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.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Reading in 2016: A Year of Books in Review

I fell quite short of my 40 book goal this year. I won't disguise my excuse: the birth of our third child, the lovely Lila Grace. Until her birth September 8, I was more or less on track; however, after September 8, I only completed one book. A little sad, I suppose. But new life is never sad.

 I still read 27 books in 2016, and a number of them were fantastic and memorable. I read my first (and still my favorite) Wendell Berry novel, Jayber Crow. It was one of my favorite books of all time. Top ten, I might say---at least top 15. It was the tops of 2016, no doubt in my mind. Another Berry snuck into my Top 5 this year, A Place on Earth. Interestingly, two of the other three on my Top 5 list were by Tobias Wolff: his memoir A Boy's Life and his short story collection, A Night in Question. The last book, PD James's Children of Men, came out of nowhere for me. I was hooked immediately, and I remain entranced by the atmosphere of the post-apocalyptic world created by the British mystery writer.

 Here is my Top 5, sort of in order:

 Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry
A Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff
The Children of Men, PD James
A Place on Earth, Wendell Berry
A Night in Question, Tobias Wolff

 Other notable/memorable books of 2016:

 Wizard of Earthsea, Usula K. LeGuin
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami
Jeweler's Shop, Karol Wojtyla
The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark
Pastoria, George Saunders
Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang

 Interesting (or not-so-interesting) Breakdowns
female 30%
male 70%
Catholic 33%
Christian 48%
2000+ 26%
1990+ 48%
long 7%
medium 56%
short 37%
fiction 81%

literary 89%
short story 11%
drama        4%
pop 7%
scifi/fantasy 26%
memoir 7%
philosophy, etc.        4%
poetry 0%

I didn't reach too many of my other goals, although their presence did push me into areas I wouldn't have gone otherwise, e.g. I received Wendell Berry's name from the Image list.

 Just as I'm cutting back on my total book count, I'm also making my goals less ambitious. Hopefully this will help me not ignore them.

 Goals

 1. Read at least ONE book/author from "Image's Top 25 Contemporary Writers of Faith" List, found here
2. Read at least ONE book of poetry
3. Read at least ONE classic (pre-1900)
4. Read at least ONE book strictly philosophical or theological
5. Read TWO prize winners

 Happy Reading!
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