tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8699455.post111782005522125038..comments2023-08-16T03:09:28.568-07:00Comments on Eagle and Elephant: The Christ-haunted South and ShoutingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8699455.post-1118777327891608082005-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:002005-06-14T12:28:00.000-07:00Flannery O'Connor is true genius. I like to take h...Flannery O'Connor is true genius. I like to take her stories apart just to look at the skeleton, never mind all the juicy flesh of her jokes and asides.<BR/><BR/>Don't think there have been too many "Catholic" writers (who were any good) though you forgot Waugh, and Graham Greene and maybe Allan Tate and Mary Gordon.<BR/><BR/>Here's a good article on the issue, and it mentions the difference between what converts write vs. native Catholics. Also sorts out the European vs. the American.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3777/is_199904/ai_n8830236" REL="nofollow">A different discipline: The American Catholic novel</A> <BR/><BR/>Catholics are not so ghettoized as they once were. My guess is that they still exist but are not so obviously "about" Catholicism. Rather they deal with the mystery of redemption on all its levels. As O'Connor said, it's the ability to look into the face of evil and see more than that.<BR/><BR/>I have no idea what Anne Tyler's religious beliefs are. Her novels are about redemption, though. The redemption of everyday life. The sanctity of the quotidian, maybe?<BR/><BR/>It's a good thing "Catholic" literature is hard to identify. It means it's really literature.<BR/><BR/>People seeing and reading "Lord of the Rings" have no idea, do they?<BR/><BR/>BTW, the only one who even partly succeeded in being overt was Charles Williams. Even then, it's only partial.Dymphnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11332644582520636279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8699455.post-1117953672006789142005-06-04T23:41:00.000-07:002005-06-04T23:41:00.000-07:00There's a big debate going on over at Church of th...There's a big debate going on over at <A HREF="http://churchofthemasses.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Church of the Masses</A> about the death of Catholic subculture. (Under the title "IF WE CAN'T BEAT DA VINCI, CAN WE JOIN 'EM?".)<BR/><BR/>It's a bit depressing, but maybe it'll spur some people on to change that. Certainly has returned some grip to my resolve.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com