A very subtle story about characters I normally wouldn’t like, told without preaching or any stodgy moralising
Tag: Catholic books
Tolkien’s Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages by Dr Holly Ordway
Dr Ordway’s excellent book undoes the myth of Tolkien the fuddy-duddy
Lord of the World – a holy tale of terror
With a disturbing vision powerfully conveyed, Lord of the World is part-novel, part-experience
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden – Innocence and experience
Godden peels back the veil of childhood innocence through attention to character, subtle humour and an ability to create a mood without describing it
Ruadhán and Seanan’s favourite books of 2021
What you will find below is a pleasant mix of fact and fiction; loquacity and punchy prose; light reading and heavy.
The Word is Very Near You by Fr Wilfrid Stinissen OCD
In this eminently readable book, Fr Stinissen leads us through the Bible in all its complexity, calling us to a personal relationship with the Word
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
Ferrante’s flashes of brilliance are undermined by long and tedious sections in this modern classic
The Golden Bowl – a divisive American classic
James’ ability to dramatise the interior lives of a small group of people in such detail, and yet with beauty and pathos, is a marvel
St Francis of Assissi by GK Chesterton
Chesterton gets behind the common sense that either dismisses or sentimentalises St Francis, unveiling the saint in all his complexity
Waugh without redemption: A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Championed by none other than Catholic author Evelyn Waugh, A Legacy demands your attention, without ever giving up its secret