Rating: 
Summary: A reader from Richmond, VA
Review: This book has much spiritual insight in that it is balanced. It strikes a balance between reality and the limitations of humanity and the struggle for divine relationship. It challenges one to go higher while accepting oneself right where that person may be, since God accepts one right where they are.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Piece of Work
Review: This is actually the first time I have FINISHED a Thomas Merton book- not to say I do not find him normally interesting- actually it's the opposite. When I had been reading Merton's "New Seeds of Contemplation" a few years back, I was very confused. Confused in a good way- because it forced a lot of deep questions to arise within me. So much so that I never seemed to actually get anywhere with the reading.But Thoughts in Solitude has a different flavor to it- do not get me wrong- it is still that extremely contemplative and philosophical Merton everyone loves. But it has a feeling about it that it's more- refined- or perhaps relaxed would be the word I am looking for. I think it is important to point out that I am actually a Zen Buddhist, but this sort of view on God that Merton has- is not to far askew from my own. Though I simply don't "make that word God" from the get go. But all in all, Merton shows us one of his best works in this book. The words simply jump out at the reader, they are alive with the food so many of our spiritual lives stomachs are craving for. So order this book. When it arrives, kick off them shoes, put on that REGULAR coffee, maybe run some bathwater- and relax! You will absolutely enjoy this book. The type of book that could be written actually nowhere else but a monastery if you ask me. It has an, "This was meant to be private"- kind of feel to it. But that's just Merton at his best-I doubt there is any real intrusion on our, the reader's part. Anyway I hope you enjoy the book;)
Rating: 
Summary: too christian
Review: This slender book is one of Merton's best. It contains several brief, luminous, sound, quiet, humble essays and observations gleaned from the labours, prayers, and extensive reading of this century's most prominent and perhaps most mercurial Trappist monk. The tone is sedate. It is loyal to the ecclesia, and contains the unmistakable Merton note: the apologia for solitude as the mother of contemplation, prayer, wisdom, and holy hope. Confident without being preachy, serene without being quietistic or dull, not at all contaminated with the ephemera of politics or with complaints against the rigours of his chosen life, THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE is an excellent place for the new Merton explorer to begin, and a very good place for the veteran spiritual reader to return from time to time: each essay (or prayer) scarcely more than a few paragraphs, sometimes only one paragraph, is a kind of haven from the tumult of the world that can be frequently "too much with us." Merton cautions against, and is wise to caution against, a misanthropy or a cowardice that calls itself religious solitude, because we can come to know, and do come to know God through our neighbours, as uncomely and annoying as some of them are at times (my words, not Merton's)! He relates humility to listening, relates reading to prayer, and relates all things to God. The temptation to quote is overwhelming, but we will leave it to the readers to select their favourite passages. (Section X of part two is a lovely prayer, indeed.) There are more than a few uncritical readers of Merton, "Mertonolaters" if you will, who praise his writing and his thinking in a fashion that would perhaps embarrass the monk himself. But this fine book, written before the many distractions of his later years, truly does merit the generous praise that it has received here and elsewhere. Is it the work of "a joyful Christian"? Joy, as we think of it, is maybe not the salient note; but rather, peace, freedom from confusion, and the true desire to love God on the part of an often restless spirit. Close relatives of joy, wouldn't you say?
Rating: 
Summary: 37 Lucid Meditations on the Spiritual Life
Review: This slender book is one of Merton's best. It contains several brief, luminous, sound, quiet, humble essays and observations gleaned from the labours, prayers, and extensive reading of this century's most prominent and perhaps most mercurial Trappist monk. The tone is sedate. It is loyal to the ecclesia, and contains the unmistakable Merton note: the apologia for solitude as the mother of contemplation, prayer, wisdom, and holy hope. Confident without being preachy, serene without being quietistic or dull, not at all contaminated with the ephemera of politics or with complaints against the rigours of his chosen life, THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE is an excellent place for the new Merton explorer to begin, and a very good place for the veteran spiritual reader to return from time to time: each essay (or prayer) scarcely more than a few paragraphs, sometimes only one paragraph, is a kind of haven from the tumult of the world that can be frequently "too much with us." Merton cautions against, and is wise to caution against, a misanthropy or a cowardice that calls itself religious solitude, because we can come to know, and do come to know God through our neighbours, as uncomely and annoying as some of them are at times (my words, not Merton's)! He relates humility to listening, relates reading to prayer, and relates all things to God. The temptation to quote is overwhelming, but we will leave it to the readers to select their favourite passages. (Section X of part two is a lovely prayer, indeed.) There are more than a few uncritical readers of Merton, "Mertonolaters" if you will, who praise his writing and his thinking in a fashion that would perhaps embarrass the monk himself. But this fine book, written before the many distractions of his later years, truly does merit the generous praise that it has received here and elsewhere. Is it the work of "a joyful Christian"? Joy, as we think of it, is maybe not the salient note; but rather, peace, freedom from confusion, and the true desire to love God on the part of an often restless spirit. Close relatives of joy, wouldn't you say?
Rating:
Summary: An Elixir for our Age of Anxiety
Review: Thomas Merton writes words that, in their simplicity and honesty and clarity, point humanity to a more holistic idea of what it means to be spiritual. As Merton says, "The spiritual life is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived." By focusing on the power we can gain from a deeper understanding of poverty, humility, solitude, prayer, Scripture, and love, Merton shows us that it is not enough to live "for God" or "with God," but "in God alone," and in Him we find ourselves and our inalienable spirituality. We can discover that to love God with a human heart is enough, for that is what Jesus did and died for, that we may do the same: love God and our fellow man not as angels or demi-gods or as a pure intellect, but as the humans God made in His own image.
Rating:
Summary: An Elixir for our Age of Anxiety
Review: Thomas Merton writes words that, in their simplicity and honesty and clarity, point humanity to a more holistic idea of what it means to be spiritual. As Merton says, "The spiritual life is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived." By focusing on the power we can gain from a deeper understanding of poverty, humility, solitude, prayer, Scripture, and love, Merton shows us that it is not enough to live "for God" or "with God," but "in God alone," and in Him we find ourselves and our inalienable spirituality. We can discover that to love God with a human heart is enough, for that is what Jesus did and died for, that we may do the same: love God and our fellow man not as angels or demi-gods or as a pure intellect, but as the humans God made in His own image.
Rating:
Summary: This is a beautiful little book.
Review: Thoughts in Solitude, by Thomas Merton, is a beautiful little book with musings and insights which come out of his life as a contemplative monk. One thing I love about Merton - and this book - is that it breathes solitude - slow, reflective, thoughtful, quiet solitude. Merton knows what we ALL should know - that Reality can only be ascertained from a silence and stillness of being. This Reality - the reality of God and of one's Self - is the groundwork for proper action or speech in the world. Far from fleeing one's duties, one only discovers them properly if one has incorporated this into one's life. He speaks of the things that are most useful precisely because they are useless to man, the silence that penetrates the very bones of a monk, the discovery of Self and of God by leaving self and over-externality. One finds one's Self by losing one's self, one speaks with meaning by being silent, one finds God by renouncing gods. The spiritual life IS a contradiction from a worldly standpoint. He who is last shall be first, he who is most mature shall become like a child, he who has nothing shall have everything. The discovery of God and one's Self is a stripping away - not an accumulation, a receptivity, not an overwhelming. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A voice of peace that can be heard above our noise
Review: To defend the spirit against what Merton calls "the murderous din of our materialism", we must learn to live in solitude. But true solitary life is not a withdrawal from society: on the contrary, it is the only way to become social in the fullest sense, because through solitude we come to comprehend God's profound love for us, so that we can love other men in imitation and reverence of Him. Of the many themes Merton emphasizes in explaining true solitude, gratitude and humility are perhaps the most important. To live in solitude is to be without attachment to material things, personal relationships, or even spiritual accomplishment. Therefore solitude is a life of utter poverty and humility: our entire lives are a gift to God. Through this act we discover that nothing is due us, and our lives become an ongoing prayer of gratitude for whatever gifts we receive. For the true solitary, actions are far more important than thoughts, because, as Merton points out, if our ideas are not reflected in our actions, we do not really think them. If we do not follow our true vocation our lives will be choked by internal conflict between what we are called to do and what we actually do. Or worse, we may avoid the problem by ignoring our spiritual condition. Merton's commentary is highly relevant to all who care about their spiritual condition, and all who seek God in the murderous din.
Rating:
Summary: A voice of peace that can be heard above our noise
Review: To defend the spirit against what Merton calls "the murderous din of our materialism", we must learn to live in solitude. But true solitary life is not a withdrawal from society: on the contrary, it is the only way to become social in the fullest sense, because through solitude we come to comprehend God's profound love for us, so that we can love other men in imitation and reverence of Him. Of the many themes Merton emphasizes in explaining true solitude, gratitude and humility are perhaps the most important. To live in solitude is to be without attachment to material things, personal relationships, or even spiritual accomplishment. Therefore solitude is a life of utter poverty and humility: our entire lives are a gift to God. Through this act we discover that nothing is due us, and our lives become an ongoing prayer of gratitude for whatever gifts we receive. For the true solitary, actions are far more important than thoughts, because, as Merton points out, if our ideas are not reflected in our actions, we do not really think them. If we do not follow our true vocation our lives will be choked by internal conflict between what we are called to do and what we actually do. Or worse, we may avoid the problem by ignoring our spiritual condition. Merton's commentary is highly relevant to all who care about their spiritual condition, and all who seek God in the murderous din.
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