The Wonder of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

There follows your humble Scribes report of our November meeting:

The Misfits met to discuss Leif Enger’s debut novel, Peace Like a River.  It was written in 2001 and in this short time has gained widespread following among reading discussion groups.  Study guides abound on the Internet, but the Misfits went freestyle last Wednesday night, as we are wont to do.

Our first impressions focused on the realistic portrayal of the characters and their relationships.  Well, it was realistic once you suspended your disbelief of nine-year-old Swede’s precocious talent to compose verse like a poet laureate.  But we’re not complaining.  The poetry was delightfully entertaining and paralleled the character development and narrative throughout the story.  I always enjoy it when a  writer writes a writer; and so much the better if that writer is a poet!

But for us, the feature of this novel is the descriptive prose.  We all recounted quotes that struck us particularly profound or evoked vivid memories of our own experience.

“Many a night I woke to the murmur of paper and knew (Dad) was up, sitting in the kitchen with frayed King James - oh, but he worked that book; he held to it like a rope ladder.”

That, for example, tells you everything you need to know by way of introduction of Jeremiah Land, Reuben’s father.  As an aside, we wondered why Jeremiah and Reuben were the only two characters in the story with biblical names and theorized it was to signify their deep spiritual connection to each other.

There were also many questions asked and mysteries raised at the meeting that sent this scribe to the research department to look for answers.

First, on the question of lignite coal burning underground--it is true.  This does occur in the badlands of North Dakota and references date back to the exploration journals of Louis and Clark.  I even ran across a photograph that was taken in 1972 of a juniper tree that burst into flame because a vein of coal burned beneath it.

My research regarding the Butch Cassidy anecdotes was less fruitful.  Although legends persist that Butch didn’t die in the shootout down in Bolivia, I (by this I mean Google) couldn’t find any evidence to suggest that he was instead ballooning with Sundance and an American genius in Argentina or that Butch eventually settled in Reece, Kansas and died in 1936.  This appears to be complete literary fabrication.  Go figure.

Finally, I wondered why the book was called what it was called.  There wasn’t anything specific in the storytelling to suggest this title except to say that it seems to match the tone of the novel and somehow relates to the characters of Jeremiah and Reuben.  It turns out that Enger found the title in the lyrics of the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul”, which was performed at the author’s wedding.

Yours in Christ,
Misfit Steve
Scribe to the Misfits

Lepanto: The Battle Won by Prayer as told by Louis de Whol

Dear Misfits,

The Misfits met on August 10 to discuss “The Last Crusader, A Novel about Don Juan of Austria” by Louis de Whol.  It proved to be a fine, lite summer read.  Most of us thought the fictionalized action was over-romanticized and even sappy.  But what the story lacked in character development, it made up for in historical accuracy.  And let’s face it, we didn’t select this book because we were interested in the intrigues of the royal court; we wanted to read another story about the battle of Lepanto!  (Recall that The Misfit’s read Chesterton’s epic poem “Lepanto” in 2004.)

The battle demonstrated that the time of oared galley warfare had come to an end.  The Christian fleet towed six galleasses to the front of the formation where broadsides fired from the heavy guns of these innovative vessels buffered the Ottoman attack.  Admiral Andria Doria, whose contributions were minimized in the novel, recommended that the iron ramming prows of the galleys be removed and replaced with cannons aimed at the waterline of enemy ships.  He also had netting installed from the masts to the gunwales to slow the Janissaries boarding assaults.  The Janissaries were the best trained and fiercest fighters of their age, but their arrows could not pierce the armor worn by the Holy League fighters, who employed musket and arquebus fire from the rigging to wreak havoc on the decks of the Turkish vessels.

Although de Wohl depicted Pope Pius V praying for the victory, he failed to mention that the Pope implored all of Europe to join him in praying the Rosary.  Many credit the intersession of the Blessed Mother for the miraculous, last-minute change of wind direction that granted an advantage to the Holy League fleet.  In fact, The Feast of the Holy Rosary (originally known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory) is celebrated on October 7 to commemorate these events.

One quote in particular was indicative of de Wohl’s understanding of the fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam.

“The Muslim, however, tried to cut the newfound bridge between God and man.  Christ, no longer the God-Man, became a mere, minor prophet who had to bow to Muhammad.  And Muhammad, too, was a prophet only.  Once more the bond between God and mankind was to be severed and the closest and most loving union broken.”

It was noted that Europe seems again threatened by the forces of Islam, except that their post-Christian culture lacks the collective will to effectively counter it.  And the United States faces similar threats as more Muslims immigrate to the country.  On the surface it doesn’t sound politically correct to speak of Islam as a threat in a country where we are supposed to value religious liberty.  However, we Catholics have always been counter-cultural and there are plenty of movements in our own country and "American" culture that run contrary to our beliefs.  We didn’t solve any problems and we know there are no easy answers, but perhaps we only need to look to the Gospel for inspiration.

            “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
            But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
             – Matthew 5:43-44.

This was the last of our summer meetings held at Loome Theological Booksellers at Claret Farm.  Thanks as always to Misfit Chris Hagen for his hospitality.  The outdoor gazebo provided the perfect setting for our discussion, even with early the darkness brought on by a looming thunderstorm; the outflow of which led to an abbreviated closing prayer.

The Misfits will meet in the St. Thomas More Library at St. Michal’s Church to discuss Walker Percy’s “Love in the Ruins” for our September meeting.  For those of you who don’t already own the book, get online and order soon with expedited shipping.  I didn’t find many copies of this book in stock in the Twin Cities.

In October the Misfits have decided to return to G. K. Chesterton!  We will read some more of Chesterton's Father Brown mysteries.  You will recall that we read “The Annotated  Innocence of Fr. Brown” for our April 2003 book selection.  For October, we will read "Father Brown:  The Essential Tales".  This definitive collection of fifteen stories, selected by the American Chesterton Society, includes such classics as “The Blue Cross,” “The Secret Garden,” and “The Paradise of Thieves.” As P. D. James writes in her Introduction, “We read the Father Brown stories for a variety pleasures, including their ingenuity, their wit and intelligence, and for the brilliance of the writing. But they provide more. Chesterton was concerned with the greatest of all problems, the vagaries of the human heart.”

We hope to see many of you at our next meeting on Wednesday, September 14, 2016, at 7:00 pm in the St. Thomas More Library at the Church of St. Michael.

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Steve Ward
Scribe to the Misfits

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Three Flannery O'Connor Short Stories for Summer Reading

Dear Misfits,

We read three of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories for our July meeting:  “Revelation”, “Parker’s Back”, and “Judgment Day”.  However, we were also encouraged to do extra-curricular reading, so a discussion of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" was almost inevitable.

“Revelation” was our starting point.  Like so many of O’Connor’s stories it includes a wonderful example of Grace offered in a completely unexpected way.  Misfits who have spent time in the south commented on how the vivid imagery painted an accurate portrait of sensibilities, both good and bad, that still seem to be prevalent today.  On one hand there is an emphasis put on southern hospitality and genteel behavior, but underneath there can be tendencies to view one’s self above other people or classes.  Mrs. Turpin responded positively to her opportunity for grace and O’Connor used the moment to impart a little Catholic perspective on the question of who will be first in the Kingdom.  The following is Mrs. Turpin’s vision of the Saved marching into Heaven:

“And bringing up the end of the procession was a tribe of people whom she recognized at once as those who, like herself and Claude, had always had a little of everything and the God-given wit to use it right.  ….Accountable as they had always been for good order and common sense and respectable behavior.  …  Yet she could see by their shocked and altered faces that even their virtues were being burned away.”

Grace was also found in “Parker’s Back”.  We had the sense that God was always looking out for Parker and realized that moments of grace don’t necessarily need to be religious experiences.  Who could have imagined that the change Parker felt when he first saw a tattooed man would lead him toward his salvation?  The other thing that impressed us was the amazing amount of symbolism throughout.  The tractor accident seemed reminiscent of the Burning Bush where Parker ended up shoeless on what he experienced as hallowed ground.  The Moses metaphor continued when Parker got the tattoo of Jesus on his back.  Just as Moses could not see God fully – only his back – the tattoo of Christ was the only one of his many tattoo’s that Parker couldn’t see.  But to me the most striking symbolism came in learning the meaning of O. E. Parker’s given name.  Obadiah means “Slave of God” and Elihue means “He is God”.  Parker responded to the grace offered to him, but to his great sorrow, his wife did not accept the grace offered to her.

Next we jumped to “A Good Man is Hard to Find”.  I have been pleased, perhaps even proud, to count myself among The Misfits for many years.  All this time I only knew The Misfits were named for a character in a Flannery O’Connor story and I was satisfied with that.  But after reading the story for the first time I was forced to ask why in the devil we ever named ourselves for such a loathsome character.

For the record, it happened very early on in the history of our reading group and some of the specific details may have been conveniently misremembered.  But it is believed that the genesis of the association came in considering a line spoken by The Misfit in the story.  From his twisted perspective it is possible to get a sense that as Christians and sinners our punishment does not fit our crimes because of Christ’s mercy.

“I call myself The Misfit because I can’t make what all I done wrong fit what all I gone through in punishment.”

In fact and on reflection, the character of The Misfit has many profound spiritual insights.  He very well understands the central question offered by Christianity:  If you accept that Jesus is God, what are you going to do about it?  The Misfit certainly wrestled with Grace at some point in his life and rejected Him outright.  However, in the end is he expressing disappointment, regret, or something else when he concedes that there is no real pleasure in life?

There was not enough time to discuss “Judgment Day” as the sun was beginning to set beyond the gazebo at Claret Farm.

For our August meeting, The Misfits will read The Last Crusader by Louis de Wohl.  The novel is historical fiction about Don Juan of Austria.  Mistfits will recognize Don Juan of Austria as the hero of Lepanto from the G.K. Chesterton poem, Lepanto, we read many years ago.  The Last Crusader is slightly long, 500 pages, but it promises to be an exciting summer read.

For our September meeting, we will read Walker Percy’s very quirky novel, Love in the Ruins.  “Percy brilliantly describes and satirizes the competing elements in this novel as an American Apocalypse - the country club conservatives, the "groovy" priests, the religious Right and Left, the technocrats, the sexologists, the racists, the Black revolutionaries, the drop-outs, and the sinister but bungling government bureaucrats who have their own vision of a "Brave New World."  Written in the 1971, it has a very contemporary ring to it!

And finally, please don’t forget the challenge offered by Misfit Buzz last month.  After all these years we think it a good thing to have a standard opening prayer for our meetings.  I seem to recall there being some sort of contest or prize involved, but the details escape me now.  But if you have any ideas for an opening prayer, jot them down and send them to Buzz.  He will ensure that your work will be recognized and suitably rewarded.

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Steve Ward
Scribe to the Misfits

Summer Evening with Graham Greene's The Quiet American

Dear Misfits,

The Misfits met on June 8 at Loome Theological Books to discuss Graham Greene’s novel, The Quiet American.  The Misfits have a fond appreciation for classic Russian novelists, but we agreed it was a pleasure to enjoy a short, readable novel after slogging through two months of Dostoyevsky.  The summer green, the evening air, the setting sun, and a Spotted Cow or two all combined to provide the perfect setting for our meeting held in the Claret Farm gazebo.  Thanks again to Misfit Chris Hagen for hosting.

Misfit Buzz began the discussion by providing some historical context for the Vietnam War.  Most of us are old enough to remember the war well, and some of us served in it, but this novel takes place before the United States became deeply involved.  Given that Graham Greene published the novel in 1955, it turned out to be prophetic as well.  It was also interestingly noted in a sidebar that, besides the struggles against French colonialism, a certain portion of the early aggression was fueled by Communists and Buddhists coming into conflict with Vietnamese Catholics, who were well established.

The story has two main characters:  Fowler – a newspaper correspondent from England, and Pyle – a CIA agent in the vanguard of US involvement.  The Misfits failed to find redeeming qualities in either man.  Fowler tried to use his objectivity as a reporter to rationalize his neutrality in the conflict, but it was his desire for and dependence on his girlfriend and mistress,  Phuong, that bound him personally to the war.  In the end he was compelled to take action, but even in doing so he tried to justify himself in such a way as to deny moral responsibility for the consequences.  Pyle was described as a naïve idiot who was oblivious to reality.  He was an inexperienced ideologue who felt the United States could impose democracy by teaming with the right ally to form a Third Force and gain victory by upsetting the existing balance of power.  He reminded us of the many shortcomings in American foreign policy throughout the years.

The love triangle between Fowler, Pyle, and Phuong is an allegory for the war itself.  Fowler represents the interests of colonial Europe.  He doesn’t want to be alone in his declining years in much the same way the French sought to maintain the status quo of colonialism.  Pyle is an idealist who fights the battle of Democracy versus Communism and he doesn’t care if innocent lives are lost in the process.  And Phuong represents most Vietnamese in that she simply wants a live of security, peace, stability, and happiness.

Finally we wondered if the character of Fowler is in some ways Graham Greene’s alter ego.  Certainly Greene’s political views are reflected in Fowler, and the opposite of those views is embodied in the antagonist Pyle.  But we also suspect that some of Greene’s conversion experience was expressed in Fowler.  Was there a period of time when Greene, like Pyle, didn’t believe in God?  And was Fowler’s conflict with his divorced wife drawn from his own experience.

Despite the fact that the main characters are shallow, more or less unbelievable, and generally dislikeable, we really enjoyed the book.  It sparked lengthy discussions about the war itself and what America could have done and what its involvement should have been.

To the Future: 

For July we are returning to Flannery O'Conner and will be reading selected short stories from The Complete Stories.  We will specifically read and discuss “Revelation”, “Parkers Back”, and “Judgement Day”.

For August we will read a novel that has great historical and some might say, topical interest:  The Last Crusader: A Novel About Don Juan of Austria by Louis de Wohl.  The novel portrays the great Christian victory at the Battle of Lepanto.

Our next two meetings will be at Loome Booksellers/Claret Farm hosted by Misfit and bookseller extraordinaire, Chris Hagen.  Our meeting in July will be on July 12th and will start at 7:00 pm.  If you haven't been to a Misfit Meeting Under the Gazebo at Claret Farm, you are missing a literary and distinctly male, convivial experience (as in men discussing books and drinking fine beer.

With Warm Literary Regard,

Steve Ward

Scribe to the Misfits

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"Every person that comes into this earth ... is born sweet and full of love. A little child loves ever'body, friends, and its nature is sweetness -- until something happens. Something happens, friends, I don't need to tell people like you that can think for theirselves. As that little child gets bigger, its sweetness don't show so much, cares and troubles come to perplext it, and all its sweetness is driven inside it. Then it gets miserable and lonesome and sick, friends. It says, 'Where is all my sweetness gone? Where are all the friends that loved me?' and all the time, that little beat-up rose of its sweetness is inside, not a petal dropped."

          FLANNERY O'CONNOR, Wise Blood

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A Misfittian Inspiration from Thomas Merton

The Seven Story Mountain was an excellent book to read before Lent.  We were inspired by Merton’s detachment and aestheticism as we enter this holy season on Ash Wednesday.  However, the book was not without its practical challenges.  Several Misfits confessed to not being able to finish the whole book (the paperback edition is 462 pages), but vowed to do so when it became apparent that most of the meat is served at the end – especially the last 100 thought-provoking pages.  We agreed that it is an excellent source for those searching for God.

The first half of the book is dedicated to Merton’s early life –childhood, travels with his father, education, independence, lapse into sin, and call to conversion.  This narrative could have been judged to be somewhat mundane were it not for Merton’s ability to season it with detailed recollections of key people, places, and events that were the seeds of his eventual conversion as well as his philosophic and theological wisdom sprinkled throughout.  Writing was his true calling.

The tone changed in the second half of the book.  There was less action and more focus on Merton’s thoughts.  He had a close circle of friends during his journey, but he was most influenced by reading poets, philosophers, and theologians.  He had an immense intellect to comprehend dense material, but it was his will that enabled him to apply what he read to his life, which ultimately led to repentance, conversion, and a religious vocation.

There was one passage in particular that reminded me of The Misfits because I think it captures the essence of why we do what we do. The following was paraphrased from Part 2, Chapter 1, Section II (paperback edition page 197).

That course on Shakespeare was the best course I ever had at college.  It was the only place where I ever heard anything really sensible said about any of the things that were really fundamental – life, death, time, love, sorrow, fear, wisdom, suffering, eternity.  The material of literature and especially of drama is chiefly human acts – that is, free acts, moral acts.  Literature, drama, and poetry make certain statements about these acts that can be made in no other way.  You miss the deepest meaning if you reduce the vital and creative statements about life and men to the dry, matter-of-fact terms of history, or ethics, or some other science.  They belong to a different order.  All that year we were, in fact, talking about the deepest springs of human desire and hope and fear.

The final line of the book is an apt summary of Merton’s entire life as an author and seeker.  I also submit that it would make a fine motto for The Misfits.  And it is already translated into Latin for us! 

SIT FINIS LIBRE, NON FINIS QUAERENDI

(This is the end of the book, Not the end of the searching)

The Sign of Jonas was suggested to those who want more Merton.  It covers his life in the monastery.  The final chapter, The Fire Walk, was especially recommended and can be read as a stand-alone piece.  A copy of this book is available from the St. Thomas More Library at the Church of St. Michael.  It is also possible to view a short video of Fr. Louis (Thomas) Merton speaking on YouTube.

Consideration of Merton’s later writings posed questions for us about whether or not he lost his way.  However, instead of focusing on his personal life and celebrity or the subject matter in his later books we gave discussion to the times in which those works were done, namely the early years of Vatican II implementation.  We expressed regret for the Catholic institutions and devotions that were lost almost overnight.  If anyone can recommend a good source or essay explaining the reasons for the rapid decline of religious communities in the United States following Vatican II, The Misfits would like to hear of it.

MARCH  We will read Letters of Flannery O’Connor:  The Habit of Being.  It was suggested that Buzz might highlight selected letters to be discussed at the next meeting.

APRIL  We will re-read The Way of the Pilgrim and The Pilgrim Continues His Way.  I believe this is the first time that The Misfits will discuss a book twice, but The Way of the Pilgrim is well worth a second look.  Here is the preview that was posted in March 2009.

We will be reading a very unusual and profoundly spiritual book, The Way of a Pilgrim and the Pilgrim Continues His Way.  This is widely regarded as one of the most deeply spiritual and enduring classics to come out of Russia.  It is the tale of a nineteenth-century peasant's quest for the secret of prayer.  It tells the story of an anonymous pilgrim as he travels over the steppes of Russia seeking the answer to this question:  How does one pray constantly?  "Ultimately, he discovers the different meanings and methods of prayer as he travels to his ultimate destination, Jerusalem."  I hope you will be as intrigued by this book as I am.  It is available from Amazon for $9.95 in the edition translated by Helen Bacovcin with a forward by Walter J. Ciszek, S.J.  (Father Ciszek is now deceased and is being considered for canonization by the Church.)  [Update:  The Amazon price for a new copy is up to $12.20.]

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Steve

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The Kurtz in Trump

Tonight we affirmed that “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad is an important book to read and that it is as relevant today as it was in 1899.  The novel is short – 80 pages or so depending on the edition – but it is very dense.  We agreed that this book needs to be read more than once in order to better grasp the intended messages and themes.  Conrad makes frequent use of foreshadowing and foretelling as the narration moves forward.  The symbolism and meaning of the heart of darkness is to be taken on many different levels.

On the surface Conrad sheds light on the injustice that was Belgian Colonialism in the Congo at the height of the ivory trade.  And by exposing these evils, we felt that he was offering commentary on England’s own colonial endeavors.  It was noted that publication of this novel was the catalyst for some reform in England.

The main characters in the novel are Marlow, the narrator, and the enigmatic Kurtz.  As Marlow steams up the river he begins to hear stories about Kurtz’ accomplishments, exploits, and methods.  He becomes intrigued by this “remarkable” man despite all signs that Kurtz has gone mad.  The farther he travels upstream, the deeper the darkness becomes.

Parallels were drawn between Kurtz and latter day dictators:  Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and dare we even say Donald Trump?  Now no one suggested that Mr. Trump seeks to be a dictator or is capable of the atrocities committed by Kurtz, but it is hard to argue some similarity to Kurtz when you consider the megalomaniac tendencies, charismatic personality, and seeming willingness to use any means necessary to accomplish stated objectives.  The point is that we are constantly surrounded by Kurtz's in our modern society.  And we must be vigilant so that we do not become Kurtz's ourselves.

We came to understand that Kurtz represents the heart of darkness that is in all of us, or at least the potential for it.  We wondered if at the time Marlow finally met Kurtz, did Kurtz have any free will remaining?  Had his soul become so dark through habitual evil transgressions that he was unable extricate himself?  Kurtz seems to have been at this point as witnessed by him leaving his sick bed and crawling through the jungle to attend again the wicked rites with the native people who worshiped him.  Marlow blocked his physical path, but would Kurtz be saved?

We spent a great deal of time discussing Kurtz’ last words, “The Horror!  The Horror!”  We wanted to know if the meaning of those words was rooted in utter despair or reflected the first glimmer of repentance.  While the text above and below that passage didn’t provide any definitive clues as to Kurtz’ ultimate salvation, the episode had a profound effect on Marlow.  It is here that Marlow decided to remain loyal to the memory of Kurtz, the nightmare of his own choosing.  Later, Marlow is faced with a choice as he approaches Kurtz’ “Intended” fiancée.  He would be doing justice to expose Kurtz and tell of all his wicked deeds – but in the end he chose mercy, because telling the whole truth would be altogether too dark.

Marlow’s tale told, the novel ends abruptly with Conrad’s foreboding synopsis.  He seems to be warning us that success in our immediate future is not at all certain and if we are not careful and diligent we could easily become immersed in the immense heart of darkness.

Misfit Steve Ward

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Is the Child the Gift or is the Gift for a Child?

Dear Misfits,

We entered into the Christmas Season with a meeting devoted to the birth of the Christ Child and to our becoming like the Christ Child.  The meeting began with a discussion of T. S. Eliot's perplexing poem, "The Journey of the Magi". We generally concluded that the plot of the poem was not difficult to understand but the sheer depth of the symbolism Eliot packed within the story of the Magi is another matter altogether. We recognized references to small bits of Shakespeare and several specific Bible passages. We found that a rough grasp of the poem wasn't all that difficult.  However, reading it for a deep understanding of all that it contains is another matter.  As an example, for the Magi, "this Birth was hard and bitter agony for us" because the Magi could foresee, in the birth of the Christ Child,  the loss of their traditions to the impending Christianity that would transform "the old dispensation" of their faith and gods.  It is also necessary to mention that this is the first poem Eliot wrote after his conversion.  Elements of the poem do reflect his conversion but also show lingering doubts as to the full meaning of Christ's birth and resurrection.

Our discussion then shifted to Hans Urs von Balthasar's book, Unless You Become Like This Child.  The central theme of the book is a very deep, theological examination of the meaning of Christ's statement, "Amen I say to you: Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter into it." (Mark10:15)  It is the last book von Balthasar wrote before his death in 1988.  The book is a moving, profound meditation on the theme of spiritual childhood. In the book, von Balthasar's presents his conviction that the central mystery of Christianity is our transformation from world-wise, self-sufficient "adults" into abiding children of the Father of Jesus by the grace of their Spirit.  The book is theologically dense in the beginning (the first three chapters) and somewhat difficult to read and understand.  Then, the book shifts to examine this core statement on the meaning of Christianity:  "Only the Christian religion, which in its essence is communicated by the eternal child of God, keeps alive in its believers the lifelong awareness of their being children, and therefore of having to ask and give thanks for things. Jesus does not insist on this 'say please', 'say thank you', because the gifts would otherwise be refused, but in order that they may be recognized as gifts."  And the greatest of the gifts we can be given, is the gift of Faith.

Before we concluded our meeting, we discussed a "Bookplate" for the Misfits.  We were greatly inspired by the beautiful bookplate the St. Agnes Misfits designed.  Misfit Nick Markell has agreed to design ours....and would like any input you can give him on what our Misfit bookplate should represent/reflect.  We are also interested in creating a motto for our reading group.   Once we have a motto, Misfit Brad Lindberg will render it in Latin.  One initial proposal is "We read, therefore we are".  Can we do better than that?  Let me hear from you.

Our Future Books:

Our novel for January is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.   In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Heart of Darkness as the sixty-seventh of the hundred best novels in English of the twentieth century.  I think it will be a good novel to begin our new year of reading. 

Our book for February is The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton.  I remember reading Merton's story of his conversion many years ago and thinking that this could be a novel.  It is a fascinating read and one of the most "accessible" conversion stories ever written.  (My opinion!)

Then in March, we will read Letters of Flannery O'Conner:  The Habit of Being.  This from a New York Times review:   “To compare her with the great letter writers in our language may seem presumptuous and would have elicited from her one of her famous steely glances, but Byron, Keats, Lawrence, Wilde and Joyce come irresistibly to mind: correspondence that gleams with consciousness.”

Finally to remind:  Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, at 7:00 pm, in the St. Thomas More Library, The Church of St. Michael, Stillwater, MN.

In the Light of Christ,

Misfit Buzz

A Tale of Two Cities Today

Dear Misfits,

Our meeting last Wednesday evening was "the best of times".  As mentioned in my last email, we decided to hold our meeting at the Maple Island Brewery in Stillwater, MN.  I have to say that the insights and comments made by the Misfits on Charles Dickens classic novel,  A Tale of Two Cities, were particularly insightful.  I can also say that the comments became more insightful and at times, even brilliant, as the evening progressed.  I can only conclude that the beer produced by the Maple Island Brewery is an elixir conducive to a great book discussion and certainly to male fellowship.  Or so it seemed.

As to the novel itself, what can I say that has not already been said a million times--it is a timeless novel and will remain timeless.  Two things do come to mind

1.  Is there any other novel that has more memorable, iconic, opening and closing lines?  The novel begins "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....." and ends with "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have every known."  I can think of no other novel that has a more dramatic opening or a more moving conclusion than A Tale of Two Cities!  (Ok.  Someone out there prove me wrong.  Please cite author and title if you choose to engage!)

Dr Manette in Bastille

2.  Secondly, it is sadly topical that we have just read A Tale of Two Cities, a novel set in a city that has just experienced a barbaric act by men gripped by a hatred of the civilization that could produce a novel of such high literary regard.  The barbarism described by Dickens during the time of the "Terror" is mirrored by the men who struck Paris last Saturday.  The French aristocracy was the crucible that produced the "terror" of the French Revolution.  The twisted ideology of militant Islam has resulted in the terror of the modern jihad and the civilizational clash we are experiencing.

Now to the future: For December, we will read and discuss a short book and a short poem, both appropriate to the advent of our Blessed Savior.  Our book is Unless You Become Like This Child, by Hans Urs von Balthasar;  the poem is "The Journey of the Magi" by T. S. Eliot.

Unless You Become Like this Child is one of the last books written by van Balthasar before his death in 1988. The great theologian provides a moving and profound meditation on the theme of spiritual childhood. He argues that the central mystery of Christianity is our transformation from world-wise, self-sufficient "adults" into abiding children of the Father of Jesus by the grace of their Spirit. "This is an excellent book for those Christians who wish to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus's teaching "unless you become like this child...". This book also provides a helpful resource to Catholics who may be constantly challenged by fundamentalist Christians to be born again. Cardinal Von Balthazar very clearly explains what is involved in being like a child unto the Lord and gives his readers many insights into the mystery of life with God, the Father. It is a short book in terms of pages, but each page is packed with reflections."  The book is available on Amazon for $9.95 (Paperback)

[A copy of "The Journey of the Magi" is found here]

...  This is one of the first poems written by Eliot after his conversion to Anglicanism.  I look forward to discussing the poem with you as all of us will soon share in the quest of the Magi for the Christ child.

...

To remind:  our next meeting will be on Wednesday, December 9th, at 7:00 pm in the St. Thomas More Library, The Church of St. Michael, Stillwater, MN.

In the light of Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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From Waugh to Dickens and Onward!

Dear Misfits,

We had a very lively evening last Wednesday discussing Evelyn Waugh's novel, A Handful of Dust.  The novel is generally regarded as one of Waugh's best.  Set in the 1930's, the novel's protagonist, Tony Last, is engaged in trying to maintain his anachronistic Victorian values in an increasingly volatile society while his wife, Brenda, involves herself in a pointless affair with her fatuous lover, the generally clueless, John Beaver.  As the story develops, Tony, having been betrayed by his wife, sees his illusions shattered one by one.  He seeks solace by joining an expedition to the Brazilian jungle where he finds himself trapped in a remote outpost as the prisoner and plaything of an insane settler, Mr. Todd. It has been noted that "Waugh incorporated several autobiographical elements into the story, notably his own desertion by his young wife."  Then, in 1933–34, he undertook a journey into the South American interior where a number of incidents and personalities from the voyage are incorporated into the ending of the novel. Tony's singular fate in the jungle at the end of the novel was first used by Waugh as the subject of an independent short story, published in 1933 under the title "The Man Who Liked Dickens".  In other words, the ending of the novel stands alone as a separate story.  And it works!  The ending "fits" and makes for a very poignant and effective end of the story.

Now to our book for October.....and November!  We will read and discuss  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  "The novel is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution.  It shows the brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution and has many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period. The novel follows the lives of several characters through these events. A Tale of Two Cities was published in weekly installments from April 1859 to November 1859 in Dickens's new literary periodical titled "All the Year Round".

We will read the novel in two bites:

For October, 2015:  Read the Book The First: Chapter I-Vi and Book the Second: Chapter I-XXIV

For November, 2015: Read Book the Third: Chapter I-XV.

The novel is available at Amazon or can be downloaded and read at The Project Gutenberg web site: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/98/98-h/98-h.htm#link2H_4_0001

For December: We have decided to read and discuss two works reflective of the birth of the Christ Child.

The first is Hans Urs von Balthasar's Unless You Become Like This Child. This is one of the last books he wrote before his death in 1988.  The book provides a moving and profound meditation on the theme of spiritual childhood. In this book, von Balthasar argues that the central mystery of Christianity is our necessary  transformation from world-wise, self-sufficient "adults" into abiding children of the Father of Jesus by the grace of their Spirit.  The book is quite short at 75 pages.  It is available from Amazon for $ 8.26.

The second part of our December read is a poem by T. S. Eliot, "Journey of the Magi"  It is a 43-line poem written in 1927 by T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). In the poem, Eliot retells the story of the Magi who travelled to Palestine to visit the newborn Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. The narrative of the poem is told from the point of view of one of the magi.  The poem expresses themes of alienation and a feeling of powerlessness in a world that has changed dramatically. The poem's monologue incorporates quotations and literary allusions to works by earlier writers Lancelot Andrewes and Matthew Arnold.  The poem is widely available on line.  You may wish to use this website: http://allpoetry.com/The-Journey-Of-The-Magi

For January 2015:  We will begin the new year by reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.  The novella is by Polish novelist Joseph Conrad, about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State, in the heart of Africa, as told by the story's narrator, Marlow.

For February, 2015:  We will read a work of non-fiction, Thomas Merton's now classic conversion story, The Seven Story Mountain.

For March, 2015:  We return to one of our most beloved authors, Flannery O'Conner.  We will read, Letters of Flannery O'Conner: The Habit of Being.

For April, 2015:  We will read The Idiot written by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published serially in The Russian Messenger between 1868 and 1869. The Idiot, alongside some of Dostoyevsky's other works, is often considered one of the most brilliant literary achievements of the "Golden Age" of Russian literature.

For May 2015:  We will read The Quiet American, an anti-war novel by English author Graham Greene.  The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1955 and in the United States in 1956. It was adapted into films in 1958 and 2002. The book draws on Greene's experiences as a war correspondent for The Times and Le Figaro in French Indochina 1951–1954. He was apparently inspired to write The Quiet American in October 1951 while driving back to Saigon from Ben Tre province. He was accompanied by an American aid worker who lectured him about finding a "third force in Vietnam”.

That should keep us busy well into the new year.  It is going to be another exciting and challenging year of reading he great books and authors of our Catholic literary tradition. Hard believe we've been at this for over 13 years!  We are so blessed.

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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The Presence of God Under the Gazebo

Dear Misfits,

Last Wednesday evening, The Misfits met at Claret Farms under the Gazebo to discuss and recite the remarkable faith-centered poetry of Denise Levertov.   It was a beautiful evening with each of us reciting a poem...and then sitting in silence to reflect and consider the profound depth of Levertov's deeply spiritual poetry.  It is difficult to describe the spiritual ethos of the men at the meeting other than to say that we felt we were in the presence of God.  If you haven't read The Stream & the Sapphire: Selected Poems on Religious Themes, you really should do so.  You will read and experience poems that are like prayers.

And now to our next book: for September, we will read A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh.  In what many consider his greatest novel, Waugh creates a savage satire of modern Britain.  "Tony Last (presumably the last of his tribe) is a member of Britain's declining landed gentry.  He's barely managed to hold the family estate together but he has a successful marriage (or so he believes) and a wonderful son.  Then, in short order, the boy is killed in a horse riding accident, his wife leaves him for a callow youth and Tony travels to the Amazon on an ill-fated expedition.  In the end, Tony finds himself stranded in the jungle with a reclusive Englishman who makes him read the works of Dickens aloud."

"From the wife who casually abandons her marriage, to the member of Parliament whose greatest achievement is a new regulation on pork bellies to the similarities Tony finds between the civilized British and the Amazon savages, Waugh depicts a Britain that is sunk in amorality and has abandoned all pretense of greatness.  Long before WWII brought down the final curtain on the Empire, he presents a despairing portrait of a society bereft of any moral bearings.  The final image, of the decent Englishman reciting the greatest of England's cultural achievements into the wilderness, is an especially poignant metaphor for what Waugh felt his country had been reduced to in the Modern age."

A Handful of Dust  is available on Amazon for $14.13,

Our book for October and November is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  The Misfits have long considered reading this novel...and now we will.  "The novel is set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period. It follows the lives of several characters through these events. A Tale of Two Cities was published in weekly installments from April 1859 to November 1859 in Dickens's new literary periodical titled "All the Year Round".  

We will read the novel in two bites: October, 2015:  Book the First-Chapter 1 through Chapter 16 of Book the Second; November, 2015: Book the Second-Chapter 17 through Book the Third.  

The novel is widely available and can be downloaded and read at The Project Gutenberg web site: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/98/98-h/98-h.htm#link2H_4_0001

The Misfits want to thank Chris Hagen for hosting our Summer meetings at Loome Theological Booksellers/Claret Farm.  We had three wonderful summer meetings under the Gazebo and intend to continue that tradition next summer if allowed by our host.

Our meetings will now be held in the St. Thomas More Library at the Church of St. Michael in Stillwater.  Our meetings are always held on the second Wednesday of the month and begin at 7:00 pm and end at 8:30 pm.  Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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"All believing Catholics should have this book in their personal library"

Dear Misfits,

Last [Wednesday] evening, we met for our final discussion of Lucy Beckett's examination of great writers of the past two and a half millennia.  Our meeting was again hosted by Misfit Chris Hagen and set beneath the gazebo of Claret Farm.  It was another warm summer evening with male fellowship, good talk, and a few beers.

Blaise Pascal - Illuminating Hero of Beckett

We all emphatically agreed that In the Light of Christ is a truly remarkable book.  Beckett's survey explains in brilliant detail how Catholic thinkers and writers from ancient to modern times have shaped our Catholic faith.  There are many excellent reviews of In the Light of Christ so I won't try to review the book in any depth other than to say that all believing Catholics should have this book in their personal library.  They should read, and reread, the book as it will explain and illuminate the great theological depth and intellectual scope of our Faith.

Now to the future:  Our book for [August] is a short one...but it is dense!  We will read Denise Levertov's, The Stream & the Sapphire: Selected Poems on Religious Themes. This collection of "selected poems on religious themes" is by a renowned poet, "who embraced the Christian faith late in life, interacting with spiritual sources that crossed her path while on her journey of faith."  I should add, that her searching led her to the Catholic faith.  The book is available on Amazon for $9.92.

Also, and as a part of our next meeting, let's each of us bring a favorite poem to read and make it a real evening of poetry

Our book for [September] is another novel by Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust.  Laced with cynicism and truth, A Handful of Dust satirizes a stratum of English life where all the characters have money, but lack practically every other credential. Murderously urbane, it depicts the breakup of a marriage in the London gentry, where an errant wife suffers from terminal boredom, and becomes enamoured of a social parasite and professional luncheon-goer.  This is perhaps Waugh's most biting novel yet, his perspective is always that of a Catholic man.  The novel is available at Amazon for $13.86.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 12, at 7:00 pm at Claret Farm/Loome Theological Booksellers.  The address is: 2270 Neal Ave N, West Lakeland, MN 55082.

. . .

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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Something Wicked this Way Comes

Dear Misfits,

Our meeting last Wednesday evening was wonderfully hosted by Misfit Chris Hagen, he of Loome Theological Books and Claret Farm.  We met under the beautiful gazebo that defines the grounds of Claret Farm.  The weather was perfect and was enhanced by a selection of Lift Bridge beer and snacks provided by Chris.  Chris was such a wonderful host that we've decided to meet at Loome Theological books/Claret Farm for the rest of the summer.  (Actually, and the truth be known, St. Michael's will remain closed in the evenings through July and August and Chris has volunteered to host us at Claret Farm.)

Our meeting Wednesday evening generally involved swapping many of the popular phrases and quotes from Shakespeare's perfect tragedy, Macbeth. The play is said to illustrate the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.  It occurs to me that the play also describes our current political climate as scores of Republican candidates now maneuver to be our President while equally ambitious Democratic candidates try to figure out how to overturn the reigning Queen of that party so that they, in turn, can thwart the upstart Republicans. It is a perfect Witches Brew.  But I digress.

We did thoroughly enjoy reading and discussing Macbeth.  Misfit Mark Druffner mentioned that in the backstage world of theatre, many Shakespearian actors believe that the play is cursed; they will not mention its title aloud, referring to it instead as "the Scottish play".  He provided this link to a hilarious spoof of that belief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h--HR7PWfp0

And now, back to Lucy Beckett:  Our selection for July will conclude our reading of her masterful book, In the Light of Christ: Writings in the Western Tradition.  We will finish the book by reading Chapters 12-16 and Chapter 22.  We were enjoined by Misfit Loome to give special attention to the chapter on Pascal.  Misfit Wessel also recommended that we reread and discuss, in greater detail, Chapter 22 which deals with Czeslaw Milosz and Pope John Paul II.

A bit further into the future:  for August we will read and discuss a book of poetry by a literary convert to the Faith, Denise Levertov.  Her collection of poems, The Stream and the Sapphire:  Selected Poems on Religious Themes, describes her slow movement from agnosticism to her eventual acceptance of the Christian faith.

In September, we will go back to one of our favorite authors, Evelyn Waugh, and read A Handful of Dust. Waugh's novel "combines tragedy, comedy, and savage irony, [and] indelibly captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars".  This will begin our 13th year of reading the great treasures of our Catholic literary tradition.  Hard to believe that we started our Catholic Men's Reading Group in 2002 and that the Misfits are still going strong.  Amazing!

For the remainder of the summer (July and August) we will continue to meet at Loome Theological Books at:

Loome Books/Claret Farm

2270 Neal Ave N, West Lakeland, MN 55082 (651) 430-1092

See also the Map at: https://www.loomebooks.com/

I hope to see each of you there.  It is lovely setting.  Even if you haven't read all of Beckett, drop by to share a beer with us and peruse the remarkable books available at Misfit Hagen's book store.  You really should visit this store and support his wonderful enterprise: collecting, preserving, and marketing, the theological treasures of Christendom. 

We will meet as always, the second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm.  Please consider bringing a six pack or a snack to share at our next meeting on Wednesday, July 10th.

May God continue to bless each of you,

Misfit Buzz

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The Breathtaking Insights of Lucy Beckett Continue

Dear Misfits,

We had another wonderful evening last Wednesday discussing another 5 chapters in Lucy Beckett's great book, In the Light of Christ.  The  book is a remarkable survey of "Writings in the Western Tradition" as described in the sub-title to the book.  We have now read 10 chapters and have unanimously decided to continue reading the remaining 14 Chapters.  We have found that each chapter is or could be a "stand alone" in that the insights Beckett draws from Western literature beginning with the Greeks and extending through writers in our present age illustrates how the Grace of God acts upon the human mind in the authors she examines.  Some of her insights can only be described as breathtaking.

So, we will continue to read and be inspired by our Lucy Beckett, a woman we have found to be of great brilliance and inspiring faith.  Therefore, we will read Chapters 7-11 and discuss those chapters at our next meeting on Wednesday, May 13th at 7:00 pm, the Church of St. Michael.  (We always meet in the St. Thomas More Library room).

But here is a twist.  Our readings for next month discuss the writing of  William Shakespeare.  Therefore, have decide to let Beckett rest a bit in our minds and read and discuss Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth for our June book.  We have been wanting to read another work from Shakespeare for sometime now.   So this seems a good time to do it.  Macbeth is considered one of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful works. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition for power.  (Do you think we might find some modern parallels in this work?  I'll just bet we do!)

Finally, it is such a great pleasure to read and discuss with you, the truly great novels, biographies, and plays that make up our Catholic literary tradition.   We've been reading these literary classics for almost 15 years.  And we've barely scratched the surface!

God bless each of you.  He is risen!

Misfit Buzz

****************************

"The good, the true and the beautiful—it is for these that our souls long. Though they reside in unity and perfection in God alone, the written word is one place we can discover glimmers of divine light.   The writings of great souls can turn our gaze toward God as he is revealed in Jesus Christ. Even authors who do not know Christ or who reject Christ can still point to him, for anyone who seeks the truth finds it; and any one who turns his back on the truth turns away from a someone whose presence can often be more keenly felt in his absence."

----Lucy Beckett

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From Newman to Dostoevsky, From Hopkins to Milosz - Lucy Beckett surveys it all.

Dear Misfits,

We met last week to discuss selected Chapters from In the Light of Christ, Lucy Beckett's remarkable survey of writings in the Western Tradition.  We had decided to read and discuss only selected portions of the book, namely the Introduction (The Order of Love), Chapter 16 (John Henry Newman and Matthew Arnold), Chapter 17 (G. M. Hopkins and Emily Dickinson), Chapter 20 (Russia II: The Brothers Karamazov to Solzhenitsyn), and Chapter 22 (Czeslaw Milosz and Pope John Paul II).  Well, that merely whet our appetite for more Beckett.  This is easy to understand once you begin reading (and rereading) this profound examination of the impact the Catholic Faith has had on every aspect of Western Culture.  You simply want more of it.  Therefore, we have decided to read the entire survey, beginning to end.  

We have already read and discussed Chapter 1, The Order of Love.  We will now read Chapter's 2-5 (pages 1-104) for next month.  I think it will be helpful to  continue our discussion of the Introduction to the book wherein Beckett lays out her thesis that the value of the truthfulness, beauty, and goodness of the  Augustinian Catholic tradition, is best understood "in relation to the absolute truth, beauty and goodness that are one in God and that are definitively revealed to the world in Christ".

I am personally very excited about reading and discussing all of this great book with you.  I am pleased that we have decided to do so. 

And to remind, our next meeting will be at 7:00 pm, Wednesday, April 8th, in the St. Thomas More Library, the Church of St. Michael, Stillwater, MN.

In Joyful expectation of the Risen Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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Lucy Beckett's The Leaves are Falling

Dear Misfits,

Last week we had a very good discussion of Lucy Beckett's new novel, The Leaves are Falling.  In a word, we thought it was great!  However, a few did comment that it got a bit didactic at times.  In effect, Beckett uses the story line in the novel to express her deeply held Christian beliefs and theology.  She also presents a haunting portrait of two of the most terrible atrocities of the Second World War; one committed by the Nazi's and the second by the Soviets. The first atrocity is described by Josef, a young Jewish boy whose family was murdered by Nazi death squads who visited his village, Vilna.  The second story line is told by Josef's father, Jacob, a Polish Army doctor captured by the Soviets and taken to a place called Katyn, where he and 8000 of his fellow Polish officers were massacred.  We were deeply impressed by the meticulous research done by Lucy Beckett in recreating the thriving pre-War Jewish population of Vilna in Lithuania, the Soviet prison camps and the dreary streets of post-war London while simultaneously charting the political and spiritual struggles of ordinary people caught up in horrific events that were always beyond their control. This book serves as a stark reminder of the evils unleashed on the civilized world by both the Nazis and the Soviets.  It is also a moving testament to the courage and humanity of those who managed to live through it.  The novel is high on our list of "must read" Catholic literature!

And now, a few comments about our next novel.  We will continue our reading about the horrors of the Soviet system and the people affected by that Godless enterprise.  We will read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s classic novel, In The First Circle.  “The novel was published with great acclaim in the West in 1968. Written in the mid-1950s just after Solzhenitsyn’s eight years in the gulag, his nearly fatal bout with cancer, and his sentence to “perpetual” exile in Kazakhstan, this novel of tyranny and transcendence, set in a secret Soviet prison research facility, appears for the first time in full and in sterling English, following the Nobel laureate’s death at age 89 in 2008. In this many-voiced, flashback-rich, philosophical, suspenseful, ironic, and wrenching tale, Solzhenitsyn interleaves the stories of a grand matrix of compelling characters (women are accorded particular compassion) trapped in a maze of toxic lies, torturous absurdities, and stark brutality.”  (From review by Booklist)

We will read the novel in two parts as follows:

October:  Chapters 1-48 (Pages 1-367)

November:  Chapters 40-79 (Pages 368-729)

And to remind, our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 8th, 2015, at 7:00 pm in the St. Thomas More Library at the Church of St. Michael in Stillwater, MN.

Warmest regards
Misfit Buzz

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As Kingfishers Catch Fire in The Father's Tale

Dear Misfits,

We did it!  We’ve finished The Father’s Tale .  At 1076 pages, it is decidedly the longest novel we’ve read to date. It was also the heaviest novel we’ve read.  I think I put on several pounds of muscle mass just carrying it around.  It is definitely a book you would want to have on a Kindle, Nook, or iPad!  But what a story!  We gave it some big thumbs up and a few small thumbs down.

The big thumbs up were:

            -It is a sweeping novel that spans continents, discusses wide-ranging literary subjects and Catholic authors, while expressing a deep understanding of both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic psyche. 

            -It is one of the most faith-filled Catholic novels we have read.  Every aspect of the Faith was treated with respect and complete honesty. 

            -It manifests a deep love and respect for the Russian people and their Orthodox beliefs and practice.

            -It is a “primer” on Russian authors and literature.  Michael O’Brien is an expert in that regard.

Some small thumbs down:

-The story begins in a book store called “The Kingfisher” in Halcyon, Ontario:  population 1200.  Misfit Rieckens noted that no book store in a town of 1200 would ever survive.  Misfit Chris Hagen, proprietor of  Loome Theological Books,  nodded in vigorous agreement!

            -At least 200 pages could have been cut/edited without really affecting the story.

            -Some events were beyond credulity as when the hero is captured by Russian Intelligence agents, tortured, and then “freed” by a Chinese counter-intelligence operation.  One or our Misfits did remark, “But hey, miracles do happen!” 

I should mention that our meeting was held on Claret Farm, home of Loome Theological Books.  It was a perfect setting for our discussion:  outdoors on a warm summer evening sipping cold beer, munching pretzels (all supplied by Misfit Hagen), and arguing the merits of a novel! 

But it does get better than that…we also welcomed Misfit Druffner back from his highly successful medical mission to Bwambo, Tanzania.  (He took The Father’s Tale with him on his iPad!)

An added pleasure was a wonderful recitation by Misfit Wessel of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “As Kingfishers Catch Fire”.   Hopkins and Wessel at their best!

Now to the future:

This month we are reading Lucy Beckett’s latest novel, The Leaves are Falling. It is a sequel to the author’s A Postcard from the Volcano.  (I am told that the novel “stands alone” and that you don’t really have to have read the first novel…though it helps.)  I am very excited about reading this novel.  Lucy Beckett is a literary treasure with a Catholic sensibility.  I look forward to discussing it with you at our next meeting on September 10, 2014 at the St. Thomas More Library in the Church of St. Michael, Stillwater, Minnesota.  As always, our meeting will start at 7:00 pm.

Yours in Christ,

Misfit Buzz

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To Hell or not to Hell

Dear Misfits,

The Misfits at our meeting . . . concluded that Charles Williams is an intense, imaginative, often baffling author.  He was a member of the Inklings, the group of creative Oxford Christians of the 1930s and 1940s that included C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though he excelled in many literary genres, Williams is best remembered for his poetry and his original fiction.  As regards his fiction,  Descent in to Hell is the second novel we have read; we read All Hallows Eve last year (October, 2013)  We conclude that Descent in to Hell is the better novel.

As told in the novel, the "descent" in the title happens to an ordinary (if extraordinarily selfish) historian named Wentworth, whose daily choices to cheat on the truth slowly but surely lead him into a terrifying state of isolation and egotism. Heaven, by contrast, is increasingly inhabited by the novel's heroine, Pauline Anstruther, who learns to face her fears and to love the truth exactly as it is.  In the end, Pauline finds salvation while Wentworth is destroyed psychologically and physically.

Descent into Hell is not an easy read. Although we recommend the novel, it definitely needs to be read:

(1) Repetitively (more than once)

(2) Not rapidly. Read it slowly as it is not “popcorn fiction”.

(3) With access to Google to reference obscure facts and numerous historical characters.

Pax Christi,

 Misfit Buzz

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