No doubt, we can continue to argue about which is the best translation of "The Iliad." However, those of us who rejoice in the beauty of language and the brilliance of great poetry cannot help but marvel at Alexander Pope’s telling of the tale of Troy. It was the best of times, it was the [...]
“Since that night, I have a fire within me, which I cannot quench. I tried knowing God through reason. But now I must share the truth and the certainty that God has confirmed in my heart. I never thought a sense of peace and the passion of fire could reside in one’s heart simultaneously.” The [...]
As an English professor who has taught the Odyssey every semester for the last 35 years, along with a dozen or so film classes on Hitchcock, Capra, musicals, Hollywood studios, and film classics, I awaited the release of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey with great anticipation. Overall, I was impressed by the film and by Nolan’s fresh [...]
In "The Brothers Karamazov," the man of God has the last laugh. Dostoevsky also has the last laugh, and it is at the devil’s expense. The joke is on Satan and those fools who fall for his lies. In my book, Classic Literature Made Simple: Fifty Great Books in a Nutshell, I endeavoured to encapsulate [...]
With the publication of "An Ocean Full of Angels," Peter Kreeft is proving that he can emulate C.S. Lewis in writing great apologetic fiction, as well as non-fiction. Indeed, of all the novels written this century which I have read—and I have read many—this stands alongside the best. An Ocean Full of Angels, by Peter [...]
Whether in her present numerous agonies of disorder, America can transcend despair and rebuild her national character is doubtful—impossible in the minds of some. But one thing is certain: It can happen only by fidelity to the American experience of a transcending Christian authority, and fidelity to the finest of her social values, customs, and [...]
In the midst of a dream, Orual’s doubts are finally answered by the gods. Once Psyche gives her the gift of beauty, and the God of the mountain appears and speaks to her, her ugliness is washed away. It takes all of Orual’s life to come to this point of faith and cleansing, and now [...]
When we die, there will be dozens or even hundreds of books that we would have wanted to read had time permitted. It is in this sense that I feel that the neglect of the great Russian author, Fyodor Dostoevsky, constitutes a sin of omission on my part. Broadly speaking, there are two types of [...]
Dante’s globalism, his vision of the whole, is not confined to the earth but extends to the entire universe. This includes the invisible, spiritual world as well as the visible, corporeal one. It embraces the human and the divine, the natural and the supernatural… it celebrates the victory of hope over despair. “The things of [...]
Many of Flannery O'Connor's stories portray the ineptness of men to uphold traditional ideals of manhood. The men show no leadership, they do not protect or care for their family members, they lack all manner of chivalry, and they lose a sense of priority as they commit to careers and professions or social and political [...]
The animating principle of medieval culture, insofar as it is distinct from Antiquity or Modernity, is the conviction that the ultimate and highest reality is found in the unseen realm—which means that the most fundamental and fruitful way to embrace the medieval spirit is to practice the Faith more like an ordinary Christian of the [...]
John Keats’ “Great Odes” constitute the pinnacle of classical poetry in the English language and have continued to inspire every generation since his death, attesting to their grounding in universal principles of the human spirit. When John Keats died in Rome on February 23, 1821, at the age of 25, the world lost one of [...]
Daniel McInerny’s novel is a fine effort and an absorbing and satisfying read. But does he meet the challenges facing the writer of modern Catholic fiction: to somehow tiptoe around the masters, but still stand on their shoulders; to avoid the story being pastiche or preachy, while still allowing the tabernacle lamp to glow in [...]
Shakespeare is certainly more alive, in the enduring life that he breathed into his work, than the dead and dying ideas of his critics. It is, therefore, a delightfully apt conceit on Dr. David A. James’ part to bring him to life to sit in jocular judgment. Joseph Pearce in Conversation with Film-Maker, David A. [...]