I wish to begin this review by saying that The Magicians by Lev Grossman (2010, Penguin Books) ranks among my favourite books, so my criticism comes from the only place that truly good criticism can come from: fondness. Grossman’s work was first introduced to me by my closest friend, who
Jean Valjean was like a man on the point of fainting. The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice:—“Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man.”Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained
The high-water-mark of American civil religion was probably the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Jimmy Stewart plays the titular Mr. Smith, appointed by a feckless governor to fill an empty Senate seat. Once in Washington, Smith is forced to confront a corrupt political machine centered, to his horror,
God knows what he is about, Newman muses, and our part is but to cooperate with his grace, however unusual the guise in which that grace comes to us. After all as St. Paul says, “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom” (1 Cor 1:25). This is what
There once was a boy, in a basket he lay. “There’s no baby here,” his mother would say. His mother said, “I love you, baby dear, But you are not safe here.” In the river she placed him, in his tiny boat. His sister asked, “Will he float?” The princess
Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate:“To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late.And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds,For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his gods, “And for the tender mother
Two years ago, I began to study Greek at the St. Irenaeus Center. Since then, I have been working my way through the New Testament in the original, reading and listening and speaking the text out loud. A few months ago, my studies raised a question about how to understand
“An hour’s conversation on literature between two ardent minds with a common devotion to a neglected poet is a miraculous road to intimacy.” War in Heaven, Charles Williams In the town of Oxford, there is a small tavern called the Eagle and Child, known locally as the “Bird and Baby.”
by Mx. S. Opress and M. T. Abyss and Associated Alts We are assured that we are, or are about to be, or are progressing towards, or will inevitably become a “Post-Christian Society.” There seems to be some disagreement about precisely how imminent this new society is, but we maintain
This is the first ever English translation of the fragments of Clement of Alexandria’s treatise On the Passover. The merits of this translation are due principally to the exertions of my Saturday morning Greek class: Ben Horvath, Dave Scherer, Jack Weisensel, Tyler Davis, Kevin Russell, and Eric Kanis. I have