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.

Thursday, December 16, 2021

December 14: "Dappled Things" Easter 2021 (2/2)

I very much enjoyed my reading through of the rest of this issue of Dappled Things, in particular the poetry.  Some of the Devon Balwit poems were really well done.  

Reading more of this publication lately has allowed me to realize that I dislike many of the book reviews, probably more than half.  The most common factor is that they try too hard.  They reveal what is always the potential weakness of publications like this: the amateur writer trying too hard to create the winning metaphor, the pristine image, or the poetic prose.  Perhaps it comes out in the reviews more often because they're trying to match the style or significance of the book they're trying to tell us is so good.  And that's another thing: they're always telling us the book is so good.  

But let not this rant obscure the fact that I enjoyed this issue quite a lot.  

No comments:

Post a Comment