Category: Catholic Reader

Posts that deal primarily with literature & the reading thereof.

Plutarch’s Lives: Instructive Biography

Detail of title page, Dutton edition

Comparing two modern editions of Plutarch’s Lives shows how the modern world has learned to scorn the value of moral character.Continue readingPlutarch’s Lives: Instructive Biography

Didius Falco Mysteries, Imperial Fun

Lindsey Davis’s Didius Falco mysteries are fun romps through the early Roman Empire.Continue readingDidius Falco Mysteries, Imperial Fun

Roma Sub Rosa, A Revisionist View

Like John Maddox Roberts’s SPQR series, Steven Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa mysteries take place in the late Roman Republic, but betray modern prejudices.Continue readingRoma Sub Rosa, A Revisionist View

SPQR, An Insider’s View of the Republic

If you like historical mystery novels set in ancient Rome, John Maddox Roberts’ SPQR series gives you an entertaining yet historically accurate view of the late Republic.Continue readingSPQR, An Insider’s View of the Republic

Literary Neanderthals: Not So Stupid After All

Full Color Realistic Illustration of Prehistoric Neanderthal Man Holding a Neanderthal Skull

A recent suggestion by a scientist that we try cloning Neanderthals reminded me of two books that depict this lost human race and raise questions about our own, homo sapiens.Continue readingLiterary Neanderthals: Not So Stupid After All

Encouraging Stories of Ancient Saints

My Lenten reading reminds me that Christianity always takes its inspiration from real stories of real people struggling to love and trust God.Continue readingEncouraging Stories of Ancient Saints

Planet Narnia: Tutelary Deities

Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia reveals the influence of medieval allegory that invests C. S. Lewis’s Narnia stories with hidden levels of meaning.Continue readingPlanet Narnia: Tutelary Deities

Gilson’s Foreword to the City of God

In In his foreword to the Image Books edition of St. Augustine’s City of God, Etienne Gilson reminds us that any society not based on love of God and love of neighbor is doomed to fail.Continue readingGilson’s Foreword to the City of God

Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia

My first encounter with Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia, which has revolutionized criticism of C. S. Lewis’s Narnia stories.Continue readingMichael Ward’s Planet Narnia

Current Reading: Arthur & Augustine

This blog started as simply a way to “think aloud” about what I was reading at the time — in this case, two of my favorites: Arthurian literature and Saint Augustine.Continue readingCurrent Reading: Arthur & Augustine