Good Catholic Novels?

[surfinpure]

jeffreedy789:

me, too.

sniff

 

[jeffreedy789]

seriously, that book (til we have faces) was the most depressing, confusing book i’d ever read - until i got to the end.

then i was like ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!’

and a year later, i read it again.

it, and my whole life, made alot more sense.

 

[surfinpure]

jeffreedy789:

seriously, that book (til we have faces) was the most depressing, confusing book i’d ever read - until i got to the end.

then i was like ‘ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!’

and a year later, i read it again.

it, and my whole life, made alot more sense.

Yeah, I was thinking that needed to be explained to anyone who hasn’t read the book before. It starts out a little bit weird, and then it gets weirder. :ehh: But THEN you get to the end, and you go, “WHOA!” And then you just cry and cry until your spouse walks in an gives you a funny look, at which point you hand him (or her) the book, and just say, “Read this.”

 

[bluerose]

If you all get a chance (those of you who just discovered Mary Higgins Clark is Catholic, especially), read her memoirs, “Kitchen Privileges”. It’s like reading a novel!

Did anyone mention Louis de Wohl’s historical novels? My personal favorite is “The Spear”, but I also love “Lay Siege to Heaven” (about St. Catherine of Siena).

BlueRose

 

[snowgarden]

Has anyone ever heard of “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro? It was mentioned on Amy’s catholic blog…I don’t think he’s Catholic, but the theme explores a modern moral ethical issue…that’s all I’ll say because it reads like a mystery and once you catch on it knocks your socks off…what a clever, thought provoking look at what could happen if we procede with what alot of supposedly ignorant religious people are trying to prevent from happening.

 

[snowgarden]

Anyone heard any reviews of it that would recommend it to a Catholic audience?

 

[Bruised_Reed]

surf(name removed by moderator)ure:

I couldn’t agree more. All of these are on my top-ten list! In fact, Till We Have Faces helped to pull me through one of the most difficult times of my life. Beautiful story. Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

This post and others following it have inspired me to check this book out. Those “reviews” should be included in future printings!

 

[surfinpure]

snowgarden:

Anyone heard any reviews of it that would recommend it to a Catholic audience?

Reviews of which?

 

[surfinpure]

Bruised Reed:

This post and others following it have inspired me to check this book out.

GREAT! :bounce: Just remember, it starts out kind of strange, so don’t be scared off in the first few chapters!

 

[BLB_Oregon]

CarolAnnSFO:

I intend to check out some of the books mentioned in this thread. I really need a book suggestion (for my book group) that will accurately reflect Catholic belief (after a series of books that don’t, like Pope Joan, Da Vinci Code, Left Behind, and a book on Catholicism by Fr. Hans Kung – none of these was selected by me, by the way!)

I am especially interested in books that are neither mystery novels nor apocalyptic stories, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

Dear and Glorious Physician, by Taylor Caldwell. It’s historical fiction, based on the life of St. Luke. I heard it recently as a book on tape and loved it. It would be particularly good for someone who studied Latin, as it also contrasts the virtues of Old Rome with the excesses of debauched Rome… you can’t learn Latin without learning about the Romans and all their gods and favorite virtues! In it Lucanus (St. Luke) comes to find Jesus after having searched for (and quarreled with) the “Unknown God” of the Greeks.

Mind you, Lucanus has a brush with about as many historically significant events as did Forest Gump, but as Lucanus was a cosmopolitan member of an intellectual and social elite, it doesn’t seem such a stretch. Lucanus is also physically and intellectually remarkable, to say the least… I have no idea if St. Luke was anything of the sort.

The story explicitly speaks of illicit behavior… such as having orgies and sexual slaves, even boys. Although these are described as depraved, this and the vocabulary in the book put it beyond the young reader.

What I loved was that the characters in the book are so richly and compassionately drawn. Lucanus does not walk past cardboard figures in this story, but many many people that you care about.

 

[mpav]

Two personal favorites:

The Cypresses Believe in God - Jose Gironella (novel of the Spanish Civil War) Tremendous.

Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

Also, Flannery O’Connor was a deeply religious woman, and her writings, if not overtly Catholic, are Catholic at heart.

While defending the Real Presence one day, O’Connor declared “If the Eucharist is only a symbol, the hell with it.”

 

[judicame]

What about the oft overlooked Robert Hugh Benson 'Lord of the World’ (1907).

Read it online here for free

Robert Hugh Benson was a convert to the Church from Anglicanism, the son of a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

“The late Robert Hugh Benson wrote two books, each remarkable and each envisaging one of the opposite possibilities . In the first, The Lord of the World, he presents the picture of the Church reduced to a little wandering band, returning as it were to its origins, the Pope at the head of the Twelve – and a conclusion on the Day of Judgment. In the second The Dawn of All] he envisages the full restoration of the Catholic thing – our civilization re-established, reinvigorated, once more seated and clothed and in its right mind; because in that new culture, though filled with human imperfection, the Church will have recoved her leadership of men and will inform the spirit of society with proportion and beauty once more.”

Hillaire Belloc
Other Benson online books here

.

 

[Blanka]

I know that Michael D. O’Brien’s novels have already been mentioned but I cannot praise this author enough. He is really a brilliant writer. I read “Father Elijah” first and couldn’t wait to get more books by O’Brien. I’m now just finishing the Children of the Last Days trilogy (Strangers and Sojourners, Plague Journal, and Eclipse of the Sun) and I cannot put “Eclipse of the Sun” down.

As for children’s books, The Neumann Press publishes classic Catholic books including good children’s books. Their web site link is: www.neumannpress.com

 

[bluerose]

Ignatius Press is also a good source for Catholic books and has a very impressive list of novels for young people as well.

BlueRose

 

[Ann_Cheryl]

Along the same lines for a young person “A Philadelphia Catholic in King James’ Court”

Author Martin De Porres Kennedy and I wouldn’t limit it to young person. My husband and I are still debating the end. This is as it is advertized “First ever Apologetics Novel” Well done.

Outlaws of Revenhurst is also memerable

 

[bluerose]

Thank you, Ann Cheryl!

BlueRose

 

[mpav]

Two Oldies: Embezzled Heaven
The Song of Bernadette
Both, I believe by Franz Werfel
`

 

[mpav]

On the topic of Catholic novels, the recent Crisis magazine has a piece on Graham Greene’s novels. It’s worth a read.

crisismagazine.com/feature2.htm

 

[LindaS]

I absolutely love “A Philadelphia Catholic…”! It is a wonderful presentation of Catholic beliefs in a well told story. I would recommend it to anyone, and I am not a young person! Far from it! Many books mentioned here that I have not read, so I’ll have to get to work! BTW, stay away from the “Joshua” series. Some questionable theology there.

Peace,
Linda

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

JackmanUSC:

One I read was called The Last Fisherman. Kind of like the Left Behind books, but actually interpreting Catholocism and the Bible correctly.

Very very good book.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon.

The Last Fisherman: A Novel of the Last Pope, the Antichrist and the End of the Age by Randy England