by Karen Armstrong
Basically, I'm an atheist and thoroughgoing rationalist, but one that not only seeks to better understand spirituality but wishes I could find a way to express myself within it rationally. I thought a form of paganism might do, since it seeks to root spirituality within the earth, ie reality. So I b...
Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-spiral-staircase-my-climb-out-of.htmlKaren Armstrong grew up Catholic and joined a convent at age 17 in 1962. She spent 7 years training to be a nun and then made the difficult decision to leave the convent in 1969...
A memoir of Armstrong's post-convent years, evidently a retelling of that time, which she originally wrote about in a less-honest and less-dark way, perhaps while still absorbed in the events she narrates. In addition to the challenges of finding her place and losing her religion, Armstrong suffered...
A friend loaned me this book and said it was good. She said, "It's about this nun who leaves the convent and what she goes through afterward." That sounded pretty dull. I'm not a religious person, but neither is my friend, so I thought I'd give it a try. I was hooked on the first page. It may be a b...
I've started but not yet finished a few of Armstrong's other books. This one about her own religious life I found very moving.
A nun’s tale. Armstrong tells of her experience from her seven years as a teenager and then young nun in the convent through a loss of faith, severe physical and mental challenges, trying to find her way in the world as an academic, and ultimately coming to a new understanding of spirituality. It is...
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