Dear Misfits,
Recently the Misfits met to
discuss Lucy Beckett's remarkable novel of the Reformation, The Time Before
You Die. What a wonderful way to spend an evening! Lucy Beckett
must certainly be ranked in the top 25 (if not the top 10) Catholic novelists
of all time. We, to a man, immensely enjoyed the novel finding it to be
an informative, very sensitive portrayal of the struggle Catholics faced during
the traumatic years of the 16th Century. Medieval Christendom was
sundered and the Catholic faith in Tudor England was shattered. Beckett
tells the story of this tragic period in Church history through the life of
Robert Fletcher, a Carthusian Monk who was driven from his monastery when the
altars of the Catholic churches and monasteries in England were largely
destroyed. The story of Fletcher's life is told in counterpoint to that
of Reginald Pole, one of the most interesting men in all of English history.
Pole became a Cardinal of the Church, a papal legate at the Council of Trent,
and Archbishop of Canterbury during the tragic reign of his cousin, Queen Mary
Tudor. Beckett uses Cardinal Pole to relate a wonderful and thoroughly
convincing conversion dialog that brings Fletcher back to the Faith as the
novel concludes. Or did he bring Fletcher back? We
believe that he did bring Fletcher back to the true Faith but you can decide
that for yourself by reading this highly recommend novel.
Now to the
future.
For October
we will read number 27 on The Catholic Truth Societies list of “100 Books You
Really Should Read"-- The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love
and Terror in Algeria, by John W. Kiser. The Monks of Tibhirine is
the true story of seven French Trappist monks who were willing to die serving a
Muslim flock during the political nightmare that unfolds in Algeria during the
1990’s. The the monks were decapitated after being kidnapped from their
monastery in the village of Tibhirine. The story portrays the sacrificial
love shown by these Christian Monks who willingly put their lives at risk
for their Muslim friends. It also shows the Muslims who risked their
lives for the Christians. The book is extremely topical given the present
day turmoil in the Middle East as radical Islam seeks to consolidate it's power
within the bloody borders of modern Islam. You may also wish to view the
excellent film Of Gods and Men from Sony Classics which is based on the
story of The Monks of Tibhirine. The book, The Monks of
Tibhirine is widely available on-line.
For November
we will read number 33 on The Catholic Truth Societies list of "100 Books
You Really Should Read"--Fabiola or The Church of the Catacombs by
Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman. The story is set in Rome in the early 4th
century AD, during the time of the persecution of Christians under the Roman
Emperor Diocletian. The heroine of the book is Fabiola, a young beauty
from a noble Roman family who becomes a convert to the Faith. I think the
Misfits are going to really enjoy this story of conversion. The novel is
no longer in print but you can find it on-line as a used book at
Amazon.com. Better still you can read it on-line at:
The Internet
Archive: http://archive.org/details/fabiola00wise
Or Google
Books: http://books.google.com/books/about/Fabiola_or_The_church_of_the_catacombs.html?id=f6B53lLcQuYC
(Is this a
wonderful world or what?)
For December
and January we will read a book we have long considered reading: Confessions,
the autobiographical work of St. Augustine of Hippo, written between AD 397 and
AD 398. The work consists of 13 books which outline Augustine's
sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. It is widely seen as the first
Western autobiography ever written, and was an influential model for Christian
writers throughout the following 1000 years of the Middle Ages. It is not a
complete autobiography, as it was written in his early 40's, and he lived long
afterwards, producing another important work (City of God); it does,
nonetheless, provide an unbroken record of the development of his thought and
is the most complete record of any single person from the 4th and 5th
centuries.
But, ahh, here's
the rub--what translation of Confessions should we read and how should
we divide the book for December/January?
For February
we will read another book that we have long been planning to read:
Marilynne Robinson's highly acclaimed novel, Gilead which won the 2005
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was a 2004 National Book Critics Circle
Winner. Gilead is the fictional autobiography of the Reverend John
Ames, an elderly Congregationalist pastor in the small, secluded town of
Gilead, Iowa who knows that he is dying of a heart condition. The novel begins
in 1957 as the Reverend Ames explains that he is writing an account of his life
for his seven-year-old son so his son will have memories of him after he
is gone.
The story spans
three generations from the Civil War to the twentieth century. It is a
profound examination of the relationship of fathers and sons and the spiritual
battles that still rage at America's heart. “Writing in the tradition of Emily
Dickinson and Walt Whitman, Marilynne Robinson's beautiful, spare, and
spiritual prose allows "even the faithless reader to feel the possibility
of transcendent order" (Slate)”. The luminous and unforgettable
voice of Congregationalist minister John Ames reveals the human condition and
the often unbearable beauty of an ordinary life. The novel is available
at Amazon.
That should keep
us busy reading into the New Year! Please feel free to send me your
comments on our book selections for the coming months and please send me your
recommendation for a good translation of St. Augustine's Confessions.
Yours in Christ,
Misfit Buzz
“I was born with a reading list
I will never finish.”
- Maud Casey
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