Books on Retreats
Stories of silence, solitude what happens when we retreat
Patrick Leigh Fermor
An exhausted Fermor describes his retreat to a Benedictine abbey in 1953 needing somewhere quiet to write. This slender book (my favourite kind) follows his weeks among monks in France and Cappadocia, where the “huge, black wings” of monastic quiet settle over him. For those familiar with Fermor’s travel writing this is a pleasant diversion.
Nat Segnit
Retreat is an unlikely personal-quest by a comedy writer and novelist. Segnit visits Benedictine monasteries, Buddhist temples, and meditation centres of all stripes. Segnit opens himself up to what these disparate practices have to offer, while maintaining a healthy dose of scepticism and humour. I found this book funny, moving and at times, inspiring.
Adam Nicolson
Aged 21, Nicolson inherited the Shiants — a clutch of three uninhabited Hebridean islands off the coast of the Isle of Lewis and Harris. He shared these islands with half a million puffins and found himself in charge of a wild and beautiful place. To many, including me, this is a dream and I immediately went to the map to locate the islands. Nicholson gives is the lowdown on everything from the perils of taking a small boat out on the Minch, to dealing with the unwanted attentions of the RSPB.
Neil Ansell
Ansell’s account of his 5 years living alone in remote cottage in the hills reads like a Welsh Walden. The author's description of sitting by the riverbank immersed in the moment is compelling. For me the interesting thing about this book is how after a year or so, he felt that the wild creatures around him became his society.
Pico Iyer
For over thirty years, Pico Iyer has returned to a Benedictine monastery in Big Sur, perched above the Pacific. Not religious, he goes to rediscover a silence we often forget exists. Written in brief, epigrammatic fragments, with lots to take away. I dip into this book often.
Sara Maitland
Part memoir, part intellectual history, Sara Maitland’s A Book of Silence explores silence as a retreat from the noise of modern life. She once led retreats in the Sinai—gatherings I wish I’d experienced.
Thomas Merton
A brisk read of the rather beautiful sayings from an early breed of spiritual nonconformists: the first Christian hermits living in ancient Egypt and Palestine. Selected by the American theologian Thomas Merton. If you’re in the mood, it’s good medicine.
Pablo d'Ors
Pablo d'Ors is a Catholic priest whose life was changed by Zen meditation. As someone who dabbles with Zen meditation, I found this an interesting read. The book is disarming, honest about the authors struggles, and shows us the deep joy of silence that is available to us all.
Thich Nhat Hanh
“Unless you live alone in the mountains without electricity, cahnces are you are absorbing a constant stream of noise all day.” The first lines of a wise and useful book by a renowned Vietnamese monk.
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