THE MOUNTAIN ON THE DESERT

by Conrad Richter ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 1955

Some very perceptive readers of the trilogy (The Trees, The Fields and The Town) may have sensed the gradual growth of an underlying philosophy, of which this new book is a statement. It is unusual for a novelist to formulate his personal creed in so intimate a way. The interest in this analysis of what might almost be the basis of a new approach to spiritual beliefs will, however, not appeal in the main to the public for Richter's novels. This has been in the making for many years, and may, today, capture the market for religious and mystical writing. Those to whom the beliefs of the Orient hold much of interest; those who find Christian Science, and kindred creeds, only partially satisfying; those who are seeking a basis for belief in God's presence and power within -- to all of them this may well provide a challenge and in some degree an answer. Although for clarity Conrad Richter has presented his material in the form of a succession of conferences with ""Michael"", a scientist who had sought an answer to his own philosophical needs and the health he had lost -- and found both on the mountain in the desert of New Mexico- the reader will have to bring his own problems, his own questions, his own challenge to the often obscure philosophy of energy release. Here it is explored -- in symptoms and techniques; it is illustrated in infants and adults, in sickness and poverty and ignorance; in nature and in ourselves. The philosopher-teacher challenges our thinking on the role of punishment, pessimism versus optimism, the energy basis of neuroses, anxieties and fears (not as causes but as release processes), hypochondria, the reality of pain, of fear, etc. Throughout, the belief in the energy force, the concept of God, and the steps by which one gains creative growth, provide a positive pattern of thought and action. Not easy reading- but for those seeking a new approach, worth the effort.

Pub Date: May 9, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION