An edition of The cloister walk (1996)

The cloister walk

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Last edited by JeneeWhitney
March 4, 2022 | History
An edition of The cloister walk (1996)

The cloister walk

  • 11 Want to read
  • 1 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

Why would a married woman with a thoroughly Protestant background and often more doubt than faith be drawn to the ancient practice of monasticism, to a community of celibate men whose days are centered around a rigid schedule of prayer, work, and scripture? This is the question that Kathleen Norris herself asks as, somewhat to her own surprise, she found herself on two extended residencies at a Benedictine monastery.

Yet upon leaving the monastery, she began to feel herself transformed, and the daily events of her life on the Great Plains - from her morning walk to her going to sleep at night - gradually took on new meaning.

She found that in the monastery, time slowed down, offering a new perspective on community, family, and even small-town life. By coming to understand the Benedictine practice of celibacy, she felt her own marriage enriched; through the communal reading aloud of the psalms every day, her notion of the ancient oral tradition of poetry came to life; and even the mundane task of laundry took on new meaning through the lens of Benedictine ritual.

Writing with lyrical grace, Kathleen Norris here takes us through a liturgical year, as she experienced it both within the monastery and outside it. She shows us, from the rare perspective of someone who is both insider and outsider, how immersion in the cloistered world - its liturgy, its rituals, its sense of community - can impart meaning to everyday events and deepen our secular lives.

Through her masterly prose and rare insight, the monastery, often considered archaic or otherworldly, becomes immediate, accessible, and relevant to us, no matter what our faith may be.

Publish Date
Publisher
Riverhead Books
Language
English
Pages
384

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: The Cloister Walk
The Cloister Walk
2009, Penguin USA, Inc.
Electronic resource in English
Cover of: Cloister Walk
Cloister Walk
2000, Lion Hudson PLC
in English
Cover of: The Cloister Walk
The Cloister Walk
May 23, 1999, Lion Books
hardcover
Cover of: Cloister Walk
Cloister Walk
1999, Lion Hudson PLC
in English
Cover of: The Cloister Walk Group Guide
The Cloister Walk Group Guide
April 1998, Riverhead Books
Paperback in English
Cover of: The cloister walk
The cloister walk
1997, Riverhead Books
in English - 1st Riverhead trade pbk. ed.
Cover of: Cloister Walk  8-copy Counter Unit
Cloister Walk 8-copy Counter Unit
April 1, 1997, Riverhead Trade
Paperback in English
Cover of: The cloister walk
The cloister walk
1996, G.K. Hall
in English
Cover of: The cloister walk
The cloister walk
1996, Riverhead Books
in English

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Book Details


Edition Notes

143,548

Published in
New York

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
255
Library of Congress
BX2435 .N57 1996, BX2435.N57 1996

The Physical Object

Pagination
xv, 384 p. ;
Number of pages
384

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL964604M
Internet Archive
cloisterwalk00norr
ISBN 10
1573220280
LCCN
96000863
OCLC/WorldCat
34116178
Library Thing
17153
Goodreads
1706140

Work Description

A New York Times bestseller for 23 weeksA New York Times Notable Book of the Year"A strange and beautiful book...Part memoir, part meditation, it is a remarkable piece of writing." -The Boston Globe"The Cloister Walk is a new opportunity to discover a remarkable writer with a huge, wise heart...Norris resonates deeply for a lot of people: She's one of those writers who demands to be handed around. You want to share this great discovery, giving her work as a gift3/4or you simply shove a copy in the face of a friend, saying 'Read this.'" -Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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History

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March 4, 2022 Edited by JeneeWhitney Merge works
March 1, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 23, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
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