Looking for...A Book on Tolkien

The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Glyer debunks the myth of the solitary writer by demonstrating that the Inklings, a literary group that included Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield and others, exerted more influence on each other's work than previously thought.  Glyer approaches her argument systematically, first defining types of influence and then demonstrating how members of the Inklings practiced each.  Her work challenges the idea that artists must work in isolation in order to achieve greatness.


J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey

Shippey examines the ways in which language shaped Tolkien's Middle-earth and helped Tolkien create a new mythology.  He also explores historical, political, and religious influences on Tolkien's work, focusing in particular on the nature of evil in Tolkien's worldview.  A must-read for any fan of the professor.


The Philosophy of Tolkien by Peter Kreeft

Kreeft explores the ways in which Tolkien's Catholicism provides the philosophical underpinning of Middle-earth through a question-and-answer format.  Each of Kreeft's questions receives a three-fold answer: a quote from one of Tolkien's works exemplifying his philosophy, a quote from Tolkien's letters expanding upon it, and a quote from C. S. Lewis clarifying it.  An easy and accessible book, perfect for lengthy reading or for browsing.

 

Preparing for Tolkien Reading Day

Since 2003, the Tolkien Society has hosted Tolkien Reading Day on March 25 as a way to encourage readers to celebrate, discover, and enjoy (what else?) J. R. R. Tolkien's books. Why March 25?  The Tolkien Society explains that this is the date of the Fall of Sauron.  However, as a devout Catholic, Tolkien would have associated this date with the Annunciation, thus making an explicit connection between Mary's Fiat and the downfall of evil.  This year's theme is Tolkien's Landscapes.  So, on Monday, be sure to pick up a book by Tolkien and, if you write a review, feel free to link it in the comments!

Movie Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Date: 1972
Director: Franco Zeffirelli

Summary: Francis returns to his home of Assisi after contracting a fever in the army.  He experiences a religious conversion that inspires him to reject the lavish lifestyle of his family and attempt to draw closer to God through nature and poverty.    His newfound joy attracts many of the city's youth to him, but the powerful of Assisi resent the rebuke to their materialism and vow to stop Francis at any cost.

Review: Brother Sun, Sister Moon is a cinematic masterpiece that attempts to transfer to the viewers some of the quiet joy St. Francis experienced through God's presence in nature.  Gorgeous photography, sweeping scenes of fields of flowers and snowy mountains, moments of silence and moments of song all combine to present the story of St. Francis with a beauty so powerful that it can touch hearts even if some find it a little hokey.

I admit that when the film began, I did not react favorably.  Some factors such as costuming or even the soundtrack may prove jarring to a more modern audience.  We are, after all, accustomed to art that makes us forget it is art and invites us to live within its story line.  Here, however, the gaudy outfits never let viewers forget their nature as costumes and the soundtrack seems like it belongs on a flashback to the 60s CD.  Initially I had expected the type of music St. Francis might have heard, but clearly Zeffirelli's concerns lie less in maintaining historical accuracy than in using art to make a statement about his culture: the music draws parallels between St. Francis's love of nature and the environmental movement of the 60s.

I might have accepted these issues, but the portrayal of St. Francis also surprised me.  I have always imagined St. Francis as a fearless man of action, a man whose deciveness and passion shocked a nation.  This is after, all the man who tore off his clothes before the bishop and the town in order to announce his desire to live in poverty for the glory of the Lord.  Zeffirelli's interpretation, however, shows a quieter, more introspective man.  Perhaps he wanted audiences to feel like the inhabitants of Assisi.  Perhaps he wanted audiences to question, like the characters, whether St. Francis wasn't quite simply made.  Ultimately, however,  I think some of the problems I had with the portrayal lies in the impossibility of expressing or illustrating the presence of God.

Every saint movie I have ever seen relies on silence to convey the presence of God within a person.  And why not?  God's presence is ineffable. However, when I think on the people in my life in whom I have distinctly felt the presence of God,  I don't recall them serenely staring off into the distance smiling to themselves or looking past me when I talk because they're just so in love with the Lord they can't see me.  I think that when a person is in tune with God, they become more present to those around them--not less so.  Thus, I had trouble accepting a portrayal of St. Francis in which he ignored people when they spoke to him.  I accepted him only when I saw the camaraderie he had with his brothers and the service he extended to the poor and afflicted.  St. Francis only became real when he connected with the world around him.

The heart of the film lies in that--lies in the presence of St. Francis in Italy.  He was a real man who walked on real soil and managed to transform the way people understood religion and spirituality.  He continues to inspire countless people today.  And why?  Because if an ordinary man like him could do something so extraordinary, it means that all of us have the potential to become saints.  Brother Sun, Sister Moon shines brightest when it shows St. Francis looking into the eyes of the people around him and reminding them that God desires them.

Dante's Daughter by Kimberley Heuston

Goodreads: Dante’s Daughter

Series: None

Published: 2004

Source: Library

Summary: Antonia Alighieri’s world turns upside down when the Black Guelfs invade Florence and force her family into exile.  Separated from her mother and her brothers, Antonia travels with her father, the famous poet Dante, through Italy and France.  The people she meets and the places she experiences will help her find her own place in the world and give her the courage to follow her dreams.

Review: Heuston paints a vivid picture of pre-Renaissance Italy, taking the few known facts about Antonia’s life and transforming them into a story sure to inspire readers and warm their hearts.  Though she writes about the daughter of a man who will one day be recognized as one of the world’s greatest poets, Heuston does not allow Dante—or the political forces surrounding him—to overshadow her protagonist.  Anotonia has her own life, her own needs, and her own vision.  Her navigation through adolescence and young adulthood in a male-dominated world will resonate with readers long after they close the book.

Since historians know so little about Dante’s family, Heuston had a liberal amount of poetic license with which to work while writing Dante’s Daughter.  My limited understanding of Dante suggests, however, that Heuston stayed remarkably true to those facts even while she used them to make assumptions about the way in which events may have unfolded.  Thus, Heuston utilizes speculations about an unhappy marriage between Dante and his wife Gemma (in part due to his poetry about another woman—Beatrice) to create a fully three-dimensional woman who feels hurt by her husband’s emotional betrayal yet still provides for her family and their interests.  The dynamic between them drives a lot of the story and provides for some interesting speculations about the how a man so preoccupied by intellectual pursuits may have related to others.

Dante springs to life as a complex man who loves his family, but whose idealism and divine inspiration sometimes cause him to neglect the worldly sorts of tasks that might keep them fed and clothed.  Antonia loves her father in return and craves his affection and protection, but finds that he has difficulty relating to her.  In part, the book suggests, Dante lived too much on his own to understand the needs of others, especially children.  However, Dante does not only experience difficulty in speaking to Antonia simply because she is a child, but also because she is a woman.  She, like him, possesses a quick wit and a keen sensitivity for beauty, but she lacks his education.  There exists between them a fundamental inability to communicate because Dante thinks in terms of the great poets and philosophers who came before him—and Antonia does not yet know them all.

Dante’s attitude toward his family—particularly his wife and daughter—thus serves as a springboard for reflections on gender roles.  As the daughter of a great poet, Antonia will learn Latin, hear the stories from Virgil, and even learn to paint.  However, she remains a woman, and society expects her not to create great art like her father, but to make a home and care for a family.  She does not deny this calling, or even its validity (Antonia’s aunt in fact provides a lively defense of the occupation of women in her society, asserting that men can accomplish so much intellectual work only because the woman take care of their practical needs).  However, she does recognize her need to find her own calling, rather than to follow the path laid out for her by others.

Heuston’s nuanced and varied depiction of woman is completely refreshing.  She presents a wide spectrum of strong women, from Antonia’s aunt who loves being a wife and mother to the Beguines, a group of lay Christian women who lived apart from men and could earn their own livelihood.  All of these women have different gifts and different strengths; Heuston does not assert the primacy of one vocation over another, but illustrates the various ways women can serve God and others.  Antonia ultimately takes the best from all these women, forging her own destiny where she can love freely and be true to herself.

Dante's Daughter possesses a rare beauty, bringing to life a fascinating woman who chose to accept her struggles and use them to make herself stronger.  This book will leave readers feeling refreshed and inspired.

C. S. Lewis Read-Along at Pages Unbound

Check out the C. S. Lewis Read-Along taking place during the month of February at book blog Pages Unbound.  You can read any book by or about C. S. Lewis during February and your review will be added to the Master List.  Other fun posts so far have included discussion posts, a cover poll, and a personality quiz.

Habemus Papam!: Pope Benedict XVI by Regina Doman, Illustrated by Sean Lam

Goodreads: Habemus Papam!

Series: None

Published: 2012

Source: Borrowed

Summary: Growing up in Bavaria, Josef Ratzinger finds his faith tested daily as the Nazis shut down schools, force the young men into the army, and persecute Christians and Jews.  However, he places his trust in God and fulfills his dream of becoming a priest.  Josef enjoys his new life teaching and longs to spend his days as a scholar, but God still calls and His plan is larger than anything Josef could have imagined.

Review: Doman and Lam’s manga presents a biography of the pope in a manner both fun and accessible.  Benedict  XVI, or, as he was known before receiving the call to lead the Catholic Church as the Vicar of Christ, Josef Ratzinger, comes to life on the page, no distant figure waving from a balcony, but a flesh-and-blood man who faced terrible opposition in  his journey to become a priest but never lost his faith.  Readers will not only learn interesting facts about the pope (for instance, he loves cats) but will also feel themselves inspired by the example of man who placed all his trust in God, even when he feared the road God might set him on.

I have never read manga before, so I can only judge Habemus Papam! on its own merits.  I thought the illustrations were very well done.  Some beautiful Catholic architecture made appearances and the level of detail (for example, a glimpse of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) gave the story a sense of realism.  The range of emotion exhibited by the characters also helped draw me into the story.  I especially enjoyed the young Josef—there is an adorable picture of him sitting with his teddy bear—and found myself marveling that the pope was ever a child who got into trouble and fought with his siblings.  The fact that the pope likes cats became a sort of recurring theme, so it was fun to pick out all the cats in the pictures. 

Enjoyable as the illustrations were, however, I never felt that they were integral to the telling of the story.  I got the impression that the creators of the book designed it more as a marketing tool to reach young people and make the faith seem cool.  Doman conceivably could have written the same story, fleshed out with some description, and made it into a short biography.  Enough action and suspense occurs that readers will keep the pages turning.  

Despite this criticism, I do not mean to suggest that the book seems didactic.  Rather, it presents itself a a loving portrayal of a man whose dedication to God and desire to spread His message cannot fail to move readers.  The struggles he faces as he tries to accept God's will for him make him seem so delightfully human, but the fearlessness he exhibits as he searches out truth makes him seem like the obvious pick to lead the Church in the modern era.  Readers should close the book with one message: those who seek the truth will always find it.

Looking For...A Valentine's Day Read

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

After discovering that she is the last of her kind, a unicorn sets off a journey to find the others.  Rumor says that the dreaded Red Bull has captured all the unicorns and holds them captive in his castle by the sea.  Added by an inept magician and a bandit's wife, the unicorn will confront the bull, but she cannot return home unchanged.

Confessions by Saint Augustine

In chronicling the story of his conversion to Christianity, Augustine famously wrote, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."  His book actively reflects on his life explores the process of memory in understanding a life in context of a divine plan.  His works would inspire countless other writers.

The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis

Lewis explores the nature of love in four of its forms: affection, friendship, eros, and charity.  His insights on friendship are especially relevant in a world that seems to place romantic love about all other loves; he suggests that modern people have difficulty appreciating friendship because they have never experienced a true one.