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Merton: A Biography
[Merton, Thomas] Furlong, Monica. A Biography. Reprinted Edition. New York, Bantam, 1981. Octavo. XX, 359 pages. Original Softcover. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Rare. Monica Furlong (17 January 1930 – 14 January 2003) was a British author, journalist, and activist. She was born at Kenton near Harrow, north-west of London and died at Umberleigh in Devon. An obituary called her the Church of England's most influential and creative layperson of the post-war period. Many of Furlong’s books reflected a deep interest in religion and spirituality. She wrote biographies of John Bunyan, Trappist monk Thomas Merton, Therese of Lisieux, and Alan Watts, as well as books covering such diverse topics as the spiritual life of aboriginals, medieval women mystics, and the Church of England. She also wrote a popular series of children's novels set in medieval England and Wise Child, Juniper, and Colman. Furlong's autobiography, Bird of Paradise, was published in 1995. Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. In 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood and given the name Father Louis. (Wikipedia).
327 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Monica Furlong
43 books231 followersMonica Furlong was a British author, journalist, and activist, regarded as one of the Church of England's most influential and creative laypersons of the post-war period.
Her work often focused on religion and spirituality, with notable biographies of figures such as John Bunyan, Thomas Merton, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Alan Watts. She also explored subjects like the spiritual life of aboriginals, medieval women mystics, and the Church of England. Furlong was also known for her children’s novels, including the Wise Child series, which consists of Wise Child, Juniper, and Colman.
Furlong began her writing career in 1956 as a feature writer for Truth magazine and later worked as a religious correspondent for The Spectator and Daily Mail. She became an advocate for religious reform, particularly supporting women’s rights within the Church of England. In her first book, With Love to the Church (1965), she championed an inclusive Church. She continued to support the ordination of women in the 1980s and pushed for the appointment of women to senior Church positions.
Her autobiography, Bird of Paradise (1995), provides insights into her life and career. Furlong’s controversial experiences with LSD were shared in Travelling In (1971), which was banned from Church of Scotland bookshops. Throughout her career, Furlong wrote extensively on spirituality, reform, and religious figures, becoming a well-respected voice in both religious and literary circles.
Her work often focused on religion and spirituality, with notable biographies of figures such as John Bunyan, Thomas Merton, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Alan Watts. She also explored subjects like the spiritual life of aboriginals, medieval women mystics, and the Church of England. Furlong was also known for her children’s novels, including the Wise Child series, which consists of Wise Child, Juniper, and Colman.
Furlong began her writing career in 1956 as a feature writer for Truth magazine and later worked as a religious correspondent for The Spectator and Daily Mail. She became an advocate for religious reform, particularly supporting women’s rights within the Church of England. In her first book, With Love to the Church (1965), she championed an inclusive Church. She continued to support the ordination of women in the 1980s and pushed for the appointment of women to senior Church positions.
Her autobiography, Bird of Paradise (1995), provides insights into her life and career. Furlong’s controversial experiences with LSD were shared in Travelling In (1971), which was banned from Church of Scotland bookshops. Throughout her career, Furlong wrote extensively on spirituality, reform, and religious figures, becoming a well-respected voice in both religious and literary circles.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 23, 2017
This book changed my life. It opened a door to a whole other world. I read Seven-Storey Mountain right after. 3 months later I was praying side by side with the monks of Gethsemani, Kentucky and became good friends with a few of the monks who knew him very well.
November 23, 2022
Ik was van de lente op een conferentie waar Merton regelmatig als een hele inspirerende man werd genoemd én dit boek was van Monica Furlong (waar ik eerder Heksenkind van las). Deze combinatie maakte me zeer benieuwd naar dit boek, maar t was uiteindelijk best een worsteling om er doorheen te komen.
De reden:
- Ik wist eigenlijk niks van Merton af. Ik denk dat ik beter eerst een boek van hem had kunnen lezen. Ik denk dat dit boek vooral interessant is als je al veel van hem hebt gelezen en fan bent.
- Monica Furlong begint het boek met een lang betoog waarom haar critici op gebied van dit boek ongelijk hebben. Dat had bij mij een beetje het omgekeerde effect ':D ik begon daardoor juist een beetje wantrouwend te lezen (al ging dat later wel over).
- Merton besluit halverwege zijn leven in een trappisten klooster in te treden. Een zeer strenge orde, waar helemaal niet in gepraat wordt. Toen hij er net 'in' zat vond ik het interessant en fascinerend, maar na een tijdje minder. Merton wordt constant onder de duim/onder controle gehouden door zijn abt en kan daardoor zich niet uiten zoals hij wil. Hier gaat het heel veel over in het boek (op een gegeven moment werd ik dat ook wel een beetje zat). en.. ik weet niet :) het was vooral frustrerend om te lezen. Ik heb er niet echt per se een positief beeld aan kloosters aan over gehouden, al maakte het eind pleidooi wel het een en ander goed.
Toch wel wat interessante quotes aan overgehouden en... ik ga maar eens nu echt eens van Merton lezen. Ik denk iets van zijn latere werk (als hij zelf ook kritischer wordt richting het klooster) of zijn pacifistische werken, daar ben ik het meest benieuwd naar.
De reden:
- Ik wist eigenlijk niks van Merton af. Ik denk dat ik beter eerst een boek van hem had kunnen lezen. Ik denk dat dit boek vooral interessant is als je al veel van hem hebt gelezen en fan bent.
- Monica Furlong begint het boek met een lang betoog waarom haar critici op gebied van dit boek ongelijk hebben. Dat had bij mij een beetje het omgekeerde effect ':D ik begon daardoor juist een beetje wantrouwend te lezen (al ging dat later wel over).
- Merton besluit halverwege zijn leven in een trappisten klooster in te treden. Een zeer strenge orde, waar helemaal niet in gepraat wordt. Toen hij er net 'in' zat vond ik het interessant en fascinerend, maar na een tijdje minder. Merton wordt constant onder de duim/onder controle gehouden door zijn abt en kan daardoor zich niet uiten zoals hij wil. Hier gaat het heel veel over in het boek (op een gegeven moment werd ik dat ook wel een beetje zat). en.. ik weet niet :) het was vooral frustrerend om te lezen. Ik heb er niet echt per se een positief beeld aan kloosters aan over gehouden, al maakte het eind pleidooi wel het een en ander goed.
Toch wel wat interessante quotes aan overgehouden en... ik ga maar eens nu echt eens van Merton lezen. Ik denk iets van zijn latere werk (als hij zelf ook kritischer wordt richting het klooster) of zijn pacifistische werken, daar ben ik het meest benieuwd naar.
June 30, 2013
I can't claim this is the best biography of Merton out there, but I picked it up in a used book store once and have read it a couple of times. It's not too long, not too weird, and includes a lot of excerpts from a variety of his writings. I reread it now and then as an easy, accessible, and yet still serious and in-depth look at Merton's life, written by an Anglican journalist who had a heart for outsiders, seekers, and agitators.
February 16, 2009
I was a caretaker for a 92 year old man when I picked this book up, and the job gave me plenty of time to read. I think I finished the book in a couple days. I had been rather lonely at the time, and Furlong presented Merton as a real person, someone that I enjoyed spending time with.
December 5, 2018
I much appreciated this view into the life of Merton, the one Christian writer that has most influenced my own vowed contemplative vocation. My review of Mark Shaw's Beneath the Mask of Holiness can be accessed, as comments there apply to this excellent, forthright assessment of Merton the man and contemplative.
Succinctly, reading Furlong invited me to a more balanced perspective of Merton, appreciating his contemplative grace in consort with his fallible humanness.
Possibly, Merton reminds us a deep spirituality is not the cure for the complex emotional issues that can be concealed under the appearance of saintliness and, likewise, the unrealistic esteem humans tend to project onto persons as vicarious carriers of the unlived life of the admirers themselves.
Succinctly, reading Furlong invited me to a more balanced perspective of Merton, appreciating his contemplative grace in consort with his fallible humanness.
Possibly, Merton reminds us a deep spirituality is not the cure for the complex emotional issues that can be concealed under the appearance of saintliness and, likewise, the unrealistic esteem humans tend to project onto persons as vicarious carriers of the unlived life of the admirers themselves.
January 15, 2026
The shadow and the disguise
Looking for some Lenten reading, I picked this up from the parish library a couple of weeks ago. I remember reading a little about Merton and his interest in Eastern religions a long time ago, but - beyond the fact that he was a Catholic monk - didn't know much about his life. This book fills in some of that gap: telling the story of his nomadic, largely unhappy early life, his enrolling at Cambridge and Columbia, his religious conversion and his joining the Trappists at their monastery in Kentucky. It also mentions his writing, although I didn't realise (from this reading) that Merton was so prolific, producing on average two books a year. Chief among these was his autobography, "The Seven Story Mountain", which was published when he was 31 and became a bestseller that inspired many to join the priesthood or monastery. Other examples of his writing are scattered throughout the book: I liked the lyricism of his observations quoted in "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" - e.g. [p246]:
"Sunrise: hidden by pines and cedars to the east: I saw the red flame of the kingly sun glaring through the black trees, not like dawn but like a forest fire. The the sun became distinguished as a person and he shone silently and with solemn power through the branches..."
and he writes arrestingly about aspects of his (and our) relationship with God - for example, "Everyone of us is shadowed by a false self. This is the man I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him. And to be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy." [p265]
Although an interesting read, I found some (small) aspects of this book hard to admire: for some reason, the author (or maybe the editor) capitalises the initial letter of rugby and rugger [p37], all references to a work within a chapter are directed to the same point (so there are no page numbers in the citation), and the book only has a brief index of names (and nothing else). Perhaps later editions (the one I read was published in 1985) benefited from more attention to these things.
Originally reviewed 13 March 2020
Looking for some Lenten reading, I picked this up from the parish library a couple of weeks ago. I remember reading a little about Merton and his interest in Eastern religions a long time ago, but - beyond the fact that he was a Catholic monk - didn't know much about his life. This book fills in some of that gap: telling the story of his nomadic, largely unhappy early life, his enrolling at Cambridge and Columbia, his religious conversion and his joining the Trappists at their monastery in Kentucky. It also mentions his writing, although I didn't realise (from this reading) that Merton was so prolific, producing on average two books a year. Chief among these was his autobography, "The Seven Story Mountain", which was published when he was 31 and became a bestseller that inspired many to join the priesthood or monastery. Other examples of his writing are scattered throughout the book: I liked the lyricism of his observations quoted in "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander" - e.g. [p246]:
"Sunrise: hidden by pines and cedars to the east: I saw the red flame of the kingly sun glaring through the black trees, not like dawn but like a forest fire. The the sun became distinguished as a person and he shone silently and with solemn power through the branches..."
and he writes arrestingly about aspects of his (and our) relationship with God - for example, "Everyone of us is shadowed by a false self. This is the man I want myself to be but who cannot exist, because God does not know anything about him. And to be unknown to God is altogether too much privacy." [p265]
Although an interesting read, I found some (small) aspects of this book hard to admire: for some reason, the author (or maybe the editor) capitalises the initial letter of rugby and rugger [p37], all references to a work within a chapter are directed to the same point (so there are no page numbers in the citation), and the book only has a brief index of names (and nothing else). Perhaps later editions (the one I read was published in 1985) benefited from more attention to these things.
Originally reviewed 13 March 2020
September 19, 2023
Re-read after many years. Well written biography of a remarkable man.
May 23, 2008
Furlong doesn't really tell us much of her own; most of her points are easily read from Merton's own words. However, I appreciate the excerpts: Merton's letters, unpublished journals, and other tidbits that would take some traveling to find and read on one's own.
August 7, 2013
Many times a biography tells you more about the author than the subject. While she sure dished the dirt on Alan Watts in THAT biography, she treats Merton with kid gloves. Still an interesting read, but unsatisfying.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews