The Noonday Demon

A memoir that resurrects the ancient term acedia, or soul-weariness, and explores its relevance to the modern individual and culture.

ISBN 0745953662   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780745953663 (What's this?)   Pages 352 Publisher Lion Hudson Plc   Published in Oxford Imprint Lion Hudson Plc   Height (mm) 216 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 138 Publication date 23 Jan 2009   Academic level General DEWEY 152.4

Kathleen Norris had written several much-loved books, yet she couldn't drag herself out of bed in the morning, couldn't summon the energy for daily tasks. Even as she struggled, Norris recognized her familiar battle with acedia. She had discovered the word in an early Church text when she was in her thirties, and instantly recognized herself in a passage describing the affliction as sinking into a state of being unable to care. Fascinated by this 'noonday demon' so familiar to those in the early Church, Norris read intensively and knew she must restore this forgotten but utterly important concept to the modern world's vernacular.This burden blights not just individuals, but whole societies: "restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia, and enervating despair that we struggle with today are the ancient demon of acedia in modern dress."See photocopy for more.

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