Thoughts On Books-In-Progress

When Do You Abandon a Book?

(New Haven, CT: Ticknor & Fields, 1980)

Would I want to spend time with Evelyn Waugh? Not based on his letters. He was rude, peevish, highly opinionated, snarky, catty, vulgar…and at times brilliant. He was loyal to his friends, and he did take the Faith seriously and defended it. He does not show himself to be the most loving of fathers. But his novels were excellent. I’m about 1/3 of the way through this one and up to 1946.

(Manchester, NH: Sophia, 2020).

There is some excellent advice in this one on identifying sins and with practical tips on how to avoid them. Fr. Morrow writes in an accessible manner and includes many real-life examples but also lessons from scripture and the saints. Sometimes one of the spiritual classics is just too much to take in but this could be a suitable replacement to help you in your spiritual life.

(NY: Vintage, 2024).

This much-ballyhooed tome too often reads like a soap opera detailing the sins and debaucheries of rulers and conquerors. It is light on details about the average person and heavy on dynastic shenanigans. Don’t get me wrong: from a natural historical standpoint this is exciting to read, but as a record of the spiritual struggles around the unique city of Jerusalem it is a dismal failure. Montefiore is a skeptic about most things religious and spiritual and dismisses many stories of the Bible as erroneous. Perversely, he seems most enamored of the Muslims. This one is readable but devoid of spiritual value.

(Brooklyn: Confraternity of the Precious Blood, 1962).

Presents short reflections on Gospel passages. I use it as part of my pre-Vespers reading and prayer. Some of the content seems a bit dumbed-down or dramatized, but mostly it is some food for thought.

Left: NY: Penguin, 2003; Right: NY: Gallery Books, 1989).

I figured I should read the well-known Wuthering Heights. I am 75 pages in…and where are there any sympathetic characters? I will keep plugging away. It certainly pales next to Emily’s sister Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, which is a scorching tale of ill-treatment, deception, faithfulness, and all sorts of romantic passion with a semi-happy moral ending fraught with suffering. On the other hand, R.L. Stevenson is a sometimes overpowering author with his gripping tales of adventure and revenge. Can anything match Treasure Island or Kidnapped for rip-snorting adventure?

It’s rare for me to abandon a book, so I will keep at all of these. UPDATED: I just cannot abide Wuthering Heights—128 pages is more than enough.

I hope you are grappling with some engaging reading.

You can Buy Greg a Coffee at this link.

I have two self-published books available on Amazon; both are in verse: Against the Alchemists, which is a loosely-linked catechism in verse; and, A Verse Companion to Romano Guardini’s Sacred Signs, a sort of commentary on Guardini’s wonderful little book on many aspects of the liturgy and worship.