Dakota: A Spiritual Geography

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Summary: Come along on a spiritual journey through time and place.
Review: Kathleen Norris does nore in this book than even she is aware. Living in a small town in the midwest, I found myself sharing many of Norris' sentiments. My weather reports would be different, but the barometer of the soul reads very much the same wherever we live. Many people search for communities, places and spaces where they can be truly at home, and where the spirit can be nourished and enriched. I was sorry when I reached the last page of this book, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on another by Kathleen Norris.

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful, deliberate book of faith
Review: Kathleen Norris is the author of Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, and The Cloister Walk. She is a poet. Dakota was her first work of nonfiction/memoir. Having read both Amazing Grace and The Cloister Walk, I had an idea of what to expect from Norris's work. She writes deeply personal and deeply spiritual books. Dakota has the same type of feel to it, but the location and the subject is different.

Kathleen Norris's past lay in western South Dakota, but for twenty years she had abandoned both her faith as well has her history. She went to school in New York but decides to move back to Lemmon, SD with her husband. Her book is subtitled "A Spiritual Geography". She writes early on that geography comes from the words for earth and writing, and so knowing that this is a spiritual geography we immediately know that this is a spiritual discussion of the Dakotas, as well as also being about Norris herself.

Norris writes about small town life and small town church, and a semi-history of the town of Lemmon. Since most of the details are told in anecdote, it makes things easier to read. One thing that struck me was how she was comparing monastic life to small town faith and how much things tied together like that. The focus on monastic life and on monks is a theme and a topic that will run throughout the book as well as into her subsequent books. Kathleen Norris may not have a mainstream Christian faith, but she has a deep reverence and respect for the Christian tradition and faith, especially that which has come from the monasteries.

This is a slow moving, peaceful book. It is thoughtful, intelligent, and moving. It is filled to the brim with a steady faith in Christ and in some ways, it moves like time spent in a monastery. I don't know if this sounds like a recommendation, but it is meant to be. I found Dakota to be very interesting and along with Dakota, I would recommend Norris's later book: Amazing Grace.

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful, deliberate book of faith
Review: Kathleen Norris is the author of Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, and The Cloister Walk. She is a poet. Dakota was her first work of nonfiction/memoir. Having read both Amazing Grace and The Cloister Walk, I had an idea of what to expect from Norris's work. She writes deeply personal and deeply spiritual books. Dakota has the same type of feel to it, but the location and the subject is different.

Kathleen Norris's past lay in western South Dakota, but for twenty years she had abandoned both her faith as well has her history. She went to school in New York but decides to move back to Lemmon, SD with her husband. Her book is subtitled "A Spiritual Geography". She writes early on that geography comes from the words for earth and writing, and so knowing that this is a spiritual geography we immediately know that this is a spiritual discussion of the Dakotas, as well as also being about Norris herself.

Norris writes about small town life and small town church, and a semi-history of the town of Lemmon. Since most of the details are told in anecdote, it makes things easier to read. One thing that struck me was how she was comparing monastic life to small town faith and how much things tied together like that. The focus on monastic life and on monks is a theme and a topic that will run throughout the book as well as into her subsequent books. Kathleen Norris may not have a mainstream Christian faith, but she has a deep reverence and respect for the Christian tradition and faith, especially that which has come from the monasteries.

This is a slow moving, peaceful book. It is thoughtful, intelligent, and moving. It is filled to the brim with a steady faith in Christ and in some ways, it moves like time spent in a monastery. I don't know if this sounds like a recommendation, but it is meant to be. I found Dakota to be very interesting and along with Dakota, I would recommend Norris's later book: Amazing Grace.

Rating:
Summary: Profound view of God in relation to everyday life
Review: Kathleen Norris shares her feelings, beliefs and experiences about God and religion in a way that almost anyone can understand and relate to. Her descriptions of the Benedictine monestaries and the people who inhabit them are so rich and enjoyable, it makes one wonder why anyone would ever pick up a People magazine again! Her descriptions of the Dakota area and the people and their problems are magnificent. I have read most of her books, but Dakota is my favorite. I have given many copies to friends.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, compelling, and worth reading!
Review: Kathleen Norris's "Dakota" is truly a masterpiece. Instead of a traditional novel, she keeps a journal which includes thematic motifs, analyses of geography and people, short vignettes, and--as always--insightful illumination into her relationship with God as defined by her oblate status to the Benedictine order. Spiritual, haunting, and DEEP. It doesn't flow smoothly--she chooses to randomly change the format of her narrative--but with this is the small-town charm that both she--and her book--lovingly possess.

Rating:
Summary: This book rings true
Review: My grandparents live about 30 miles from Lemmon, SD (the setting of Norris's memoir). I was overwhelmed at times while reading Dakota: A spiritual Geography. She has portrayed the people as only an insider/outsider can -- seeing both the faults and the strengths of a small midwestern town. What touched me more than anything, however, was her portrayal of the land. This beautiful, striking, and awe inspiring landscape is brought to life by Norris. I had tears in my eyes while reading and felt pangs of homesickness. Dakota can be a slow read, but it is a beautiful book.

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Greatest Quiet Books
Review: Norris is quite amazing, having overcome the natural fault of looking at the world through her previous pre-conceptions...i.e., a New Yorker who just has to comment on how different real small town life is. She is one of the few who can actually convey the essence of a small town (and her credibility is strengthened by her fair mention of both pros and cons).

My Dad had an uncle who homesteaded in Lemon, SD (where Norris lives) and I spent most summers on my Mom's family's ranch on the James River. Norris helped me understand what all those years were really about.

The stark spirituality of her monastic experiences are powerful. This is why the book is not a slow read (as many have commented)....it is a quiet read.....and from that forgotten strength in our busy world, this book is a remarkable refuge.

Read this in quiet.....understand small town life on the starkly beautiful great northern plains......and become a better person for the time you give Norris' writing. I predict you will find another small piece to the puzzle of where you fit into the great scheme of things....whether it be your religious beliefs or your sense of history, geography, art, or self....it's in there and she will help you to reach it in her own quiet and mysterious way.

Rating:
Summary: Long-winded, empty in places, but interesting
Review: Norris spends an inordinate amount of time dealing with the idea of 'space' and 'place' in our lives, using a range of religious ideas. Most of the book covers the awareness of large, scantily-peopled regions, and in 200 pages she manages to get about half as far as Jill Ker Conway did in about 1.5 chapters of "The Road from Coorain". (A far better exposition of living in large spaces by someone who REALLY did!)

An interesting book for city people who want to understand life outside the big towns, in a religious manner. There is some insight into the concept of the inner peace that religion can bring, and a good connection back to the ideas of spaces and places. But you bring the religion in yourself to these places and then find it, rather than it being part of the landscape. The landscape just helps you find what you brought along.

This book is more a spiritual exploration that just happens to use the Dakotas as a 'mantra' to help focus concentration. But you can do that in the big city, if you wish to. Like the Dakotas, there are lots of regions sparsely populated (by ideas), a degree of long-windedness, and a sense of the obvious (if you have ever really lived in wide-open spaces). It is closer to a Geographical Spirituality, than a Spiritual Geography!

Rating:
Summary: Insightful and honest.
Review: Norris' book has brought a new perspective to my ministry as a local pastor in a small, southern Ohio town. I'm able to see more of God now.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, truly inspiring book!
Review: Read this book and be refreshed and delightfully surprised!