The title of this blog borrows from a phrase used by the British novelist and Catholic convert, Evelyn Waugh: “There is an Easter sense in which all things are made new in the risen Christ. A tiny gleam of this is reflected in all true art.” It is a hopeful and worthwhile idea and aspiration to believe that the human creation of art is a refracting of the truth as expressed in the person of the risen Christ.

This blog serves as a place to comment on and explore literature – or any other mode of art, such as film, poetry, visual art, and the like. Although the explorations and reactions here need not be centered on religious structures or ideas, it is assumed that the foundational core of the responses is a belief in the power and truth of Catholicism. Rather than this having the effect of a narrowing of perspectives, as some may claim, this standpoint is in fact one of freedom, for freedom is found fully only in truth – while a detachment from this bedrock of veracity, even in hopes of finding objectivity, is bound to end in hollow and incomplete untruth.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Reading in 2015: A Year in Review

2015 was full of ups and downs. It began with great gusto and promise. I read a number of books I really loved, and after a few months I felt I already had a number of my favorites of the year. Then I hit a rough spot, and I read quite a lot of books in a row I didn't form any attachment to and didn't rate at 5 stars on Goodreads. (I'm a high rater.) Then I ended the year with some strong books. This pattern offered me difficulty when attempting to vote for my top 5 books of the year. I was left only with two definite choices, but the next level was full of choices. So there's quite a lot of books under my heading "other notables books."

My reread of Tolkien's trilogy was beyond exhilarating. This time around, the basic action---the battles, etc.---didn't interest me much, but the quiet moments were full of depth and personal meaning. In short, I think I enjoyed the book more this time than any other time.

Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek was one of the best pieces of nonfiction I've ever read. I think it easily makes my top ten books of all time. The prose, the philosophical musings, the imagery: entrancing.

I ended the year with 41 books read, exceeding my goal by 1. More importantly, 2015 stopped my trending reading decline, going from 55 to 40 to 33. In fact, 41 puts me at more books read (in recent history, at least) than any year but my monster 2012 year. I am more than pleased with my reading habits over the past 12 months. 

Here are my top 5 books of the year. They are sort of in order:

The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
My Antonia, Willa Cather
A Soldier of the Great War, Mark Helpin
The Prime of Miss Brodie, Muriel Sparks

Other Notable Reads (in no particular order):
A Canticle for Lebowitz, Henry Miller Jr. 
Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
Outside Enderby, Anthony Burgess
Death Comes for the Deconstructionist, Daniel Taylor
Father, Brother, Keeper, Nathan Pool
In the Garden of the North American Martyrs, Tobias Wolff
Civilwarland in decline, George Saunders
The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O'Connor
Dirk Gently's Detective Agency, Douglas Adams

Last, here are some interesting stats on my "reading year." I broke down my 41 books by looking at 4 categories: gender of writer, length of book, genre of book, and religion of writer. The last category is a bit tenuous: I went with what I knew, and put "other" down if I didn't know. Also, for someone to classify as a Catholic or Christian writer, I need to know they were practicing and orthodox---not perfect, just actually affiliated with a religious dogma.

Gender of author: 76% male; 24% female
Length of book: 34% short; 61% medium; 5% long
Religion of author: 44% Catholic; 12% Christian; 44% other
Genre: 39% novel; 5% novella; 10% science-fiction; 7% fantasy; 22% short stories; 2% poetry; 2% young adult; 12% non-fiction

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