Confessions of a Pagan Nun

Rating:
Summary: One of the rare literary gifts
Review: There are a few books that i will cherish and reread my entire life and this is certainly one. It captured the inner life of a women who is not too unlike many women i know today myself included, struggling with the same issues: what to belive in, who to be with, if anyone, where do we belong? Ms. Horsley's writing is simple and easy to read yet beautiful and profound in its' message and efficiency. An amazing read and journey.

Rating:
Summary: food for thought
Review: This book is a true treasure. At times I was forced to remember that it was a novel, for Kate Horsley takes the reader on such a splendid, yet at times haunting journey that you think it must be true. For history books are often filled with facts and figuires, yet this, if it were true, puts the feelings and emotions behind the people. I finished this book in 3 days, for I found it very difficult to put down. The novel is of Gwynneve, who writes secretly of the story of her former Pagan life, and the personal day to day dramas at the Order of Saint Brigit at Kildare, who she knew as a Goddess before the "new religion" came along. Yet it seems her Pagan ways never left her. I was captivated by Gwynneve's words and thoughts as much as she herself was. As if at times she is pouring her thoughts out onto her parchment almost as fast as they come to her. I could feel her sorrow when her mother died, her joy at being taken is an apprentice to Giannon the druid, her confusion of the ways of the Christians, even as she lived among them as a nun, trying to follow the new religion. But she did not try too hard, for she was not baptised (her secret which caused her some guilt), and she was so full of questions with no one to give her answers. Yet Gwynneve's questions and inner thoughts are what captivates the reader - for it forces us to stop and think of the answers ourselves. This book is very well researched, and exquisitely written. Kate Horsley has done wonderfully well in bringing these people to life. And I am very greatful for the glossary in the back of the book, which is for the purpose of explaining the definitions of Gaelic words, which have no definite equal in English. My only small complaint of the glossary is there are no pronunciations given. To Kate, I humbly say Thank You.....

Rating:
Summary: Don't hide your pagan roots
Review: This book was one of few that I literally couldn't put down. I was interested when looking at the cover, and even more compelled to read it once I saw the title. How can a book touch on both natural pagan ideals and forced christianity at the same time without turning a reader off. Well this one is now on my top 5 books to read! A must for every pagan to explain how it was so easy for the Celts to accept an alien religion. While showing you how quickly that religion twisted and fell upon them, suffocating every natural ideal they held dear. It is also a good wake up call for christians who deny that they still feel their DEEP pagan roots. The ending is MOST surprising, and not only left me in tears, but also applauding the strength of the main character in the face of adversity. Filled with such truth, and brutality, I'm sure you won't put it down either. Let your pagan blood flow free and follow it!

Rating:
Summary: A new heroine emerges
Review: This is a great little novel, but comes with a warning: after reading it you may never feel the same way about the Christian conversion of the heathens as you did before.
PreChristian Ireland was a bloody field of warfare for rival chieftains, but was not without its own quaint traditions, which even now make the Irish a unique people. In this novel, the heroine, Gwynneve, lives through the stormy days of the Church enforing its doctorine on the pagans, often with cruelty rivaling the chieftains they hoped to tame. The young girl's tales of her simplistic life under her parents' roof is interspersed with her life decades later where she is a nun in a monastery, where she records her memoirs in between copying the ecclesiastical scrolls.
As a young girl Gwynneve attaches herself to a reclusive Druid, Giannon, for years of apprenticeship. Though they share a hut and bed, Giannon is unable to retun her love. When he is taken away after writing satirical plays about his enemies, Gwynneve sets out wandering around Ireland, living by her wits, until she settles at the monastery, a happy home until it is taken over by a deeply disturbed abbot who wants to destroy her. The corruption and cruelty of the eary Church is exposed, as well as the confusion of the populace who would prefer to take the best of the new religion without giving up the old ways. Horsley's writing is interspered with Celtic words and traditions and seems well researched. She resists the urge to moralize and leaves it up the reader to form their own opinions of the people and times. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great insights
Review: This is by far one of the best books I have had the pleasure to read. Ms. Horsley gives great insights into the 5-6th century irish world. A time of the druids and the new religion as well. A changing world of the old and new ways. A time of conflict of faith and world views. Deeply human and full of depth of the spirit.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable Historical Theme...
Review: This small book was a quick read, and gave an interesting look into what life might have been like in the times when druids and monks met on the same ground. I certainly enjoyed the perspective used by this author to bring the reader into the main character's descriptive memory.

The only reason I did not rate this book higher was due to it's predictable storyline. Everything that happens after one significant turning point with our heroine's mentor is obvious before it occurs. The ending is bittersweet, but again, unsurprising and blunt. The reader can wager a guess to the ending after the third or fourth chapter.

Still, all in all, a good book with heart. I'd recommend it, especially to anyone interested in the Celtic life of a woman in the early conversion times.

Rating:
Summary: Mythic and Magical
Review: This was a great book! It was an easy read, but the story was very well written. The story complied events from the present and the past, in relation to the time of the story, which entwined together very well at the end of the story. The characters were very interesting. This is a very good book to read if you enjoy reading stories relation to Druids, Wise Women as well as pagan belifes.

Rating:
Summary: A Rare Sort of Book
Review: When I first picked up this little book, I thought it just another of many novels primarily targeted for Celtic history lovers, and although Celtic history is not especially a draw for me, I was attracted by the courage of its format as a confession of a medieval nun writing clandestinely in a tiny hut within a dreary setting of some desolate outpost of Christianity. How would her story be interesting? Hardly a standard romantic beach read. But her beginning prose had an alluring authenticity, so I bought the book. Well, I just didn't peg it right - the book is just first rate literature period, for Celtic types or no. Who could not love this intelligent, wise, striving, heroically truth seeking yet humble Gwynneve? Just to come to know this creation is justification for the read, for this is not a cheerful book. Gwynneve's confession makes a very moving story personalizing a tragic clash of civilizations that must have occurred. And there is a love story here too, but not a conventional one, but one I think possesses that sterling quality of the "Whole Truth" by which Aldous Huxley meant to describe (in an essay on tragedy) an essential ingredient of great literature by which characters go about their lives in trying circumstances as real flesh and blood humans in fact do, with none of the concessions or clichés to appease the romantic reader. While not tragedy, the confession's sad ending is nonetheless striking and darkly beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: A Rare Sort of Book
Review: When I first picked up this little book, I thought it was just another of many novels primarily targeted for Celtic history lovers - I was wrong. Although not particularly interested in Celtic history, I was attracted by its structure: a confession of a medieval nun writing clandestinely in a tiny hut in a dreary and desolate outpost of Christianity. How could her story be interesting? Hardly a standard romantic beach read. But her beginning prose had an alluring authenticity, so I bought the book. The book is just first rate literature period, for Celtic types or not. Who could not love this intelligent, wise, striving, heroically truth seeking yet humble Gwynneve? Just to come to know this creation is justification for the read. Gwynneve's confession makes a very moving story personalizing a tragic clash of civilizations that must have occurred. And there is a love story here too, not a conventional one, but one I think possesses that sterling quality of the "Whole Truth" by which Aldous Huxley meant to describe (in an essay on tragedy) an essential ingredient of great literature by which characters go about their lives in trying circumstances as real flesh and blood humans in fact do, with none of the concessions or clichés to appease the romantic reader. The confession's sad ending is nonetheless striking and darkly beautiful.