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24th out of 181 books
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The Book of Margery Kempe
Kempe's work isaccompanied by an introduction, a map of medieval England, a Kempelexicon, and explanatory annotations. "Contexts" collects primaryreadings that illuminate The Book of Margery Kempe. Included areexcerpts from The Constitutions of Thomas Arundel, Meditations on theLife of Christ, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, The Book of SaintBride, and The Lif...more
Paperback, 328 pages
Published
November 10th 2000
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1438)
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11th out of 107 books
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After having to read this for my Lit class, and reading a book by St. Theresa of Avila two years ago for a history class, I have come to the following conclusion:
Female mystics are the single most boring, long-winded people on the planet.
Margery Kempe's life had all the potential to be a well-made, expensive, but ultimately poorly received religious film from the Mel Gibson canon. She had visions, was psychic, and spent most of her adult life traveling across Europe and ...more
Female mystics are the single most boring, long-winded people on the planet.
Margery Kempe's life had all the potential to be a well-made, expensive, but ultimately poorly received religious film from the Mel Gibson canon. She had visions, was psychic, and spent most of her adult life traveling across Europe and ...more
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John Wiswell
rated it
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review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
History readers, theology readers, classics readers, readers interested in biography
One of the oldest autobiographies in the English language, should you choose to believe the illiterate Margery Kempe truly dictated it, is bitterly funny today. Kempe recounts her marriage, failures in business, curiously kinky religious visions, and spuriously selfish pilgrimmage. It is at once a window into the biases of a bygone age, and a thinly humorous commentary on the human condition. Was she driven mad by trouble childbirth, lying to get ahead in the world, or truly touched? The Church ...more
Frequent repetition (mostly of "Oh how wonderful god is. Let me repeat the story of the crucifixion in gory detail one more time") dropped this down from three to two stars. I actually enjoyed this far more than I thought I would as an atheist reading a Christian mystic's account of her religious life.
What I most liked where the rare and occasional glimpses of 15th century life - travails with lice and travel plans, the occasional decrying of fashion. Margery is feisty i...more
What I most liked where the rare and occasional glimpses of 15th century life - travails with lice and travel plans, the occasional decrying of fashion. Margery is feisty i...more
Though I've never been a fan of autobiographies, I must admit to having enjoyed this book a little bit. I'll give it some respect considering the fact that it is one of the first autobiographies written in "English", though I couldn't help but be amused by Margery and her outlandish ways. I lost tack of all the things that made her weep....
I am enjoying this book (I'm not reading the edition pictured here, but an older one). Margery Kempe lived from the late 1300's to the mid 1400's or thereabouts. She was from a comfortable, but not wealthy, middle class family, married, had 14 children, then decided to live a chaste life as a religious pilgrim. She traveled to the Holy Land (as did I) and Rome (ditto) and Santiago de Compostella (next on my list). She did remarkable things for her era and her religious stigmata (for lack of a be...more
At times Margery reminded me of pentecostals that I've known--very convinced that she has a true revelation from God and that everyone else should hear it. This was especially evident when she mentioned a few times that priests and other clergy responded "meekly" to her sobbing and screaming during church.
I also ended up feeling rather sorry for her husband and children (14, though maybe not all alive). She convinced him to agree to a "chaste" marriage and they ...more
I also ended up feeling rather sorry for her husband and children (14, though maybe not all alive). She convinced him to agree to a "chaste" marriage and they ...more
It was the first English autobiography, but Margery Kempe was... nuts. It's a fascinating read, it really is, but she's crazy, I swear. And Jesus comes off as a slightly abusive husband. Still, I'd recommend it to anyone.
"Daughter, it is more pleasing to me that you suffer scorn and humiliation, shame and rebukes, wrongs and distress, than if your head were struck off three times a day every day for seven years. And therefore, daughter, do not fear what any man can say to you. Bu...more
"Daughter, it is more pleasing to me that you suffer scorn and humiliation, shame and rebukes, wrongs and distress, than if your head were struck off three times a day every day for seven years. And therefore, daughter, do not fear what any man can say to you. Bu...more
Margery Kemp was a crazy, illiterate, medieval peasant. This book contains numerous gems of insanity, and who doesn't love that? She appears to have a sexual lust for Jesus, which is always interesting, and she struggles with postpartum depression, her perfectly sane husband (a nice foil) and with her quest to be a "virgin in spirit." She also goes on a lot of trips, so the book is a bit of an early travelogue, though she doesn't dwell on the places she visits so much as the self flage...more
I'm guessing this book is on my grad school reading list because, written in 1436, it's the first known autobiography in the English language. I'm curious why it's call an "autobiography" because it seems more of a collaboration between the illiterate Margery Kempe, her first half-illiterate scribe, the priest who finally made the text readable, and then finally the scholars who translated The Book of Margery Kempe from middle English.
Okay, so I feel like I'm being dismis...more
Okay, so I feel like I'm being dismis...more
There is a really interesting story tied to this book, but sadly no interesting book tied to the story. Fans of Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena and other medieval women writers on spirituality will in my opinion find this quite lacking. Yes, Margery has a very strong feeling of devotion, but this is quite questionably devotional. Granted it's impossible to tell how accurate Margery of Kempe's self-assessment is, but the way it reads to me, this is the work of an egomanical and very vindict...more
I love her brand of crazy. She's exactly the sort of religious loon that it's fun to read and speculate about because if there was one thing Margery understood, it was drama and spectacle. Was she ambitious? Was she disturbed? Was she sincere? 'Tis a mystery. But her life provides an interesting perspective on medieval religion, especially the social opportunity it provided certain devout and/or creative women. Plus, it's kinda funny. I recommend it.
2005- Another book I read for class. I knew a little about Margery Kempe beforehand, like she had 14 children. I didn't know that the first autobiography ever written in English was so boring. I felt like Margery repeated herself, over and over. I wanted more details about her life- about her husband, her children, and her pilgrimages. I don't think I would pick this up unless you are specifically interested in early Christianity writings.
Margery Kempe is obsessed with Jesus and she won't stop weeping and carrying on to prove it. This story is funnier than one would expect (considering it's not supposed to be funny) as Margery tells her story of being alienated, ditched, scorned and all around bad-mouthed for her incessant crying and her over the top spiritual devotion. However, Margery does not mind because she constantly relates her suffering on earth to Christ's suffering on earth.
Not easy to get through, but very interesting. After Tuchman's Middle Ages, it's nice to see a description that's a bit more calm, a bit less violent. Madwoman, or supremely religious? Tough to tell, but she is very direct about the whole thing, and she must have been a force to be reckoned with in her time--when not too many women outside of royalty were allowed to be.
Amy
marked it as to-read
"Margery is a trip. She wrote--and is the subject of--the first biography in the English language. Windeatt's Penguin edition is the one to have. Don't get the Image Books edition. She's no "madwoman" or even "mystic"--just a laywoman intensely in love with God who knows a lot about praying through tough situations. We can learn from reading her book" (from CT History)
It's probably a bit unfair to give this only two stars as it is very much of its era and closely follows the form of 'Saints Lives' type books . It isn't meant to be a tightly plotted literary masterpiece, it does not even unfold chronologically. Though I sometimes enjoyed the (unintentional) wry humour of some of it, on the whole I felt a bit manipulated by Margery. I would most definitely come down on the 'madness' side of any argument, but have a sneaking suspicion that may be exactly what M...more
An inspiring woman for any age; this Norton Critical edition includes a number of useful back ground texts that offer a good understanding of the period and of lay piety in the fifteenth century, while also giving a good idea of the kinds of readings that inspired people like Kempe to take up this difficult life.
Again, I only read a few chapters of this book. I think Margery is a little bit of a whiner. I think she cries too much although I do believe she is having these visions of Christ and is faithful in her love of Christ.
Margery Kempe initially strikes you as being incredibly annoying. But her story is still pretty amazing and singular, and if you can get past her personality and her tendency to not stress the parts that are actually interesting, it's an enlightening look at medieval Europe and popular piety.
Interesting window into medieval spirituality, but...Christ, Margery is such a dingbat! At least with the writings of her fellow mystic Julian of Norwich you get some sense of a great intelligence behind it all, but not here. Had to put this down for a while and go on to something else where the protagonist was not constantly weeping and wailing.
I would highly recommend this edition of The Book of Margery Kempe (and the Book itself!). Staley's introduction is very useful and her "translation" from 15th C English is excellent and accurate.
I don't remember any subject matter from this book. All I remember is that it was ridiculously stout reading. It took an hour to read 10 pages.
Some sections were long and slow, but for the most this seemed to be a fairly realistic testimony of one woman's experience with God.
although this creature thought that some of the passages contained therein were "interesting" he mainly found this book annoying
One of the few women of the Middle Ages about whom we know much at all. She gave up her ego so that she could tell us about her lack of ego in what amounts to one of the first autobiographies in English. Forsaking things like wealth and flashy clothing and fame, she drew attention to herself everywhere she traveled, including the Holy Land. She attributes her post partum depression to devils and maintains that she was a virgin through the births of her fourteen children. And yet... she does hav...more
My goodness, has autobiography and memoir come a long way since this book (it is considered the first autobiography of the English language). Weeping and wailing, wailing and weeping. Jesus Jesus Jesus. The next time someone complains about the rise of the memoir, I will use this book as evidence that we are making some progress.
Unintentionally hilarious. You have to feel sorry for everyone she travelled with.
A fascinating and funny look at women's lives and religion in the late Middle Ages.
Margery Kempe was crazy.
Another book for class. Margery is a female mystic who sees and talks to Jesus. For the 15th century, she was extremely well-traveled (France, Spain, Italy, Jerusalem, Germany). She's also extremely intelligent and was able to defend herself in heresy trials. Though her constant weeping and wailing was annoying (even her husband and other traveling companions abandoned her because of the ceaseless sobbing) it was an interesting book and a great first hand account of fifteenth century life in Eng...more
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Short Biography profile and facts about the life of Margery Kempe
The following biography information provides basic facts and information about the life and history of Margery Kempe a famous Medieval character of the Middle Ages:
Nationality: English
Lifespan: 1373 - c1438
Time Reference: Lived during the reign of the English Kings; Edward III, Richard II and...more
More about Margery Kempe...
The following biography information provides basic facts and information about the life and history of Margery Kempe a famous Medieval character of the Middle Ages:
Nationality: English
Lifespan: 1373 - c1438
Time Reference: Lived during the reign of the English Kings; Edward III, Richard II and...more
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