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Rowena's Reviews > The Nun
The Nun
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This is an interesting novella, written in the form of a letter, by a nun to someone she hopes will help her break the vows which she took by force.
The young French girl, Suzanne, is a victim of circumstances, hated by her family through no fault of her own, and forced to enter a convent. She takes the orders against her wishes although she realizes she has no vocation.
At the convent she falls into the bad books of the Mother Superior and is abused horrifically, sadistically even. Some of the methods the nuns used to abuse her were pretty shocking.
The book is not an attack on Catholicism by any means; Suzanne never loses her faith despite her ordeals. What it is is an attack on the “unnatural” atmosphere of a cloister. It brings to the forefront the awful practice of forcing young girls into convents, often when they were as young as 15 (too young to really know what was going on). Truly, Diderot paints convent life in the most awful way. The convent conditions sound dreadful and don’t seem to be conducive to growth or anything remotely positive. As Suzanne said, "I have plenty of courage, but no courage in the world can hold out in the face of neglect, solitude and persecution."
I think it was an interesting read for me as I had always assumed that convents wouldn’t be such places of pettiness, and that relations between nuns would be civil at least. Alas, this was not the case in this book.
The young French girl, Suzanne, is a victim of circumstances, hated by her family through no fault of her own, and forced to enter a convent. She takes the orders against her wishes although she realizes she has no vocation.
At the convent she falls into the bad books of the Mother Superior and is abused horrifically, sadistically even. Some of the methods the nuns used to abuse her were pretty shocking.
The book is not an attack on Catholicism by any means; Suzanne never loses her faith despite her ordeals. What it is is an attack on the “unnatural” atmosphere of a cloister. It brings to the forefront the awful practice of forcing young girls into convents, often when they were as young as 15 (too young to really know what was going on). Truly, Diderot paints convent life in the most awful way. The convent conditions sound dreadful and don’t seem to be conducive to growth or anything remotely positive. As Suzanne said, "I have plenty of courage, but no courage in the world can hold out in the face of neglect, solitude and persecution."
I think it was an interesting read for me as I had always assumed that convents wouldn’t be such places of pettiness, and that relations between nuns would be civil at least. Alas, this was not the case in this book.
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Gearóid
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Feb 05, 2013 12:51AM
Looks very interesting.
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It is! Pretty disturbing too. Remind me to never become a nun, lol
@Yasmin - Oh, never even crossed my mind! Have always wondered how nuns live, etc.
Yeah? Well maybe I was curious when I was sixteen, how they lived I mean, not becoming a nun.
My aunt actually wanted to become a nun. She went to a convent school and was intrigued by Catholicism. My grandfather talked her out of it!
I know that in the past convents were used to house women who were 'inconvenient' to their husbands or families. But I always presumed these monastic houses to be places which must be quite lax and comfortable....particularly if they allowed this sort of practice. But obviously convents were different in different countries and in different times. The one you describe here sound horrible. How terrible that people were forced to become nuns too. A step that would totally affect the whole of their future lives....Please tell me that Suzanne found some sort of release at the end, either from the convent, or into one that was kinder.
In Ireland it used to be a big honour if a son or daughter became a priest or a nun and some families the youngest was encouraged to join the priesthood or become a nun....i remember when i was probably 7 years old a priest visiting our school class and trying to encourage us to become priests...i dont think he had any success....
Caroline wrote: "I know that in the past convents were used to house women who were 'inconvenient' to their husbands or families. But I always presumed these monastic houses to be places which must be quite lax a..."This was news to me until I read this book. Suzanne was considered to be an inconvenience for quite fantastic reasons. The story had a relatively happy ending I would say, or shall I say a hopeful one. I agree; being forced to do something against your will definitely isn't fun.
Gary wrote: "In Ireland it used to be a big honour if a son or daughter became a priest or a nun and some families the youngest was encouraged to join the priesthood or become a nun....i remember when i was pro..."I watched a Canadian documentary some years ago that investigated the current situation of Canadian nuns and priests; the numbers have obviously dwindled in recent times! I was surprised to see so many nuns walking the streets of Montreal when I visited.
Personally I wouldn't say I have anything against nuns and priests. I just don't think it's healthy for them to live cloistered. It doesn't make much sense to separate themselves from the outside world.
Rowena wrote: "Gary wrote: "In Ireland it used to be a big honour if a son or daughter became a priest or a nun and some families the youngest was encouraged to join the priesthood or become a nun....i remember w..."During the summer i walked a Pilgrimage route form Porto in Portugal to Santiago in Spain and did not see a single priest or nun.....
Gary wrote: "Rowena wrote: "Gary wrote: "In Ireland it used to be a big honour if a son or daughter became a priest or a nun and some families the youngest was encouraged to join the priesthood or become a nun...."That's really surprising! I would have thought there would be lots in those parts. My cousin's uncle is actually a priest in Newfoundland!
Gary wrote: "During the summer i walked a Pilgrimage route form Porto in Portugal to Santiago in Spain and did not see a single priest or nun..... ....."That sounds a wonderful experience Gary!
Rowena wrote: "Personally I wouldn't say I have anything against nuns and priests. I just don't think it's healthy for them to live cloistered. It doesn't make much sense to separate themselves from the outside w..."I went to 13 schools in total (never expelled, my parents just moved around a lot...) In my last two years I went to a convent, and it was by far the nicest school out of all of them. The nuns were lovely. I still have several friends from there from amongst my classmates :-)
Caroline wrote: "Gary wrote: "During the summer i walked a Pilgrimage route form Porto in Portugal to Santiago in Spain and did not see a single priest or nun..... ....."That sounds a wonderful experience Gary!"
Hi Caroline,
Yes,it was really terrific.
I enjoyed every minute of it.Met some lovely people,nice weather,amazing architecture and history,great food and drink.
Caroline wrote: ":-) Bliss....."You should try it some time.I'd recommend to anyone.You
can even sleep in monastries along the way.
Wow, 13 schools Caroline? Oh my! I'm not sure if it's the same in England and Ireland but in Scotland there were separate schools for Catholics and Protestants. I always envied my Catholic friends because they got to wear pretty dresses for their Communion:)
Rowena wrote: "Wow, 13 schools Caroline? Oh my! I'm not sure if it's the same in England and Ireland but in Scotland there were separate schools for Catholics and Protestants. I always envied my Catholic friends..."
Most of our schools are mixed, but some of them are dedicated to Catholics. I can't think of dedicated Protestant schools as such. Being by far the most common religion in this country I think it is just the norm in most schools which hold religious services. We do have occasional Quaker schools too though.
Shame about the Communion frocks! It seems an occasion when a special frock would be totally merited, whatever church you belonged to :-)
On second thought we do have schools which are attached to churches, and which will only admit students whose parents go regularly to that church and show themselves to being committed Christians. In that sense I guess we do have Protestant schools.....
We have separate Catholic and Protestant Schools in Ireland.My son going to the school down the road from my house and my neighbour across the road travels about 25km to a Protestant school every day.
There are more Multi-Denominational schools opening though.
Caroline wrote: "On second thought we do have schools which are attached to churches, and which will only admit students whose parents go regularly to that church and show themselves to being committed Christians. ..."By the way Caroline,did you see the BBC Documentary about Sister Wendy(the famous nun who did the religious art series) over Christmas?I think it was a BBC Arena program.Very interesting.
It was about Sister Wendy herself more so than the Art and she is a fascinating lady.
Gary wrote: "We have separate Catholic and Protestant Schools in Ireland.My son going to the school down the road from my house and my neighbour across the road travels about 25km to a Protestant school every ..."
Do you think Multi-Denominational schools help with Catholic/Protestant integration? Anything that furthers that cause would seem a welcome initiative.
Gary wrote: "Caroline wrote: "On second thought we do have schools which are attached to churches, and which will only admit students whose parents go regularly to that church and show themselves to being commi..."Sadly I missed it. I have just done a thorough search on iPlayer - and it doesn't look as though it's available to watch. Luckily television nowadays seems to consist of a perpetual round of repeats - so hopefully - given your recommendation - I will catch it next time round. She seems an amazing woman, so erudite, frank and unpretentious. Very interesting. It would be good to find out more about her.
I don't think there is a problem of Catholic/Protestant integration at all.I just think its a traditional thing with the separate schools.
I was trying to decide whether I wanted to read this or not. The ayes have it. Thank you for your review- sounds good!
Gary wrote: "I don't think there is a problem of Catholic/Protestant integration at all.I just think its a traditional thing with the separate schools."Gosh, its interesting you should say that. We obviously only hear of flare ups over here (ie on the news), not of everyday peaceful relationships. It's good to hear that most of the time you get on well.
The problems you see in the are in the North of Ireland.There is the peace process there but still some deep issues.
*Blush, blush, blush* I am SO embarrassed. I was sure that Wexford was in southern Ireland - but my geography is so bad, that when we started this conversation I looked on a map to check. The map was very misleading & I thought the lit up bit was Wexford. It was in fact the whole of Northern Ireland. My apologies for being such an idiot!No, I know you have no issues in southern Ireland with integration. Talk about barking up the wrong tree! I am sorry for that....
No,no...dont be embarrassed.Ah no problem at all...lol....funny thing is that i am not even in Wexford....i live in Co. Wicklow but it was not an option i could select on the goodreads site so i settled for Wexford...lol
Well, thank you for being so nice about my blunder, and all good wishes to you in Co. Wicklow this afternoon :-)
No worries at all.It's fun chatting.I changed it to Co. Wicklow now also.
The Garden Of Ireland.
Great photos....that exactly the area i live in.Great place for hillwalking and scenery.
Great for photographers.
Denise wrote: "I was trying to decide whether I wanted to read this or not. The ayes have it. Thank you for your review- sounds good!"Thanks Denise! You're very welcome and I hope you enjoy the book:)
Gary wrote: "We have separate Catholic and Protestant Schools in Ireland.My son going to the school down the road from my house and my neighbour across the road travels about 25km to a Protestant school every ..."
I guess it's similar to Scotland then. I did go to a so-called Christian High School but half of the students were Muslim, Hindu, atheist etc. They still had to attend school assemblies and sing a few hymns etc. Most of them were okay with that.
Naive!Maybe not in the heart, before God, but I've read about families who would park daughters in convents. Also, I've read how the wealthy were treated better than the poor. As with anything sprawling and where money is around, I'm sure experiences varied.
Hahah, the world is a mean place! I'm hardened. Next step is to become a criminal.
Bird Brian wrote: "Call me naive. I never knew anybody could be forced to become a nun."I wasn't aware of the fact either but, according to this book, if a woman was thought of as an inconvenience, her family could send her away. I maybe should have mentioned in my review that the book's setting was 18th Century France.
Eh?Eh! wrote: "Naive!Maybe not in the heart, before God, but I've read about families who would park daughters in convents. Also, I've read how the wealthy were treated better than the poor. As with anything sp..."
Yes, exactly! Also, in this book the Mother Superior at the first convent wouldn't let Suzanne leave because that would mean less money for them.
I gather not just 18th century France. Is anyone familiar with The Magdelene Girls? I think that's right...While those girls weren't nuns they were forcibly looked after by nuns.
Yes,at the moment this is a hot issue in Ireland where these ladies are looking for an apology from the government.A really shocking story.http://www.independent.ie/opinion/com...
I went to a private Catholic school growing up in Ontario Canada and was taught by nuns,even the principle was a nun, so not limited to Europe. Don't have anything bad to say about it - good memories, excellent teachers.
Florence wrote: "I went to a private Catholic school growing up in Ontario Canada and was taught by nuns,even the principle was a nun, so not limited to Europe. Don't have anything bad to say about it - good memori..."That's great:) My Aunt must have had excellent teachers at her Catholic school as well seeing as she badly wanted to become a nun as a teenager!
Gary wrote: "Yes,at the moment this is a hot issue in Ireland where these ladies are looking for an apology from the government.A really shocking story.http://www.independent.ie/opinion/com...-..."
This is news to me! I guess with any group of people there's always the good and the bad.
Someone recommended this nun's autobiography to me, it looks really interesting: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89...
Rowena, An excellent review and as a result I've purchased this book.Throughout my life, I've had a fascination with monks and nuns. Two super books were the popular The Name of the Rose. In fact I loved it so much I also read it in Italian and French.
And the other good book, that belonged to my father The Nun of Monza, which I loved.
Thanks again for the review!
