Catholic Fiction

[Quarles47]

Hello,

I would like to start a tread that discusses fictional works of Catholics and laps catholic or those that write with a catholic setting. These can include the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Walter M. Miller, Jr. and even Frank Herbert (a lap catholic) or anyone else you can think of. Also any other gems you may have come across and wish to share.

My favorite here, which I’ll throw out, first, is Walter M. Miller, Jr. He’s most famous opus is “A Canticle for Leibowitz”. A tale of future world civilization formed after a devastating nuclear war and the role of the church in that forming.
He is one of the first science fiction authors I have come across that shows how important the Church would be in such a setting and how it would survive such a plight.

Has anyone else read this gem? If so I would like to hear from you. And also would like to hear about any other fictional work where the Church is present, or the influence of the Church is present.

[Philothea53]

Ooh, I hope this thread takes off! I would love to hear from others about good Catholic reading.

[Catherine_A]

I have an online friend who has personal letters to and from Walter M. Miller, Jr.

I'll ask at the Catholic Writers' Online group for a list of their fiction writings. I know there is a lot of sci-fi and romance.

[Mick7]

Now here I wouldn't want to be accused of advertising, but my wife's a Catholic Author and she has written three books, two have been published and the third is complete, but has to be sent to the publisher after revision and editing. Her published books are: "Northwoods Forest Mystery and Death Across the Pond both by Karin Ficke Cook. There's more information about these books on our web site.

[Ghoti]

I like Katherine Kurtz's Deryni books. The Deryni are a fictional race of humans who possess a variety of psychic and magical abilities. Note that this magic is not wizardry or witchcraft per se, but the result of religious invocations of angels and saints. The milieu is a fictional world with parallels in medieval Christian Europe. The main kingdom, Gwynedd, is a representation of the British Isles, Torenth is similar to Eastern Europe, etc. The people of Gwynedd are for all intents and purposes Catholic, while Torenthi people are Orthodox, and I think there are some Muslims near the desert areas.

There's a caveat, though: there's an undercurrent of (I believe) Gnosticism in the books, and the Deryni practices are very close to what I have read about "High Magic".

[pippin]

The most recent book I've read is "The Red Horse" by Eugenio Corti. It 's based on Corti's experiences in the Italian army during world war II. Corti and his main characters are devout Catholics.

[maria rose]

I have not read it yet, but I've heard it's beautiful. By Pope John Paul The Great 'The Jeweller's shop'
Anyone here read it?

[kujayhawk]

I'm new to the book club, and joined because of the topic being Catholic authors of fiction.

I am an English major from my college days and a library media specialist in a large Catholic school (but soon to retire). My undergraduate days were in a Catholic college in the "olden" days when one had to have at least 12 hours of theology and another 12 hours of philosophy in order to graduate - and when literature classes were designed to deepen our faith rather than test it. Thus, I've read many, many good Catholic works of literature, both fiction and non fiction.

But, I am a bit dismayed by the intellectual focus which I think is the intent of this, but isn't it acceptable to sometimes read fiction of the more "common" variety such as one would find at Barnes & Noble or a similar place?

So, here I go with just one of my favorite Catholic authors who is currently writing. Ralph McInerny! His Father Dowling mysteries are good fiction (better than the weak TV series of some years back), very Catholic and well written. His Notre Dame series is excellent as well as the Andrew Bloom books which are equally enjoyable. After reading any book in these series, the reader has no doubt about the faith of the author nor of the characters in these works of fiction.

Ralph McInerny's books have a solid circulation from the public library in the town where I live (near Wichita) which has a large protestant population. I often wonder about those who are reading McInerny, and the good he does for the Church by these books.

I'll eagerly await what fellow book club members have to say, and if this is not the style intended for this forum, maybe I can start a thread in another place.

[Mighty Q]

Originally Posted by Quarles47

My favorite here, which I’ll throw out, first, is Walter M. Miller, Jr. He’s most famous opus is “A Canticle for Leibowitz”. A tale of future world civilization formed after a devastating nuclear war and the role of the church in that forming.
He is one of the first science fiction authors I have come across that shows how important the Church would be in such a setting and how it would survive such a plight.

Has anyone else read this gem? If so I would like to hear from you. And also would like to hear about any other fictional work where the Church is present, or the influence of the Church is present.

I read A Canticle for Leibowitz in High School. I loved it. I wasn't a Catholic then, but enjoyed it immensely.

I've read it since converting, and enjoyed it even more.

[jdmayer]

Don't have time to write much now but some great (and often challenging) Catholic fiction authors are:
- Flannery O'Connor
- Walker Percy
- J.F. Powers
- Georges Bernanos

And of course Dostoevsky, who was Eastern Orthodox.

[Stratiotes]

GK Chesterton - Fr. Brown readers out there? I've only read snippets here and there but I love the EWTN show and some of the excerpts I've heard there.
McInerny is another that I have always wondered about so I'm glad for that vote - I'll have to find some time.

Also, has anybody read Marcus Grodi's book, _How Firm a Foundation_? I have it lying on my shelf waiting to be pushed up or down in the "to-read" list when I hear more about it.

I typically don't get to a lot of fiction though I always love it when I do. So, I have a few that I want to try sometime.

[mim]

I am new to this and this is my first post as a Book club member, just noticed today that I was accepted as a member, I have been browsing around the site for a few days now trying to get familiar with how things work.

I am part way through Dostoyevsky's book The Brothers Karamazov, I borrowed it from the library, but I have also found it online so it would be available to anyone with access to a computer!
http://www.classicbookshelf.com/libr...ers_karamazov/

-- it is a marvelous read. Does anyone have any comments on it and would it be a title suitable for study and discussion here?

Another book I am interested in is Albert Nolan's Jesus Before Christianity.

[Gabrielis]

The late Louis de Wohl wrote many novelizations of the saints and other defenders of the Catholic Faith, many of which have been republished by Ignatius Press.

Here are some titles:

The Joyful Beggar, about (who else?) Francis of Assisi

The Living Wood (St Helena/Constantine)

The Spear (The Centurion Longinus)

The Restless Flame (Augustine)

The Quiet Light (Thomas Aquinas)

Lay Siege to Heaven (Catherine of Siena)

The Last Crusader (Don Juan of Austria/The Battle of Lepanto)

Throne of the World (Pope Leo the Great/Attila the Hun)

There are others, but anyone interested could do their own search. De Wohl wrote mostly in the 1950's and early 1960's. He died sometime later in the sixties, if I'm not mistaken. His books are very readable and inspiring, and because they are novels they lack the dryness so often found in historical biographies.

[Philothea53]

Originally Posted by Gabrielis

The late Louis de Wohl wrote many novelizations of the saints and other defenders of the Catholic Faith, many of which have been republished by Ignatius Press.

Here are some titles:

The Joyful Beggar, about (who else?) Francis of Assisi

The Living Wood (St Helena/Constantine)

The Spear (The Centurion Longinus)

The Restless Flame (Augustine)

The Quiet Light (Thomas Aquinas)

Lay Siege to Heaven (Catherine of Siena)

The Last Crusader (Don Juan of Austria/The Battle of Lepanto)

Throne of the World (Pope Leo the Great/Attila the Hun)

There are others, but anyone interested could do their own search. De Wohl wrote mostly in the 1950's and early 1960's. He died sometime later in the sixties, if I'm not mistaken. His books are very readable and inspiring, and because they are novels they lack the dryness so often found in historical biographies.

What s wonderful list! Just what I have been looking for. Blessed be!!

[Gabrielis]

Philothea 53 and all other interested parties,

For those as yet unfamiliar with him, there is also a contemporary Catholic novelist who puts out monumental volumes, some a thousand pages long. His name is Michael O'Brien and he is perhaps best known for his novel Father Elijah, an Apocalypse. It is essentially a tale of the anti-Christ in our day, and may be more prophetic than fictional, for those who are aware of the depths to which the culture of death has invaded the thinking of so many, even, sadly, among our own ranks in the Church, in our post-modern, post-Christian world. Here is his website:

http://studiobrien.com/site/index.php

As for the many Canticle for Leibowitz fans, in the early 1970's a book was written by Thomas A. Klise which had Walter M. Miller's comment in the liner notes praising Klise's book with words to the effect that it is a rare work of art, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Any fan of Miller's should also enjoy Klise's novel The Last Western. It, too, I think, is prophetic. Unfortunately it was the only book Klise ever produced: he died of cancer shortly after it was published. It is almost as though he was born to write this novel, and once he did, his life's mission was complete. It is nowhere near as famous as Miller's Canticle, which is why I mention it here, and may even be out of print. But it is (or was) published by Argus Books and a search may yield some good results, for those who are interested.

And now that you've got me on a roll, there is also the late Australian Catholic novelist Morris West who gave us The Shoes of the Fisherman, which was made into a movie some time back with the late Anthony Quinn as the fictional pope. But this novel was only the first in a trilogy which continued with The Clowns of God and ended with Lazarus. Of the three I liked Clowns best: it has a surprise and thoroughly satisfactory ending.

West would be a more-or-less Down-Under equivalent of Kujayhawk's Ralph McInerny. I have read a few of the latter's detective pieces but the best book I've ever read by him is The Noonday Devil.

Peter Kreeft, who usually writes apologetics, has come up nonetheless with a few works of fiction. But I'd like to recommend one of his books in particular, though it is non-fiction (maybe I'm taking liberties here, for which I'm sure I'll be forgiven) and that is Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven (But Never Dreamed of Asking)--honest, that's the book's full title.

Finally, there's Chesterton. One could spend one's whole life reading him and never exhaust his writings, or at least never stop having things to chew on for the rest of one's life. Someone mentioned Fr Brown. I've read all of these, but the novel I like best by him is The Man Who Was Thursday, though there are still many others I have not yet read. Chesterton's great gift (or one of his many great gifts) is his ability to turn everything on its head. He is the storyteller par excellence who shows us clearly why the emperor has no clothes. Things are not as they seem. He reveals reality to us by standing our illusions on their heads. He is, as Dale Ahlquist, president of the GKC Society says, the Apostle of Common Sense. Those who haven't read much of Chesterton have a great deal to look forward to.

Apologies to those other worthy Catholic writers I have not mentioned, but I'd be here all day otherwise. Perhaps another time.

Okay, my roll comes to an end for now. Tell the drummers they can stop the drum-roll, and happy reading, everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
"The center of every man's existence is a dream. Death, disease, insanity, are merely material accidents, like a toothache or a twisted ankle. That these brutal forces always besiege and often capture the citadel does not prove that they are the citadel."
-- G. K. Chesterton
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~