The Death of Thomas Merton: A Novel

Rating:
Summary: A New Look At Thomas Merton
Review: Dr. Paul Hourihan's book opened many doors for me and added more mystery to the already curious death of the Trappist monk. His writing style brings you into Merton's character to the point of believing it is not fiction, but what Thomas Merton was really going through at the time of his death.
Some people will possibly be offended by some of Dr. Hourihan's speculations, but that always is the case when a new theory or idea comes up about anyone who is put on a pedestal. No one is perfect and though their good works and deeds should always be forefront, truth about any individual should never be hidden simply because it might offend some people.
I don't feel this book intends in any way to demean Thomas Merton, but to show that he was possibly more human than his followers may have wanted him to be; that he was a man who had doubts and foibles like normal men; and that he may not have been the enlightened spirit his worshippers want him to be.
An excellent book recommended to anyone who is not afraid of truth and change.

Rating:
Summary: Merton and the Church
Review: Paul Hourihan's depiction of the Catholic Church in this book speaks so perfectly of the kind of institution that could create, and destroy, a person such as Merton. Hourihan's honesty and insight expressed the exact feelings I had about the Church, and without doubt history will prove the truth of his observations. We can only hope this wisdom will reach the masses, so to speak, and that the light and love that Christ taught will be spread beyond the dark walls that now attempt to confine it.

Rating:
Summary: An author's view of Catholicism...not necessarily Merton's
Review: Paul Hourihan's novelization of Thomas Merton's last day reads more like an apologia for his own loss of faith in things Catholic rather than an imaginative exploration of Merton's death in Asia. This self-published novel reveals far more about the author than it does its subject. For a real understanding of the issues Thomas Merton wrestled with read the journals he maintained during the course of his adult life.

Rating:
Summary: Perusing the question of why God would allow him to die
Review: The Death Of Thomas Merton by Paul Hourihan is a novelization of the last day in the life of the famous Catholic monk and writer Thomas Merton, who in December 1968 suffered an terrible, accidental demise while attending a monastic conference in Thailand in 1968. Reinterpreting Merton's character, studying his spirituality and beliefs, and perusing the question of why God would allow him to die, The Death of Thomas Merton is a profound and thoughtful testimony and speculation which is very highly recommended reading both as a work of fact-based fiction and as a thoughtfully speculative portrayal of Thomas Merton in terms of his life and his thought.

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: This book begins with a "note of caution" to potential readers, suggesting that this "novel" may "seem overly provocative to many" and "may offend Westerners comfortable in their religious beliefs - especially warm admirers of Thomas Merton." This caution really does not go far enough.

Paul Hourihan in this book portrays Thomas Merton having a long dialogue with himself in the days and hours leading up to his accidental death in Bangkok in December 1968 about the value of his life, especially his monastic life, questioning whether or not he had got it all wrong. The author's standpoint is clearly that he had, suggesting that the traditional Christian paths to God are mistaken and that Eastern religions, especially India's Vedanta philosophy, was the path that Merton should have followed. He suggests that Merton was subconsciously drawn to the electric fan in his Bangkok room as a way out of the dilemma in which he found himself - either continuing in a way of life he no longer believed in or, alternately, starting again in an Eastern religion and disturbing the "simple faith" of so many of his loyal readers.

Under ordinary circumstances I would not have finished reading this book, it is badly written, tedious and Hourihan is basically using Merton as a vehicle for his own anti-catholic polemic from a Vedantic perspective. Readers of Merton will see all too quickly the falsity of his arguments. Merton's inter-faith dialogue was based on his deep grounding in his own tradition, a tradition he was clearly committed to right up to his final days as is evident from the final entries in his personal journals - celebrating the Eucharist, lunching with the apostolic delegate and attending the monastic conference at which he was to die.

... Be warned.