Welcome to Discussion Forum for A Nun's Life

Here are some general questions you might consider ... (adapted from Oprah's book club)

1. Which character did you identify with? Did your opinions about any of the characters change over the course of the novel?
   
2. How does the author use language and imagery to bring the characters to life?
   
3. What do you believe is the message the author is trying to convey to the reader?

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Sister Julie

"She wrote the way she lived: on the fly, without retrospect, always on the way, climbing higher." (poem in reference to Saint Teresa of Avila)

Hi Sister Julie,
Are we supposed to be reading right now or will you be "assigning" chapters to read together Thank you

Since I initially responded with great enthusiasm to Sr. Julie's proposal of this book as a topic for discussion, I am going to wade in with an initial two cents worth.

I'm one of those who has read 'nun books' forever. Maybe that is why I finally became a nun at the age of 55! Early on it was the likes of "The Nun's Story" or "In This House of Brede" by Rumer Godin (definitely worth reading). All of the sister/nuns/religious brothers I know who have read "Lying Awake" marvel at the author's grasp of the nature, both positive and negative, of religious community life. This is all the more amazing because his principal character, Sr. John of the Cross, is a cloistered Carmelite contemplative. He must have been allowed to experience this life to some extent, conducted many interviews, participated in liturgies. Above all, Mark Salzman must be a very keen observer and an empathetic soul.

The main action takes place in 1997. So this Carmelite monastery has remained fairly traditional in its daily horarium, the habit of the Order, assignment of responsibilities. And the author grasps it all and communicates so well to the reader.

The text open with "1997 God's Mystery". I think this novel is a modern parable for a number of mysteries - the mystery of God, the mystery of vocation, the mystery that is the human search for God, the mystery of the 'dark night of the soul,' the mystery of what Carl Jung called the monk archetype.

I'm about 3/4 of the way through it, and so far my impression is mostly positive. At first I was unsure--the characters seemed like stereotypes--but they became more fleshed out as the book went on.

I'm not sure I really identify with any one character in particular. I certainly appreciate the family situations of Srs. John and Miriam.

I also wondered if the author had spent some time near a contemplative monastery, since he nails so much of the humor. (Or so I've noticed in my exposure to contemplatives.)

Question to those more well-versed in Carmelite spirituality: how true to life is the mortification scene on p. 139? Such things really don't happen in Benedictine, and Benedictine-derived monasticism of the communities I'm familiar with. When I read the passage, it felt a bit sensationalist.

I finished the book a couple of days ago. My impression was also mainly positive. Given that the author isn't Catholic, and really not a believer of any sort, I was amazed at how well he captured the nuances of the characters and environment. Since all of the nuns I have known are in active orders, I don't know how accurately he portrayed a present day Carmelite monastery. I have read a couple of biographies of St. Therese of Lisieux, and the setting seemed very similar. Since Sister John joined in 1969, I was surprised that there was little mention of Vatican II or the turmoil of the 70's. Perhaps a cloistered convent such as this was insulated from that turbulence.
I too wondered about the use of the "discipline". I didn't think that was being done anymore.
It was nice to read a novel about Catholics in which sexual abuse was not dragged into it.

I know that Salzman had contact with some Carmelite nuns in the process of working on the book (and see also several interviews with him online). As for Benedictines not using the discipline--they did (see also the descriptions in "In This House of Brede," based on Stanbrook Abbey in England)--though few if any communities in any order do so now.
[Disciplines and other types of physical penance were used by the Jesuits and some other active orders, as well, until Vatican II.]

I think we tend to regard the practice as sensational these days in part because of its use to precisely that purpose in many recent works of fiction--most notably, Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" (used by the notorious "albino monk").... Or maybe that's just my impression. I certainly respond differently to it now than I did before reading Brown (as a historian, I can disentangle modern and historical practices pretty well)....

Ooh, I can't wait to get this book and read it! I just visited anunslife.org for the first time in a few months due to limited access, but I think it's really exciting that this book discussion group has started! I spent last summer, after my sophomore year of college, living at a Discalced Carmelite monastery and playing organ for them. It'll be interesting to see how well the book matches up with that experience.