I recently finished two more books: The Quiet Light by Louis de Wohl and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Both were rereads - though, especiallin in the case of Fahrenheit, it's been a long time.
I reread The Quiet Light in preparation for my Chesterton groups reading of Chesterton's biography of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The book was typical of de Wohl's novelizations of saints' lives. He provides a sense of the times, vivid characters, action, a bit of romance. The focus is more on the other characters - especially Piers - than on St. Thomas, but given the nature of the book that's fine. The book does contain some good doses of St. Thomas's ideas - which was great for my purposes.
Overall, a good read.
Ditto for Fahrenheit - the latest of my dystopian reading given the times.
Though I remembered the basic story, it's been so long since I read it (and had seen the movie several times since) that I had forgotten some of the plot details.
Well-crafted story and interesting characters. I was particularly impressed by Bradbury's writing. He is a wonderful writer.
What's sad is that like so many of the other dystopian novels, I've read in the last year, too many of the predictions have come true. The watering down of culture, the dominance of television, the social isolation have all proven true. Bradbury did not know about the effects of computers and the internet - but they certainly fit in with his predictions.
Another good read.
Now on to another dystopian novel: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller.
Pax et bonum
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