My Thoughts: Tales of Faith

 I don't expect this review to be quite as extensive, but there was enough in the first and last portions that I wanted to record my thoughts on this work.

The first chapter was, by far, my favorite part of this book. It's almost worth buying the book and having it around just so that I can access that first chapter whenever I want.

"Although this book has a practical purpose, I wish to emphasize at the start the importance of encountering literature on its own terms: as an experience that we enter into, and as something that we receive as a good in itself, not merely something that we use for other ends, however laudable." (p. 7)

"We need to be careful never to take a utilitarian approach. If we treat literature as a mere tool to achieve our purposes (however good those purposes may be), we will find that it breaks in our hands. In contrast, when we draw upon works of literature that are beautiful and intriguing in their own right, in a spirit of genuine appreciation, we can confidently invite others to join us in discussing these tales. There is no 'bait and switch,' only the confidence that these classic works of literature also lead us to reflect on the truths of the faith." (pp. 7-8)

I wanted to type out all of pages 8 and 9, for the most part, but I'm not sure that the copyright police would approve of my typing all that up here. Suffice it to say, it's all really good.

"Intellectual hospitality means seeking first to understand and only then to critique as necessary. It's in short supply these days, sadly undermined by our media consumption and by the generally polarized nature of discourse today. Our modern culture is a hypercritical one: our first reaction to anything different tends to be fault-finding." (p. 9)

This hypercritical attitude tends to be my default mode, as well. If anyone has a different perspective than what I think is right, then the judgment immediately starts. 

"It's very easy for an evangelist to end up always on the defensive. If we're only responding to objections, we never have the chance to make a positive case. We need to be able to turn the tables and show the goodness of Christianity." (p. 10)

I love this idea! We spend so much time in apologetics talking about talking points for how to counter questions or attacks on the faith...but as it says in the first letter of St. Peter, "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear..." (1 Pet. 3:15-16). We are called to be ready to give reasons for why we embrace the Church - it's not because of vacuums in reality (e.g., there was nothing better); it has to be because there is a positive, living something - or rather, Someone - that has changed us and our lives.

"Evangelization and discipleship are always slow processes if we are doing them well." (p. 12)

Chapters

Ancient Greek and Roman

And now, I'll spend a bit of time on specific chapters. The first one tackled some myths of the ancient Greeks. These works are super classic in pretty much every sense of the word, but it's not quite the flavor of literature that I enjoy reading for fun. However, I loved that one of the discussion questions highlight realizations I've already have; Jesus, the Lord, acts differently than Greek gods - and the comparison alone says a lot about Christianity. The other questions look like they'd be excellent for getting conversations going, as well. It was fun looking up some of the classical works of art inspired by this mythology. 

The next part of the first chapter addresses Homer's "Odyssey", and specifically, the encounter with the Cyclops. The additional resources listed have me wanting to look up C.S. Lewis' "Preface to Paradise Lost". The best discussion question, I think, asks readers to consider how the faith life is like an odyssey. The next segment of the chapter looks at "Oedipus Rex," most certainly NOT one of my favorite reads from high school. I don't have much to report on this part, so we'll move ahead to the "Aeneid", the classic epic written by the Roman Virgil. It was interesting reading about his journey through the underworld, and seeing where we get the meaning for the word "tantalizing". It was also interesting to think about Dante's "Divine Comedy" and compare the two different takes on Hell/Hades.

Medieval Literature

"The Dream of the Rood" was the first work considered in this chapter, and Ordway's explanation of it blew my mind - I don't remember learning that the speaker for at least part of the poem is actually the Cross. Ordway does a good job of providing necessary background information to help modern readers understand what is happening in the work and I appreciated that it didn't seem like she took too terribly long to explain, although some explanations were lengthy enough. "Beowulf" appears next, and I think it was good to have smaller snippets from different parts of the poem included instead of one long excerpt, because, (as I learned/relearned), Beowulf goes through some character development over the course of the poem. I thought her recommendations about translation choice were interesting - not going with Tolkien's translation because it "focused on linguistic accuracy" and was supposed to be a teaching aid, not a published work - ultimately listing Heaney's version as her preferred translation. That's cool, because I remember hearing Heaney mentioned in my Brit Lit 1 class as a major translator of this work. It makes me more interested in rereading "Beowulf" sometime.

The next part of the chapter talks about the elegy poems "The Seafarer", "The Ruin", and "The Wife's Lament". I didn't spend too much brain power reflecting on these in my review. I was, however, quite fascinated by the Exeter Book manuscript's long poem "Christ". I would be interested in learning more about parts I, II, and III someday. It was also pretty neat to learn about what the "O Antiphons" are (I hear about them every year during Advent, but never took the trouble to learn what they actually are).

The last work considered in this chapter is "Pearl", which I'd long seen on Newman's shelves in the bookstore, but never sat down to read. I was just fascinated by one question in particular, which asks the readers to reflect on the fact that many people find the idea of an afterlife boring. I admit that I've struggled with this myself, and it's led to some really cool discussions with my husband. I want to work on building up a positive idea of what Heaven might be like - for myself, but also for others if it comes up. While I personally struggle with the last "Chronicles of Narnia" book for various reasons, I really love how it makes Heaven sound like a place that would absolutely captivate everyone.

Late Medieval Literature

This chapter focused on the Divine Comedy. It's a work I've read and not really fallen in love with, so I'll skip over it. I'll just say that "Paradiso" is just as ethereal and hard to imagine (and really attend to) in excerpt form as it was reading it the first time all the way through.

Summarizing Last Chapter

Ordway does a nice job of wrapping up the book with ideas about how this book and/or the works in it might be practically discussed in real life.

"As to which texts to choose for your students: select texts that you, personally, find engaging and that you can have fun with. As the instructor, if you are enthusiastic about the readings, you have a good chance of helping the students to be enthusiastic as well. Of course, you should never expect enthusiasm - or at least, not visible enthusiasm. Teenagers and college students often make a substantial effort to act as if they are bored, because they are painfully self-conscious and afraid of the disapproval of their peers if they should do something so socially unforgivable as to enjoy what they're studying in school. But your enthusiasm and interest will not be wasted, and you may well find expressions of sincere engagement on their part coming through in their writing, even if not in person." (p. 171)

I don't plan to homeschool, but I like the encouragement to go with works I'm excited by if I'm going to read out loud or something. It dovetails quite nicely with my reading theory - life is too short to read books you don't enjoy. Of course, one can't realistically stay in one genre forever, so some stretching is good, but at least one is "allowed" to pick favorites from a wider selection to teach. It looks like those who like to practice liturgical living could really double down and work in some of these literary classics pretty naturally. And, of course, all the recommended resources for this final chapter struck my fancy. My to-read notebook is going to be getting pretty full in the next few days.

April 2023 Book Bracket

 April Book Brackets

I love and despise months like this, in which most books I finished were good, if not completely amazing. I wish I could spread the wealth to weaker monthly brackets!

With All Her Mind, edited by Rachel Bulman

This collection of essays by Catholic women explores the intellectual life in many of its facets, including especially its ties to the spiritual life.

Why I picked it up: It sounded interesting to me; what began as me trying to sneak in reading a gift before I gave it to a bridesmaid resulted in me getting a little food on the page and buying her a brand new copy. So now I own this amazing book!

My impressions: You can read all the impressions in the previous blog post. It was fantastic, with this being a conclusion that, although realized, truly came home to me only after reviewing each essay and typing out what stood out to me. I've said this in person and written it down as well, but this is one of the first "directed specifically at women" works that I felt encouraged me to pursue excellence and deep topics in the spiritual life. I highly recommend it to all women, Catholic or Christian and possibly even otherwise; I bet men could take away something from it too, but I don't know that they'd find it nearly as applicable.

Theology of Home, by Carrie Gress, Noelle Mering, and Kim Baile (photograper)

Women consider what a home is from a Catholic perspective.

Why I picked it up: The priest who was giving me and my now-husband marriage prep dropped this title during one of our meetings; I put it on the wedding registry, and one of my cousins very generously got it (and the second one!) for us.

My impressions: I hope to do a deep dive into my impressions of this work later, modeling it on the reflection I did on "With All Her Mind". However, I can summarize here. This book is great. I hadn't even gotten very far into it before I was recommending it to one of my sisters-in-law. This book moves slowly and just about demands that the reader take time to ponder its words. This book is beautiful, from the illustrations lining the inside of the cover to the photographs of real homes and families to the interspersion of text and picture. I make the same recommendation here that I did for "With All Her Mind."

The Blood-Red Crescent, by Henry Garnett

This fictional account of the Battle of Lepanto centers around the coming-of-age adventures of Guido as Europe readies for battle with Turkish forces.

Why I picked it up: I think this one had made it onto my "to-read" list at some point and it was available through the Formed.org app for free.

My impressions: I think the poem by G. K. Chesterton is better. This is a good book for folks who are or were enamored of the tale of the Battle of Lepanto; it's a full novel and has some exciting episodes in it. Although there are chapters here and there that have some very engaging action sequences, there isn't much in this book that's going to make it memorable - at least for me. I think its a solid work of historical fiction, but it was slow to get into and easy to put down after the more interesting bits ended; the pacing was not all that I hoped for, and the final battle felt like it carried equal climactic value with other action sequences. The writing style worked most of the time, but sometimes my progress would be arrested by the way something was worded (I know, I'm not really one who ought to make that criticism). However, there were some writing decisions that I thought worked well, such as naming specific figures, and giving some allusive hints about them (e.g., calling one Turkish captain a "Christian renegade") but not explaining any more - this made me want to learn more about them. Some people might like that certain historical figures appear and have speaking roles in this tale, but I didn't appreciate how Cervantes was portrayed - too much like his creation, Don Quixote, and not enough like the rather ironic person I imagine he was. I'm not sure that descriptions of the Turkish warriors sat well with me - perhaps it was a reflection of the views at the time and historically accurate, but I felt uneasy reading them at times. Some readers might find descriptions of violence and death in this book a little graphic. I think the best audience for this book would be young lads who want action and battles and the victory of good over evil.  I bet GKC would have appreciated this book.

Tales of Faith, by Holly Ordway

Evangelist and college professor discusses how pre-modern literature can provide fruitful ground for discussion and evangelization, building a base with excerpts from select works and discussion questions.

Why I picked it up: You know my story from how I got into reading "With All Her Mind"? Duplicate that, but exchange "food" with "water."

My impressions: This is a good book and makes me wish that I was formally working through literary classics with others. I don't desire that enough to actually go and do it, but it reminded me of some of the joys of being a college student. I absolutely loved the first chapter or so, as Ordway was laying the groundwork - her discussion of "intellectual hospitality" was especially excellent. I can't say that I loved the works she discussed, but it's alright to not love specific works - although it is beneficial to appreciate them. I'd recommend this book to high schoolers, college students, and those teaching them, as well as evangelists. 

Bracket Play

This was a great month of reading. I finished four books, all of which I'd started before my wedding. Three of the books were strong enough to make even part of the first round more difficult than usual. "With All Her Mind" won easily against the weak "The Blood-Red Crescent", which, though an admirable attempt at Catholic creative writing, was not a real delight to read. However, it was a little sad to see Ordway's "Tales of Faith" go down in the first round. I'm confident that the right book won, but I think Ordway's book is well done and has a lot of potential to lead readers and discussion groups towards great pondering. The second round was also a little saddening because I couldn't really pick both. Both of these works led me to slow down, think, and engage more deeply with what I was reading. I loved thinking about "home," as in, what it is, and what we are ultimately pointed to by our desires for a more perfect home. That hit me in all the right places. But I also loved considering what the intellectual life is, how it can be so well integrated with the spiritual life, and what I might consider doing to deepen it - and more importantly, my spiritual life. "With All Her Mind" won in the end - almost every essay having some delight to ponder or quote to take away - but "Theology of Home" was similar in that sense. It easily could have won in a different month. Well fought, books of April! Well done!