All We Know of Heaven - Couverture rigide

Rougeau, Remy

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0618094997 ISBN 13 : 9780618094998

Editeur : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001

Synopsis

This luminous, revelatory novel by a cloistered monk traces a young man's search for wisdom among the inhabitants of a Cistercian monastery of strict observance.
In 1973, Paul Seneschal, a shy nineteen-year-old from rural Manitoba, takes flight from the world behind the wrought iron gates of St. Norbert Abbey. Here he is immersed in an austere, centuries-old culture where silence and prayer are governing forces. Forty monks grow their own food, wake at three in the morning to pray, and converse largely through a spare but expressive vocabulary of hand signals. As Brother Antoine, Paul strives for wisdom and holiness, learning poverty, chastity, and obedience. But life within the cloister can't block out all of humanity's foibles. One monk lapses into pyromania; another, a French Canadian, attacks any English speaker who gets too close; still another looks like "a bald Martha Ray." Amid a daily routine that meshes worship with hard work, Brother Antoine's preconceived ideas of holiness fade as he finds himself progressing along a crooked road to enlightenment. He comes to realize that the most mundane occurrences reveal the divine at least as often as they conceal it.
In simple, beautiful prose full of striking imagery, ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN brings a rarefied realm where human folly nestles cheek by jowl with the divine brilliantly to life.

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

"To read ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN is to enter a quiet space--a realm at once exotic and familiar, separate from the whirling world and yet so achingly human in its depiction of the characters' desire for spiritual meaning, also deeply of it. Remy Rougeau's first novel is luminous. The prose is simple and refined; the images ring clear; every word matters."

--Marcie Hershman,

author of SPEAK TO ME: Grief,Love and What Endures [forthcoming] and TALES OF THE MASTER RACE

"It is a rare novel that promises to show us a world about which most of us know nothing; but Remy Rougeau does far more here than simply reveal the daily and nightly life of a cloistered monk. With generous and resonant prose, Rougeau takes us so deeply into the unadorned sensual world of this rural monastery that we--like our passionate protagonist, Brother Antoine--find ourselves in the quiet, constant presence of the ethereal. This is a deeply wise and uplifting book."

Andre Dubus III, author of HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG

"This appealing novel by a born storyteller allows us to enter the odd but very human hamlet of a monastery. Readers who would never consider a monastic life will appreciate the book's humane wisdom, recognizing that a true vocation is hard to discern, and that we are often saved by those who would seem least able to help us. I recommend the book also because it contains the best cemetery story in recent fiction."

Kathleen Norris, author of THE CLOISTER WALK

"A view of the monastic life that's steady, whole, intelligent, and moving."

Kirkus Reviews

"This droll, almost Barbara Pymish debut novel about monastery life--rife with petty jealousies, dawn chores, and repressed lust--is often lovely." The New Yorker

"His scrupulous detail about daily life in the monastery is fascinating to read....'All We Know of Heaven' offers lyrical, richly descriptive prose, thoughtful ruminatons on various ethical issues and an educational glimpse into monastic life." Newsday

"Somehow the whole, like Rougeau's quietly beautiful novel, becomes infinitely greater than its parts." The Washington Post

Présentation de l'éditeur

This luminous, revelatory novel by a cloistered monk traces a young man's search for wisdom among the inhabitants of a Cistercian monastery of strict observance.
In 1973, Paul Seneschal, a shy nineteen-year-old from rural Manitoba, takes flight from the world behind the wrought iron gates of St. Norbert Abbey. Here he is immersed in an austere, centuries-old culture where silence and prayer are governing forces. Forty monks grow their own food, wake at three in the morning to pray, and converse largely through a spare but expressive vocabulary of hand signals. As Brother Antoine, Paul strives for wisdom and holiness, learning poverty, chastity, and obedience. But life within the cloister can't block out all of humanity's foibles. One monk lapses into pyromania; another, a French Canadian, attacks any English speaker who gets too close; still another looks like "a bald Martha Ray." Amid a daily routine that meshes worship with hard work, Brother Antoine's preconceived ideas of holiness fade as he finds himself progressing along a crooked road to enlightenment. He comes to realize that the most mundane occurrences reveal the divine at least as often as they conceal it.
In simple, beautiful prose full of striking imagery, ALL WE KNOW OF HEAVEN brings a rarefied realm where human folly nestles cheek by jowl with the divine brilliantly to life.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Date d'édition: 2001
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0618094997
• ISBN 13: 9780618094998
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 240
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Yeepin GmbH; 492000000000; sunshine12232@outlook.com; ; Alleestr.11; Kaiserslautern; Rheinland-Pfalz; 67655; Allemagne