How did you use all that free time? Like many folks, did you spend countless hours playing mind-numbing online games? Maybe instead you decided to subscribe to Netflix so you could watch all their politically correct series and movies. Or like some people I know, did you search YouTube for nutty animal videos and send them to your friends? Of course, you might actually have done some reading. You don’t have to answer, and I won’t confess my sins of excess leisure. But whether or not your reading list has changed, I thought it might be fun to recommend a few books to keep you busy during these long summer days.
I’ll preface my list by saying that I never pay a lot of attention to reading lists generated by others, even by those I respect. But that’s just because I have so many unread books piled up in my den that adding others would just add to my guilt. So…if, like me, you already have a long list of unread books, stop reading this post right now and jump over to YouTube. That said, here’s my list…
The Possessed (or Devils) by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881). I first read this book almost 60 years ago when I was a freshman at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service. I spent only one year at Georgetown — for which I thank God daily — before receiving an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Like my change in educational institutions, reading this book had a major influence on how I viewed the world, particularly the world of politics and government. Dostoevsky was, of course, one of Russia’s great novelists and most literate folks have read either Crime and Punishment or The Brothers Karamazov, his two most famous and widely read books. The Possessed, although not as well known, might actually be the most relevant to our times. Like Russia in the 1870s, radical, revolutionary ideas are gaining traction today, particularly among our poorly educated youth and young adults. I decided to reread this book some weeks ago and, based on recent events in our own country, found it even more relevant.
Let me offer a rather long quote from the book — a scene in which one radical speaks with another, describing those whom they recruit, the folks Lenin named the “useful idiots” who could be called on to do the busy and nasty work of the revolution:
“It will amuse you: the first thing which has a tremendous effect is giving them titles. Nothing has more influence than a title. I invent ranks and duties on purpose; I have secretaries, secret spies, treasurers, presidents, registrars, their assistants — they like it awfully, it's taken capitally. Then, the next force is sentimentalism, of course. You know, amongst us socialism spreads principally through sentimentalism. But the trouble is these lieutenants who bite; sometimes you put your foot in it. Then come the out-and-out rogues; well, they are a good sort, if you like, and sometimes very useful; but they waste a lot of one's time, they want incessant looking after. And the most important force of all — the cement that holds everything together — is their being ashamed of having an opinion of their own. That is a force! And whose work is it, whose precious achievement is it, that not one idea of their own is left in their heads! They think originality a disgrace…All that business of titles and sentimentalism is a very good cement, but there is something better; persuade four members of the circle to do for a fifth on the pretense that he is a traitor [that is, to kill him], and you'll tie them all together with the blood they've shed as though it were a knot. They'll be your slaves, they won't dare to rebel or call you to account…And another thing….the essence of our creed is the negation of honor, and that by the open advocacy of a right to be dishonorable a Russian can be won over more easily than by anything…The right to dishonor — why, they'd all flock to us for that, not one would stay behind!”
These words, written 150 years ago, 50 years before the Russian Revolution of 1917, still apply. Socialism, although it always fails when put into practice, sounds so good to those who ignore its history. The only way, then, to recruit the hard-core believer is through pure sentimentalism. Later, once the socialist state is created, every aspect of life must be controlled or a counter-revolution will follow. The “leaders” of Antifa and Black Lives Matter, not to mention the dozens of overt terrorist organizations throughout the world, apply these same rules of recruitment as they fill their ranks with the mindless who do their evil bidding. Yes, indeed, give them a title to make them feel better about themselves, while at the same time crushing independent thought by demanding complete acceptance of the “party line.” Those who resist by thinking and expressing unacceptable ideas are shamed or even cancelled, sometimes in the most permanent way. Demanding the application of violence against those who stray “ties them all together with the blood they’ve shed.” Honor, morality, the distinction between good and evil all disappear.
The Possessed is well worth reading.
The Wise Man from the West, by Vincent Cronin (1924-2011). In the late 17th century, a second-generation Jesuit, Fr. Matteo Ricci, inspired by Francis Xavier, left the West and went to China as a missionary, where he spent the final 28 years of his life. Ricci loved the Chinese and their ancient civilization and developed the means to introduce Christianity in ways to which the Chinese would respond. He became a great scholar who could communicate with both Chinese scholars and the common people. Convinced that Christianity could coexist with Chinese culture and customs, his attempts to merge the two failed in the short term. As the late, great Fr. James V. Schall, S. J. wrote in the book’s Forward:
“…it was not the Chinese who rejected this possibility but the West in the judgment at the time of the Pope (Clement XI, 1704) himself. Though later popes, as Cronin indicated, have come to regret this choice, the damage was done.”
This is a wonderful book, a fitting companion to another book about this remarkable Jesuit, which I read many years ago. If you read Cronin’s book and want to know more about Ricci and his genius, pick up a copy of The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci, by Jonathan D. Spence (b. 1936).
The Unbroken Thread, by Sohrab Amhari (b. 1985). What a wonderful book! It can best be described by its subtitle: “Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos.” Amhari is an immigrant, born and brought up in Iran, who came to this country, immersed himself in Western materialism, but then experienced a dramatic change in his life and became a Roman Catholic. His book is a book of questions that need to be answered by any American who desires to live the kind of life that God desires of us. To provide meaningful answers, the author calls on many of the great minds of Western Civilization. The book is a true page-turner and one you might want to share with children and grandchildren.
The Soul of the World, by Roger Scruton (1944-2020). Although Roger Scruton, to me one of the greatest of modern philosophers, died last year, he left us with many wonderful books. This is perhaps my favorite. It’s not easy reading for those not used to making their way through the language of the philosophers, but for those who keep their dictionary handy, it reaps great rewards. Scruton takes on the atheism of the elites and the blind scientism that attacks the sacred. In his defense of the sacred he turns to art, literature, music, and all forms of human achievement. Scruton wrote over forty books but this book sums up much of his thought and does it beautifully. Although it’s not a long book, it kept that aging mind of mine occupied for more than a few days. This is a book well worth reading.
Selected Poems, by Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001). Okay, for a change of pace, I thought you might enjoy some of this woman’s poetry, steeped as it is in religious values and full of the wisdom of one who suffered much in her personal life. English-born, Jennings spent almost her entire life in Oxford. Her poems, marked by a unique simplicity and lyric mastery, move readers to contemplate their own views of the central themes of human life. Love, death, faith, relationships…Jennings touched on them all, colored by her own deep Catholic faith. I first read her only a few years ago, not long after her death, but became an instant fan, believing her to be among the greatest of modern poets. As the late Peter Levi, Jesuit priest and Professor of Poetry at Oxford, wrote of Jennings before her death, “She is one of the few living poets we could not do without.”
Jennings, who had suffered from mental illness, wrote the poem I've included below, apparently while recovering. It's certainly not the most cheerful of her many poems, but it moved me deeply as I considered my own ministry as a hospital chaplain. It begins with the recognition of a painting hanging on the wall, one by the French artist, Maurice Utrillo. I’ve included a photo of the painting below:
A Mental Hospital Sitting Room
Utrillo on the wall. A nun is climbing
Steps in Montmartre. We patients sit below.
It does not seem a time for lucid rhyming;
Too much disturbs. It does not seem a time
When anything could fertilize or grow.
It is as if a scream were opened wide,
A mouth demanding everyone listen.
Too many people cry, too many hide
And stare into themselves. I am afraid
There are no life-belts here on which to fasten.
The nun is climbing up those steps. The room
Shifts till the dust flies in between our eyes.
The only hope is visitors will come
And talk of other things than our disease…
So much is stagnant and yet nothing dies.
_________________
Well, those are a few recommendations for your summer reading. A bit heavy, perhaps, except for Jennings' poetry, but we live in rather heavy times.
God's peace...
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