The Cloud of Unknowing: and the Book of Privy Counseling (Image Classics) Paperback – 6 Oct 1998

DON’T BUY THE VERSION ON CD: the reader is great but the audio production is not professional. Very often on the CD, I only listened to 1 and 2, the phrases are left incomplete and one is left wondering why they made such a work …. You can hear the sentences are left incomplete, yet you have purchased the unabridged version and the copy ordered, shipped from the US …. St. Anthony Messenger Press is I believe, an American publisher that produces these audio recordings on CD, they are supposed to be unabridged, but technically they are not really, the recordings sound as if the technical engineer or whatever the correct name is for the person who records the narration and burns the material on CDs, has not double checked the recording or the burning on the CD. The audio book on CD ‘Mother Theresa: come, be my Light’ was also published by the same editor and there too I noticed, on at least a couple of occasions, that sentences were not complete, one would hear the narration and at some point the sentence would be interrupted without apparent reason, in this instance however the incompleteness of the sentences were noticeable less regularly than this one, I was able to finish the book. In the Mother Theresa’s case, fortunately I was able to find the unabridged download version with Audible UK and the download version is, as far as I can tell, perfect, but of this title, it seems that in the UK, the Audible version is not available.I would not recommend to buy audiobooks on CD from this editor.I am not happy to think and to experience that these Religious books which in my opinion should have priority over other types of books,which demand technical attention to be recorded correctly and burnt on CDs properly, are the least attended to …. Other books which are not religious have, not always perfect, but certainly better quality. Shame.

excellent

Well worth reading if you want to know how to learn to press closer into God and discover more of his nature.This book is best for people who are really serious about furthering their development in God.This book is no use to you if you want to gloryfy yourself instead of God. If you want to learn to humble yourself before God and be open to his words and his actions and to empty yourself of every thing but him then you will find this book a treasure.

Written by an unknown author in the 14th Century this spiritual classic is very, very deep and beware not easy to understand not only because of the subject matter but because of the language and metaphor of the time. It might take a lifetime to understand it and not everyone is likely to want to go this deep. However, anyone who takes the first step and suspends all expectations and listens to these CDs will find that the subject matter will resonate in different ways. If you truly have faith ('pistis') then this work is for you. If dabbling then potentially dangerous as the author points out. Proceed with caution.The narrator's voice is very soothing (a monk no less). Just remember that this classic is all about an all embracing love, a mystery that invites us to seek it. There is so much more I could say but that is only my impoverished opinion. Find out for yourself. Just know that it involves a spirit of deep contemplation and not book learning and once you embark into the depths there is no end to the plumbing that ensues and not always pleasant ... but persevere ...There is not much more to say. Words are wasted and rather futile as they will colour your idea of the message. Taste and see. Hear and understand. Each time you LISTEN you will come away feeling you have grown slightly in your own understanding. The book is all about that cloud of unknowing ... how can anyone begin to unravel what it all means in words? A paradox.Practice. Sit, listen and keep coming back to the word 'love'. That is it put simply. You may not need to get entangled in the words and thoughts of this book which might throw you off kilter. However, useful to read it if you want to understand something of what other authors are referring to when they speak of 'the cloud of unknowing'.Also remember that a review is only one person's opinion and the opinion changes all the time so best not fix an idea in your mind and this is in a way is precisely what the anonymous author of the cloud is saying of his / her subject matter.

For me, this has always been the most meaningful and uplifting book on prayer and the spiritual life. It caught me in my twenties I am returning to it in my sixties with delight.

It is perhaps perfectly appropriate that the author of 'The Cloud of Unknowing' is himself or herself unknown.