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sam_bizar_wilcox's review
4.0
I marked "The Life" as a favorite mostly because I need to (digitally) remind myself to revisit St. Teresa. Mesmeric: the unwinding of the alleged dichotomy between pleasure and pain. Where a lineage of philosophers - Bentham, Mill, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, yada yada - write of pleasure and pain as antithetical, Teresa provides a compelling case of pleasure-derived-from-pain. Religious devotion is phenomenological. It ceases to be an intellectual epistemology (such as with Augustine, with whom I might closely pair readings of Teresa), but a physical reckoning.
We all know the "spear me" incident. It is the moment at the center of this autobiography that mutates the understanding of religious apotheosis from divinely spiritual to visceral sensorial. The world of the convent, too, with the cloistered sisters and time spent mulling over the relationship between the individual and the divine, becomes a deeply materialistic, physical articulation of religious virtue.
My thoughts on Teresa are, as yet, underdeveloped. I would like to hail her as a raucous break in a male-dominated theological tradition (a proto-feminist Catholic intervention, if you will). I'm ultimately unsure, but within these pages might lie the secrets to life's mysteries. An ecstatic read, one to return to, and one to excite pleasure (and pain).
We all know the "spear me" incident. It is the moment at the center of this autobiography that mutates the understanding of religious apotheosis from divinely spiritual to visceral sensorial. The world of the convent, too, with the cloistered sisters and time spent mulling over the relationship between the individual and the divine, becomes a deeply materialistic, physical articulation of religious virtue.
My thoughts on Teresa are, as yet, underdeveloped. I would like to hail her as a raucous break in a male-dominated theological tradition (a proto-feminist Catholic intervention, if you will). I'm ultimately unsure, but within these pages might lie the secrets to life's mysteries. An ecstatic read, one to return to, and one to excite pleasure (and pain).
alisarae's review against another edition
I appreciated this translation: it's quite modern and slightly abridged to cut down on the repetition a bit. Even so, there is a lot of repetition and circling back. In a way, I'm glad there was so much repetition because it took me over a year of occasional reading to get through it! (thanks to #AxeTheStacks I finally finished it off).
Teresa's personality shines so earnest and true, it is hard to believe that she wrote this nearly 500 years ago. She must have been so full of energy and zest. And her blunt honesty made me smile.
Teresa's personality shines so earnest and true, it is hard to believe that she wrote this nearly 500 years ago. She must have been so full of energy and zest. And her blunt honesty made me smile.
grace_hall's review
This book is incredible! Highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about humility and the life of a saint. I was humbled and learned so much about the character of God through this book. Glory be to Christ!
kiriamarin's review
4.0
A vida de pessoas que se entregam a Deus,corpo ,alma e espírito com convicção é fascinante.Uma linha tênue entre fé e loucura. Teresa de Ávila uma mulher ambigua, claramente com transtornos psicológicos , na sua obra vemos ideias distorcidas de uma mente afetada pela clausura,ela não escolheu esse caminho,mas encontrou conforto e sabedoria na sua crença, muito embora seus "metodos" de transcendência e aproximação do divino pareça insano e desequilibrado,um caminho de auto flagelo e penitência. Mas de todo esse fervor surgiu uma bela obra literária.
motifenjoyer's review
3.0
"I cannot understand what mind is, or how it differs from soul or spirit. They all seem one to me, though the soul sometimes leaps out of itself like a burning fire that has become one whole flame and increases with great force. The flame leaps very high above the fire. Nevertheless it is not a different thing, but the same flame which is in the fire."
grllopez's review
2.0
No way! She's out of her mind. I'm just not into mysticism. Here's my two cents: http://greatbookstudy.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Life%20of%20Saint%20Teresa%20of%20%C3%81vila%20by%20Herself
catherineofalx's review against another edition
The personality, the unabashed passion, of this woman makes me hopeful. Such a brilliant jewel among the saints. I love it.
catherineofalx's review against another edition
5.0
I get more and more from this book every time I read it - from a devotional perspective, an academic perspective, both. “Reviewing” this is a ridiculous concept, it’s a masterpiece, what could I even say about it?
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