1983, is now out of print), and, as she states in her introduction, she considers her first book "a mistake" and not entirely true to what happened in her life. Thus, many years later, she has corrected the record by writing "The Spiral Staircase."
Armstrong takes her title from T.S. Eliot's poem, "Ash Wednesday." Its image of the poet climbing a spiral staircase and coming around again to a new place, a new level of understanding that is yet the same is very effective in Armstrong's hands. Her life, as she describes it, was one of trying to make a place for herself, striking out in new direction,s finding doors "slammed in her face" and yet coming around again to a place where she belongs. Before she established herself as a serious writer on religion, Armstrong variously tried academia, high school teaching, and television work. In all of her attempts, she was undermined by what eventually turned out to be a long-standing and worsening case of frontal lobe epilepsy. Her symptoms had been dismissed by the nuns as personal weakness and ignored by several psychotherapists. Only when it was finally diagnosed and properly treated could Armstrong come to terms with herself spiritually and emotionally and achieve some peace. Armstrong's discussions of this and her sense of distance from the world around her are both fascinating and moving. "The Spiral Staircase" is an illuminating read for anyone interested in the effects of a chronic untreated seizure disorder on the psyche.
To me, the most interesting part of the book was the last third. Much of the first two thirds had been about how Armstrong had lost her faith, changing from a woman with a great longing to experience the divine to one who was convinced that it didn't exist. The last section concerned how, as she was exposed to the theology and practice of various faiths, she gradually got her own faith back, although in a slightly different form. As Armstrong notes, the three monotheistic religions agree that God transcends any human attempts at categorization She began to see the similarities between religions and to see faith less as unquestioning belief in an objective set of facts about God more as practice which leads both to an experience of the Divine within the human psyche and to compassion in our experience of the world.. There is much wisdom in this approach,and my description does justice to neither Armstrong's discussion nor the religious traditions on which she draws. "The Spiral Staircase" is a beautiful book, and one that should be read by all in search of the Divine in their own lives.
Rating:
Summary: ENCOURAGING AND INSPIRATIONAL
Review: Karen Armstrong speaks to the seekers - seekers of truth, seekers of wisdom, and those who are engaged in a search for God. It's a given that we learn from the lives of others. Yet few have experienced this author's profound spiritual journey and been able to share it so articulately. It is not that her powerful story needs added luster for it stands alone. Yet, hearing this reading in her voice does very much enrich the listener's experience. In addition, it is well worth replaying - a journey one would wish to hear related again and again. For those not familiar with her best-selling hardcover book, Ms. Armstrong spent 7 years in a Roman Catholic convent. She left that protected place in 1969, deeply disappointed that she had not found God there. The world she reentered was vastly changed, and she fell prey to panic attacks and inexplicable seizures - enough to terrify the bravest soul. She turned to psychiatry for help but that was a dead-end; her search for work was fruitless. At last, in 1976, it was found that she had epilepsy and she received appropriate care. Next, she turned to writing and an exploration of faiths other than Christianity, much to the benefit of a world anxious for words of reassurance. She is not only a role model but a splendid teacher as well. All who listen to her words are her beneficiaries.
- Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Karen Armstrong
Review: KAren Armstrong would have you believe that she is God's least favorite. Constantly blaming her place in life on God. She is so busy complaining on all the things that she does not have, that she does not see all that she is blessed with. Her ability to tell a story is beautiful and I would have loved this story if she would have been grateful for such a gift, but she is not. Her life was difficult and she faced many medical problems, and all she can do is blame a God that she feels has left the world.
If you are looking to read a book that renews your faith in the human sprit and its ability to overcome tradgedy, do not read this one. Read about HElen Keller, or Christy Brown (author of my left foot)
Right in front of Karen, was a boy, who was a true tragedy, and she acts as if he was put on the earth to entertain her. She does not once see that her troubles are so tiny compared with his. She complains about living on the outside, not fully being accepted into society. Imagine if she was born with his difficulties, she would have given everything to be in her position, and all she can do is complain. If I want to hear a pity party, and read about someone who is convinced that God is against her, and all the world, this is a great book for you.
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Summary: Spiritual journey as winding road
Review: Karen Armstrong's book could be read and analyzed as a text itself. At first the text seems a bit dry. Armstrong is, after all, a true British lady. The style reminds me of other British-empire women, such as Jill Ker Conway. It's a book that demands and rewards close reading, preferably repeated readings over time. I see Spiral Staircase first as a series of ironies. Armstrong clearly was harmed by her stifling convent, but her post-convent encounters with medical and academic systems seem remarkably similar. Her convent superiors believed her "fits" were emotionally based, but so did a series of psychiatrists and physicians. In her first book, Through the Narrow Gate, and again here, Armstrong remembers the time her superior ordered her to practice using a sewing machine without a needle -- a pointless exercise to instill obedience. Yet at Oxford, Armstrong invested three years writing a thesis that would be failed by a prejudiced but powerful examiner. There were no safeguards in the system to prevent a student from embarking on a topic that would be judged inadequate, and even a free-thinking dame valued maintaining the Oxford tradition over righting an injustice. A final irony is that Armstrong's final career was probably made possible by her earlier series of "wrong" choices. Her first book and her experience as a nun probably gave her the "platform" that publishers require for nonfiction. And the experience of old-fashioned convents seems to have brought about many benefits, judging by the success of many ex-nuns. One nun I knew many years ago (who claimed her order was far more enlightened!) pointed out that novitiate training and discipline create a confident, poised woman. Even if she abandons her order and her religion, she's ready to run anything from a convent kitchen to a Fortune 50 corporation. Armstrong's book also illustrates a career path that's far more typical than many career counselors would admit. Her spiral path, which I call a "winding road" in my own articles, shows how serendipity often shapes careers. Armstrong took risks and accepted jobs that developed her skills and created a network. She sees convent, academia, teaching, and television as failures, yet each contributed a piece to her ultimate career mosaic. And parallel to her career quest, she's exploring new ways to think about religion. An epileptic child benefits from religion without beliefs. She discovers Judaism and Islam. Don't miss her quote on pages 270-271: "I have discovered the religious quest is not about discovering 'the truth' or 'the meaning of life' but about living as intensely as possible here and now." You can respond with an "Amen!" or "You bet!" Either would fit the spirit of this thoughtful, worthwhile book.
Rating: 
Summary: She makes you believe a religious life is worth the effort
Review: Karen Armstrong's first memoir, Through the Narrow Gate, ended not long after she acted upon her decision to leave the convent where, after seven years, she had become a skeptical nun. The Spiral Staircase pick up her intellectual and religious questing and brings her devoted readers up to date on the result of her explorations into the nature of God and his/her/? place in our world and lives.
Armstrong garnered many degrees and awards as she pursued a solitary, scholarly life. While she still harbors bitter feelings about how she was treated (and NOT treated, for her epilepsy) within the convent, her life since she left the cloister has been devoted to a style of intellectual live that bears some deep similarity to the routines followed in religious orders - and the irony of this similarity does not escape her. On her lifelong quest, she found herself straying far from orthodox Christianity, delving into the teachings of both Buddhism and Islam - and she has written books on both subjects.
Here's the interesting thing: Lots of modern authors who write memoirs focus with near obsession on their illnesses, disabilities, eating disorders, depression, etc. Armstrong discusses all these issues, too, but while other memorists build them up, Armstrong seems to want to minimize them. What interests her are things she is capable of, not those she is incapable of, and her book's impact is all the richer for her minimalist approach.
This intensely personal book is also an exceedingly solitary book. The only relationship that seems to matter for Karen Armstrong is her relationship with God, a being who, in her view, probably does not exist.
This doesn't stop her from ultimately deciding (with characteristic pragmatism and without retreating from her skepticism), that leading a religious life is worth it, because "Faith is not about belief but about practice...The laws of religion are true because they are life-enhancing."
That's good enough for me.
Rating:
Summary: A life spent searching lands.
Review: Karen Armstrong's most recent book covers her time after leaving the convent, completing her education, and finding her way in the world. I am so very, very thankful to her for her honesty in her spiritual struggles and her own journey. I wish more people would be as honest about their questions. Many people could be helped if we were to nurture a forgiving and gracious culture that allows others to open up, being honest about their failures, mistakes, guilt and questions.
Rating:
Summary: This is a real genius woman writer!
Review: Reading the other reviews of this "real genius woman writer," moved me to place my own perspective. I first came under the profound influence of Karen Armstrong, seeing the Bill Moyer's Video panel on GENESIS. I have yet to ask Prof Brueggemann, on that panel if he agrees with me. In reading "The Narrow Gate," I also had the same suspicion. On seeing her graphically painted pictures of magically described fainting spells, "The smell of bad eggs, an aura of menace, fractured lights, sickness followed by my slide into unconsciousness." Her fainting spells being ignored as a Catholic nun were put down as her unruly emotions! Not only did they happen at unexpected times but combined with a more positive outlook. It was apparent that her bad news of getting knocked back "even God for whom I had searched so long, was simply a product of a faulty brain, a neurological aberration."
She was diagnosed finally by Dr. Wolfe with a mild case of Epilepsy, "which isn't the end of the world, it is even curable if we get it in time!" After her depressing years as a Catholic nun, she entered a darkness of more struggle with opportunities to continue her English Education at Oxford. During three years of teaching English at Bedford Girls' Academy, she was provided with another unusual experience of caring for Jacob, handsome, young son of Jenifer Hart. He was also a victim of Epilepsy, but his more serious and deeper variety. With his irreligious parents request she took him to the Sunday Blackfriars Mass. Later she participated in his Baptism with assuance of the priest that it would give him the necessity of religious structure of education.
Then came an adventure of writing, photographing, filming of the BBC Documentary, "Paul of Tarsus and Jesus of Nazareth." Months of return to her spiritual foundations became instrumental in helping Karen to re-evaluate her faith in God. She found the presence of God to be immanent in our world, even as "the ground of all being, in the depth of the human psyche."
Whenever I take time to share with another person the profound influence of this genius woman writer, I'm overwhelmed by her last chapter. She had been struggling up the steep hill from the London trolley, carrying a bag of heavy groceries, when suddenly comes the thought, "Why not write the biography of God?" That became a remembrance of some early impression of the spirit. Yet maybe only a slight inspiration from the Spirit of the immanent God." A great genius, woman writer, Retired Chap Fred W Hood
Rating:
Summary: A light in the darkness
Review: The first time I ever read a book by Karen Armstrong, I was recovering from a naive conversion to Catholicism. I had taken instruction and joined up, hoping to find a stronger sense of the sacred in my religious experience than I had known previously. After 3 years of trying my best, I was convinced there was something lacking in me. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO WOMAN was so germane to my disappointment and confusion, I almost felt it was divinely sent. When I finally admitted that Roman Catholicism didn't work for me, I was haunted with doubts that I might be spiritually "wishy-washy" (as one other reviewer chose to characterize Ms. Armstrong), but in spite of that, I knew that sticking with a decision made as a teenager that I had come to see was wrong, was just stupid. I still needed to find my way to a relationship with God. I continued to search for a religious position that I could trust for the next 30 years, sometimes coming upon nuggets of gold, often finding nothing but lead, but always growing more intellectually informed, and less spiritually naive. Having travelled a ways down many different religious roads, I was beginning to despair at where my search for faith was taking me. When I picked up Karen Armstrong's latest book, THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE: My Climb out of Darkness, it felt again like divine intervention. Reading her story made me thing that my own turning and turning was not all in vain but a necessary quest to make find my own truth, rather than settling for someone else's. I believe that many have felt the things that Karen Armstrong has felt in her spiritual quest, but few can articulate quite so well and with quite so much academic and personal resonance as she. This book spoke to me on every page and I know that I am better for having read it. There aren't many reading experiences that inspire me to say that. This book may not speak to everyone. Some may not have struggled on the same path, or even struggled at all. Some may feel that she's headed straight to hell--which I doubt she would characterize in quite the same way they do. But for so many of us, this book is a treasure and a light in the darkness. If I could meet her, I would thank her with all my heart for her journey and for her generosity in sharing it so honestly and so well.
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