Novel Thoughts blog
  1. Good Catastrophes and Renewing Catholic Literature, by Holly Ordway

    Good Catastrophes and Renewing Catholic Literature

    January 9, 2015 8:00 am 8 Comments

      Eucatastrophe: in a word, this is what we need today, for a renewed, vibrant, and compelling Catholic literature. The word, coined by J.R.R. Tolkien in his great essay “On Fairy-stories,” means “the good catastrophe”: the unexpected happy ending, the turn from sorrow to joy. Tolkien’s own great work The… Read more »

    Tags: C.S. Lewis Catholic literature eucatastrophe Evelyn Waugh Flannery O'Connor Graham Greene Inklings J.R.R. Tolkien Walker Percy

  2. James Casper

    As recently reported in the media, the Chicago Archdiocese has released 15,000 pages of its files related to substantiated priest sexual abuse against minors. Previously, the Archdiocese of St. Paul, Minnesota in response to legal action, released a large trove of similar records. While these public disclosures are good news,… Read more »

    Tags: abuse Everywhere in Chains fiction scandal

  3. Meryl Kaleida

    A few months ago I lamented over bad movie adaptations from books.  I am always hopeful that some film director will suck me into their painfully accurate rendition of their favorite novel, but I am usually disappointed. I have had to train myself to view movies completely separate from their… Read more »

    Tags: film movie reviews novels to movies The Hobbit

  4. Our War on Christmas (and How to Lose It)

    December 31, 2014 5:25 pm 1 Comment

    On this seventh day of Christmas, with the stress of holiday visits fading and the new year hard ahead, I’d like to look at the recent metaphor, widely used, of a war on Christmas. It’s an idea touted in one venue and mocked in another. The idea is that overdeveloped… Read more »

    Tags: Charles Dickens Christmas culture G.K. Chesterton John Henry Newman scrooge

  5. Too Many Things of 2014

    December 31, 2014 3:35 pm 2 Comments

    “Favorite? But I like too many things!” That was the response when I asked my five-year-old daughter what her favorite book was. I often feel the same way when people ask me for my top ten books or films. I like too many things: how can I put them in… Read more »

    Tags: recommendations reviews top ten lists

  6. John Herreid

    The Darkness of Christmas

    December 16, 2014 12:18 pm 7 Comments

    As a child my family had the usual comforting Christmas rituals: watching It’s a Wonderful Life, listening to Handel’s Messiah, decorating the tree, baking cookies, wrapping presents.  The licorice smell of anise-flavored springerle cookies, the taste of gingerbread, the sound of the voices as they announce the coming of the… Read more »

    Tags: Christmas J.R.R. Tolkien sorrow

  7. Dorothy Cummings McLean

    The Double Life of Veronica

    December 10, 2014 12:29 pm 5 Comments

    Last night I went to see Kieślowski’s La Double Vie de Véronique (1991) at the cinema, thinking I had seen it many years before. However, I swiftly realized that I had seen only half of the first half, which is about a young Polish singer named Weronika. And I was sorry I… Read more »

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  8. John Herreid

    Crapulous Cowards and Quarrels

    December 5, 2014 7:25 pm 2 Comments

    “I object to a quarrel because it always interrupts an argument.” —G. K. Chesterton As I write, a lot of Catholics are worried about the ongoing tussling about pastoral issues in the Church. Others are worried about what seems to be a growing partisan divide in America between those with… Read more »

    Tags: Ben Hatke G.K. Chesterton reviews The Ball and the Cross

  9. Ignatius Press Novels

    IP Novels Digest: Happy Advent!

    December 5, 2014 10:48 am Leave a Comment

    Need some Christmas gift ideas? Why not some of our novels? These reviewers think these books are great!   Deacon Jim Russell had this to say about Roger Thomas’ The Accidental Marriage: “The new novel “The Accidental Marriage” (Ignatius Press) by Roger B. Thomas is not exactly a familiar portrait of… Read more »

    Tags: bloggers blogs Christmas gifts Iota novels reviews The Accidental Marriage

  10. Meryl Kaleida

    A Review of Mockingjay Part 1

    November 25, 2014 3:17 pm Leave a Comment

    Mockingjay Part 1, the final installment of The Hunger Games series, opened this past weekend as the top selling movie in the box office. The adaptation of Suzanne Collin’s novel left something to be desired for both critics and fans alike. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of… Read more »

    Tags: film hunger games Mockingjay novels to movies Suzanne Collins

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