This fascinating report convincingly asserts that the “modern nun” is not an oxymoron.
A behind-the-scenes look at the surprisingly varied experiences of contemporary American nuns.
A generation ago, GQ senior writer Kaylin reflects, “going to convent school and then entering the novitiate as a teenager was a plan as reasonable and almost as common as a young woman’s pursuit of a business degree is today.” But the population of nuns has dropped precipitously—from 181,000 in 1965 to about 84,000 today—as a result of changes in the Catholic Church’s policies, new career opportunities for women, and an increasing emphasis on self-realization in American culture. These factors had a dramatic impact on the lives of the nuns who remained, and on monastic institutions themselves. Kaylin examines the mysterious, exotic aspects of contemporary religious life, offering thoughtful discussions of celibacy and sexuality, prayer, and the controversies swirling around the habit. She devotes equal attention, however, to the more mundane but equally pressing concerns that modern nuns face: earning a living, for instance, coping with the pressures of communal living, and meeting the needs of an aging population. As these sharply etched, often humorous portraits of individual nuns demonstrate, religious life has evolved beyond the rigidly structured communities that were typical before Vatican II to take a startling range of forms. We meet Mother Hildegarde, a Benedictine whose traditional cloistered community breeds Scottish Highland cattle and llamas; Sister Marge, a Franciscan who faces a prison term for her protests against the US involvement in South American atrocities; and two Little Sisters of Jesus who travel with the Carson and Barnes Circus to fulfill their order’s mandate to “establish a prayerful presence” in worldly settings. Today, Kaylin argues, the women who choose to enter or remain in religious communities are usually nonconformists who consciously criticize the commercialism of contemporary society and often challenge the Vatican’s continuing resistance to feminism.
This fascinating report convincingly asserts that the “modern nun” is not an oxymoron.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-15458-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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