Category: Books and Reading
Recently I read Andrew Greeley’s The Catholic Imagination (2001, University of California Press) and was fascinated by his research into the way Catholicism affects one’s world view and creativity. I’ve collected some of the more interesting and provocative quotes below: After several pages of statistical analysis, Greeley concludes: Catholics are more interested in the fine arts than Protestants, and those Catholics who go to church regularly are the most likely to be interested in the fine arts. Catholics are more interested in the fine arts because they have more graceful...
It’s almost midnight and I should be in bed, but I have to write something about the loss of Ray Bradbury. I’m too tired to adequately explain how much I admire his work. Let me just say that if I could choose any author’s style to emulate, it would be Ray Bradbury’s. I love his simple prose and vivid images. He was a true storyteller who rose above genre and left behind a legacy of powerful literature. I began to really appreciate Bradbury’s work when I taught Fahrenheit...
From BurningThroughPages.org:
Is the digital age making it more difficult for us to recognize, appreciate and encounter beauty? Traditionally, journey was a rhythm of three forces: time, self and space. Now the digital virus has truncated time and space. Marooned on each instant, we have forfeited the practice of patience, the attention to emergence and delight in the Eros of discovery. The self has become anxious for what the next instant might bring. This greed for destination obliterates the journey. The digital desire for the single instant schools the mind...
Ralph Fiennes reads a moving excerpt from Bleak House as Prince Charles lays a wreath of flowers on Dickens’ grave. Today the world remembers Charles Dickens, born on this day two hundred years ago. I have a great fondness for Dickens’s works, especially David Copperfield and Hard Times. One of Dickens’ particular qualities was the ability to make one laugh and shudder at the same time. As Chesterton says, “These two primary dispositions of Dickens, to make the flesh creep and to make the sides ache, were a...
Here’s violinist Lindsey Stirling with a beautiful medley of music from Lord of the Rings: Thanks to TheOneRing.net for the tip!
Though National Vocation Awareness Week has ended for this year, the working out or living out of our vocations goes on. Jeffrey Langan, Associate Professor at Notre Dame, delivers a fascinating lecture in which he uses Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to illustrate the dynamic of vocation. Though he seems to be speaking mostly about the ordained or religious life, many of his remarks could also be applied to marriage and other vocations.
Today is J.R.R. Tolkien’s 120th birthday. Known, of course, mainly for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, one of his most under appreciated works is a gem of a short story called “Leaf by Niggle.” This simple story is a beautiful allegory for the creative life and for the transition into eternal life. Similar to C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, “Leaf by Niggle” is much more subtle. It is also deeply spiritual and rooted in a solid Catholic theology of art and afterlife. “Leaf by Niggle” complements...
2011 was a record year for me in terms of number of books read. I use Goodreads.com to keep track of my reading, and about this time last year Goodreads opened up the 2011 Reading Challenge. My goal for the year was 36 books, which was a slight increase over the past few years. I had read 31 books in both 2009 and 2010, and my previous high was 34 books in 2006. I felt fairly confident that I could read three books a month. Much to my...
To the Field of Stars: A Pilgrim’s Journey to Santiago De Compostela by Kevin A. Codd My rating: 5 of 5 stars I enjoyed every word of this gorgeous, honest, life-giving journey with Fr. Kevin Codd as he made his pilgrimage across Spain to Santiago De Compostela. Fr. Codd not only recounts the physical aspects of his journey, but–more signifcantly–he lets us in on the psychological and spiritual journey he went through as he trekked over 500 miles on foot. To the Field of Stars is a concrete...
With Fire and Sword An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. by Henryk Sienkiewicz My rating: 4 of 5 stars With Fire and Sword must be one of the greatest historical epics you’ve never heard of. Set in the 17th century, and told from the Polish point of view, it recounts a Cossack uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The historical backdrop serves as a grand canvas for the portraits of courage, love, and spiritual devotion that form the heart of the story. In print, With Fire and Sword...
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