Acedia & Me

Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life
By Kathleen Norris (334 pages)
Published by Riverhead
Bookish rating: 4

I loooooved Kathleen Norris's Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, so I excitedly checked out this book from the library.

There's something about Norris's way of processing feeling and information, her insight, her self-awareness, her use of language, her honesty---they simply resonate with me. In this book, she tackles the ancient idea of acedia, known as the "noonday demon"---that sense of who cares, I don't want to, it doesn't matter, everything is futile that can sometimes get mixed up or conflated with depression. She traces acedia through its various conceptualizations as she also cares for her husband, who is seriously ill, and continues to write write write. (Or not, depending on acedia.)

Predictably, the book is beautifully written, with lots and lots to glean. However, it does meander and lacks structure. Perhaps this is meant to mimic the way our lives actually function, but I know that Norris had been storing away this book inside her for a long time, so there's a sense of it being cobbled together a bit. I do think the text could've been edited and shortened, and more structure wouldn't have hurt. But these are minor complaints, when the bulk of the book is such good, meaty reading. Recommended.