Markings

Rating:
Summary: Meaningless Blather
Review: A bunch of atheist blather from a one-world socialist. If you believe in God and freedom, skip it.

Rating:
Summary: A man for others
Review: Although a man of worldly success, Dag Hammarskjold gives to us in his own words, his in-depth search for the meaning of life. Upon his death in 1961, his request is to have his diary published if it proves to others to be worthy of publishing. This diary is rich with the struggle to live his life without the benefit of thanksgiving from his peers. His deep conviction, which comes after much search and struggle, is to lay down his life for others, no matter the consequence, the praise, the outcome. To live each day by giving up the self and rising above to meet the other on his/her journey. Although Dag Hammarskjold did indeed receive much praise and gratitude as Secretary General for the United Nations, he realized deep down that this was not the true focus of his life but to give without the idea of getting anything in return, this is the real self rising, the spirit of God. Many have given to us "this road less traveled" by their exemplary life: Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart, who is quoted in the introduction to Markings: " Only the hand which erases can write the true thing", Simone Weil, Mother Teresa, Dalai Lama and many other's whose lives are lived in this way but with no recognition. It is a humble way to live with sometimes having to turn the other cheek but the letting go of the ego and the releasing of God's spirit is a gift worthy of the sacrifice.

Rating:
Summary: Powerfully Reflective
Review: As a single man, Hammarskjold's legacy was in his work, including the recorded ideas he left. This autobiographical glimpse of the man allows the reader to empathize with the loneliness of growing old without a mate. Although his life ended on less than desirable terms, there are some positives in his story as well. Hammarskjold made the most of the hand he was dealt in life. One can see an evolution of his thoughts over time. The book starts somewhat chaotic, but to the patient reader, the growth that emerges is worth the struggle of reaching the climax.

Various other thinkers are quoted in his "markings." Sometimes it's a stream of consciousness type reflection that is recorded.

Consider this "marking" from 1956, "We act in faith--and miracles occur...Faith is, faith creates, faith carries."

Here's another jewel from the following year: "We have to acquire a peace and balance of mind such that we give every word of criticism its due weight, and humble ourselves before every word of praise."

And another excerpt: "In any human situation, it is cheating not to be, at every moment, one's best."

To conclude this review here are some final thoughts that show the power of his concluding reflections:
"...He (God) is wholly in all you meet...
...each of your acts is an act of creation...
...everything, therefore, has a meaning. So live, then, that you may use what has been put into your hand..."

Rating:
Summary: Meditations for the modern world
Review: I bought my first copy of Dag Hammarskjold's book of meditations, Markings, shortly after its release in the early 1960's. It was a strange and haunting book and left me deeply affected. Hammarskjold, for many years the Secretary General of the United Nations - at a time when there was still high hope for the U.N. to eliminate war and improve human welfare around the globe - wrote this journal of spiritual search and dispair in apparent recognition of his failure to achieve the high goals he aspired to. I forget who I gave that first book to, but I have since purchased and given away many copies of this book. There is much that all of us modern, media drugged folks can learn from the insights he penned in his dark moments. It is both uplifting to realize the depth of soul that can exist behind public action and at the same time depressing to recognize that no amount of fame or power will necessarily bring happiness or overcome one's sense of isolation in the universe.

This is not a book one can just sit down and read. It is, as the title suggests, a journal of isolated notes or 'Markings' that Hammarskjold made over a long period of time. Many similar ideas and themes are repeated in different words throughout the book and the reader really has to pause frequently to think about what he has read. This is not an uplifting book but ultimately it is a very moving one, and to the extent that it encourages similar meditations from the reader, potentially a very valuable one as well. I highly recommend this book for those hours when a reader wants to turn inward and shine a light on what is really meaningful in life.

Rating:
Summary: Incomprehensible
Review: I hate to say this, but I found this book totally incomprehensible. I don't think I am a stupid or shallow person, and I have an utmost respect for Mr. Hammarskjold, but this book just made no sense to me. Some of the phrases leave me completely mystified, others seem to make sense, but I am never sure that what I read in them is what the writer tried to say. These are his personal notes, he wrote them purely for himself. Perhaps they should stay this way.

Rating:
Summary: My absolute favorite book of all time
Review: I have found this book to be a pleasant read. The reason that I give it 3 stars is because I feel the book lacks focus. Without a clear purpose or direction, I lack a true spiritual involvement. Others may feel differently. Dag Hammarskjöld's (1905-1961) leadership at the UN propelled him into that special spotlight of a world diplomat for the cause of peace. His book of meditations has given him further stature as one of the twentieth century's most noted spiritual pilgrims. I enjoyed discovering the way in which Mr Hammarskjöld struggled with imposing his spiritual understanding onto the world stage. Although I do not participate at the same world level, nor have the onerous decisions which he bore, I too have difficulty at times resolving my spiritual values with my activities and responsibilities. Hammarskjöld writes, "I don't know Who -- or what -- put the question, I don't know when it was put. I don't even remember answering. But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone -- or Something -- and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self- surrender, had a goal." "From that moment I have known what it means 'not to look back,' and 'To take no thought for the morrow.'" "As I continued along the Way, I learned, step by step, word by word, that behind every saying in the Gospels stands one man and one man's experience. Also behind the prayer that the cup might pass from him and his promise to drink it. Also behind each of the words from the Cross." If you are interested to learn the thoughts of a dedicated public servant as he attempted to live by his spiritual values, this book will be interesting to you.

Rating:
Summary: A Journey into the Soul
Review: I like this book. It captures the innermost struggles and thoughts of a man who achieved greatness in many senses. Dag Hammarskjold's musings illuminate that even people of worldly importance wrestle with the same internal conflicts that the rest of mankind does, when we take the time to reflect. That a man as busy as the U.N. Secretary General took the time to engage in such introspection speaks highly of his humility and character.

Markings has given me inspiration to continue exploring my own innermost struggles through journaling and taking counsel with my conscience on long runs. If we could all emulate Hammarskjold's ability to capture the essence of a moment, feeling or internal conflict, we would probably be more at peace with the world and ourselves. Highly recommended for any wishing to peer into the thoughts of a philosophical leader.

Rating:
Summary: It is a rewritten diary
Review: MARKINGS makes no direct reference to Hammarskjold's career. Dag Hammarskjold had great wordly success. Hammarskjold said his notes were sign posts. Auden believes the book has the aspect of a rewritten diary.

Hammarskjold never knew poverty, ill-health. And yet he had an aggressive super ego. Auden notes that to be gifted and yet to not know how to use one's gifts and to have low self-esteem is dangerous. He was preoccupied with sacrifice. Waking in the middle of the night he wondered whether he had done right. W.H. Auden assisted in the translation.

Rating:
Summary: My absolute favorite book of all time
Review: Over the years, in this collection of personal reflections and meditations, I have slowly learned, as Hammarskjold did, "the explanation of how man should live a life of active social service in full harmony with himself as a member of the community of the spirit." Hammarskjold found his answer "in the writings of those great medieval mystics for whom 'self-surrender' had been the way to self-realization, and who in 'singleness of mind' and 'inwardness' had found strength to say Yes to every demand which the needs of their neighbors made them face, and to say Yes also to every fate life had in store for them ... Love--that much misused and misinterpreted word--for them meant simply an overflowing of the strength with which they felt themselves filled when living in true self-oblivion. And this love found natural expression in an unhesitant fulfillment of duty and an unreserved acceptance of life, whatever it brought them personally of toil, suffering--or happiness."

This is my favorite quote from the entire book, one to which I have returned many times over the years, but there are many more treasures to be found in this collection. W.H. Auden's foreword I found deeply insightful, and I have returned to it as well many times over the years. How to reconcile our twentieth-century life with what is truly asked of us, when we care to face those questions, is an overarching concern throughout this book. Time and again, Hammarskjold challenges himself, and by sharing in his spiritual struggles, we challenge ourselves as well by meditating on his reflections. His writing is deeply inspiring and sobering, and I feel a sense of grateful humility at the end of each rereading of it. This is a book to keep by your bedside, to turn to when you are in despair and need some soul-strengthening.

Rating:
Summary: Occassionally Thought Provoking
Review: The excessive sentence fragments, the unending infinitives, and the haphazard structure make this work at times kind of annoying. (His ego-centric contemptible "editor" W. H. Auden doesn't help matters in this respect. One often wonders who's to blame. There desperately needs to be an Auden-less edition. Hence the three stars.) But Hammarskjold isn't read today because he is a gifted writer. Markings is a fascinating book because of who wrote it. The words have life because of the identity of the author. This is what fascinates us: to get inside the head of a brilliant Swedish politician who to the rest of the world is just a successful public figure but to the reader reveals a real human being with angst, fear, doubt, loneliness, piety, faith, and struggles. We get to peek under the curtain, so to speak, and see an inner life that with any luck succeeds in reminding us of our humanity. This aspect of the work deserves five stars for sure. Breath on oh living soul and be for us a marking along a way that takes us to where you ultimately found your rest.