2000-09-16
30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
The translation is awkward throughout this book, and the awkward phrasing makes the message almost unintelligible. For example, the following sentence is from the book:
"When the heart has already a tendency toward God, we can easily accustom ourselves to suspend the hasty movements of nature, and wait for the second moment when we can act through grace by listening to God." [What does this mean????]
Although I don't have the original French in front of me, Fenelon probably was saying something like: "If we have given primary place to God in our hearts, we can learn to curb our impulses and wait for the grace of God to direct our responses."
The muddled, literal translation found in this book does a disservice to Fenelon, who is a clear thinker on spiritual topics. [There is a mistake in the information given about the book: The translator is not Edmondson but another person -- according to the flyleaf of the book.]
