Recent Reads

In recent days I finished three books - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, August 9 by Father Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, and Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is actually a reread - though I haven't read it since high school many decades ago. The book is on a number of lists of recommended Catholic novels, and it is in keeping with the dystopian reading I've been doing over the last year.

The book was as good as I remembered it. The plot is believable, as are the characters. The themes are important ones: Preserving faith and knowledge, the human spirit, sin, dealing with pain and tragedy, and more. A well-crafted book. I highly recommend it. 

August 9 deals with war and violence and significant events/deaths on that date: The atomic bombing of Nagasaki (the most Catholic city in Japan), the death of Saint Edith Stein in Auschwitz, the execution of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter for refusing to serve in the Nazi army.

Father McCarthy argues that Catholics (and Christians) are called to nonviolence - criticizing the just war theory Christians have adopted - and points out the sad irony that the people who committed these acts of violence were all Christians, some of them Catholic, and that Catholic and Christian leaders often backed war.

This short book is a mix of interviews, excerpts from others' writings, short essays, and homilies. In the homilies in particular he repeats the same information, so that after a while their effectiveness are reduced. It probably would have been better to have read them individually over a period of time rather than in continuous reading over a couple of days.

The book is a challenging one due to the subject matter. It makes one think - which I applaud. Another book I'd recommend.

Dance Hall of the Dead is the first of the official Lieutenant Leaphorn/Navajo novels by Hillerman - the character was introduced as a secondary one in a previous novel. Including that earlier novel, there are 18 books in the series, and one of my goals is to read them all. (I'm about half way through.)

It was typical Hillerman - well-crafted, interesting characters. and a good dose of Navajo (and Zuni) culture and beliefs. And it doesn't have a "neat"happy ending - which, I suspect is true of a lot of real police work. In real life, even good people sometimes get killed, and justice doesn't always come just through the legal system.

For fans of mysteries and police procedurals, and those who are fascinated by Native American culture, this book and all of Hillerman's Navajo novels are must reads.

With these three books I'm now up to 62 for the year - well on my way to my overall of at least 80 books read this year.

Pax et bonum