I have finally finished The Lord of the Rings, which I shall promptly add to my favorite books list. The concluding chapters were especially exciting and funny- how my heart beat at the Battle of Bywater! It is heartening to know that such a fantastic novel, one of the greatest in all of English literature I'll wager, was written in the mid-20th Century by a traditional-leaning Catholic. [Indeed, when one thinks about it, Traditional Catholics are influential well beyond their numbers- just think of the fame and accomplishments of Marcel Lefebvre, Patrick Buchanan, and Mel Gibson in their respective fields; on an absolute scale, we sometimes seem to carry more weight than the combined weight of the "neoconservative Catholics" (think especially of the developments within the Church over the last twenty years). Now, if there were only a few more of us!]I will not post again for a few days due to family concerns. Do not worry, for they are happy ones, and no one has died- at least not yet! See you later.
posted by crusader88 @ 2:47 PM
7 Comments:
I will say a Hail Mary for your family matter (and hope no one gets killed) and congratulate you on finishing one of the greatest works in any language! (Some would say the greatest, but... I love so many books, I can't even say this one is my favorite! The Silmarillion is awesome too!)
It's one of my favourite books too;I found it 40 years ago,and haven't been able to do without it since.Complex moral issues are dealt with,and the battle between Good and Evil isn't presented in a simplistic way.The "good" characters have their flaws,but struggle to always do what is right,no matter how heavy the cost,the"bad" are given a chance of redemption.Frodo's mercy towards Saruman at the end,and Saruman's response("You have grown,halfling")always moves me,and his refusal of salvation is a tragedy.
Any recommendations re works by other Catholic authors you have enjoyed?
Peace be with you.
I love LOTR too;found it 40 years ago and haven't been able to do without it since.Complex moral issues are dealt with,but it's no ordinary Good V.Evil story.The good have to battle their flaws whilst striving to do the right thing at whatever personal cost,but the bad are given the chance of redemption.Frodo's mercy to Saruman at the last,and Saruman's dawning self-knowledge,and the realisation of what he is refusing,and that grudging admiration for what Frodo has become"(You have grown,Halfling"),is a tragic coda to a wonderful book.
Peace be with you.
I am glad you liked Lord of the Rings. Very good trilogy. What are your feelings on the Dalai Lama? Would you endorse him for President of the United States now that Ron Paul is out of the running and we're left with Obama or McCain?
The Catholic authors question is difficult. The best I can do is to recommend anything by Hilaire Belloc. I read his biography of Louis XIV nearly four years ago for a research paper, and loved it so much that I read it again two years later. His The Crusades was also excellent, and I have just finished The Party System, which he co-authored with Cecil Chesterton, and which he was especially fit to write as an ex-MP. Concerning contemporary politics, Patrick Buchanan's State of Emergency and Day of Reckoning are the best available, both eye-opening and faster reads than virtually every novel I have yet read.
Those are histories and political works; off the top of my head, two modern Catholic authors I have enjoyed are Cormac McCarthy, whose novel The Road I read in my Intro to Literature course at Assumption, and the much less known poet Hilary McRee Flanery, whose collection of poems a Breath of Home, was reviewed on this blog in June. Thank you for your inquiry, Soubirous, and I hope that I have given useful recommendations. (One of my favorite parts of LOTR was the final sparing of Gollum, and how he came in handy).
I am spared from having to decide whether I would vote for the Dalai Lama over the two current candidates, because he was not born in an American territory. In any case, I admit too much ignorance about his views to make any meaningful decision.
The fame and accomplishments of Marcel Lefebvre, Patrick Buchanan, and Mel Gibson? Are you joking?
An excommunicant renegade bishop, a right wingnut who described Hitler as "a man of great courage," and an actor whose achievements include a two-hour, anti-Semitic snuff film?
Sweet Jesus on the half shell.
Regarding the Archbishop, I need only say that he remained loyal to the authorities of the Church except when they told him to do things which he thought might compromise the Faith. And without his work, I find it very unlikely that we would have the Motu Propio today, or even the FSSP and other approved orders which are devoted to the Traditional Mass. Also, he could not have been a renegade, for his order, the SSPX, is now openly recognized as merely having "irregular status" with Rome, and is not in schism as some liberal Catholics have claimed.
Regarding Pat Buchanan, it still puzzles me how anyone could not adore a politician who has been speaking out against our empire building for decades, and been a steadfast opponent of excessive immigration. While I do not know the context of your quotation, he must have written it in or about his book, Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War. While I have not had time to read it yet, he has clearly written that he believes Hitler was an evil man, with the end of demonstrating that Chamberlain's guarantee to intervene on Poland's behalf caused more harm than good for the free west. Also, he may have merely been trying to be objective; "courage" is often used in a biased way to complement one's own side (i.e. that American servicemen, as a rule, are courageous while terrorists/freedom fighters/violent Islamic radicals are, as a rule cowards). I don't remember enough about Hitler to give a character evaluation, but I am sure that an objective evaluation of both great and evil men would identify character flaws and virtues in places we don't expect.
Finally, I still don't get the whole anti-Passion of the Christ sentiment. Our Lord's passion is an extremely important event in theology and salvation history, and a great demonstration of His love for us, and so is well worthy of a depiction in film. In order to do it right, one cannot water down one's sources. Much of the film, including several moments one could label "anti-semitic" is, of course, based on the gospels, our best source for what actually happened. Other incidents come from The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a compilation of the visions of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich on the Passion. I am quite certain he didn't include any extra points just to be anti-semitic. I do not mean to say Mel Gibson is flawless, recalling his drunken tirade that actually was anti-semitic, and that he's a sedevacantist. But I have never placed much credit in the charges against the film, as they come from many of the same people who believe orthodox Catholicism and attempts to evangelize the Jews are anti-semitic.
Thank you for keeping the comment clean, and man! now I'm in the mood for some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. That movie actually had its world premiere right here in Northampton, at the Academy of Music theater here in town.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home