Catholic Thought discussion

Catholic Thought book club members,

It’s time to nominate our next read, which in our cycles of category of reads is Catholic Fiction. So what can we nominate? The criteria is a work of fiction – it doesn’t have to be a novel, we once selected “Gawain and the Green Knight,” which is a story in poetry – that has at its core a Catholic element to it. The author doesn’t have to be Catholic, but the theme or foundation has to be in sympathy with Catholicism. We once selected Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, which has a very Catholic foundation and theme but Cather was not a Catholic. Preferably we prefer works that portray Catholicism in a positive light, though we’ll make exceptions if the work offers constructive criticism. Also, try to nominate a work that is not overly long, say no more than around 400 pages. Anything more makes a group read just too long.

If you don’t have one in mind and would like to nominate, here are a couple of places to look. Goodreads has a list of over 300 novels of what it considers “Catholic Novels.”
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...

As I scanned it, not all of them are novels and not all would fit the above criteria. So look through the details to make sure. If it doesn’t fit, I’ll tell you, so don’t worry.

A better list of Catholic Novels is here at Catholic.Org, “100 Best Catholic Novels.”
https://www.catholic.org/advent/story...

It’s a superb list of some of the best novels in history. But again, not everything might fit our criteria. I noticed that Jack Kerouac’s On the Road is on there. Now Jack Kerouac was Catholic but while it may be an interesting novel I don’t really think On the Road is a Catholic novel. If you feel strongly and you give Kerstin and me a good justification, we might reconsider. And that goes for anything.

Of course you don’t have to pick from any list. It just has to fit our criteria.

We’ll allow this week for nominations but we’ll have to cut it off at four or five nominations. If there are too many nominations, then the vote gets too watered down. Once nominations are complete, I’ll put up a poll for us to vote and select. The poll will be up for a week, and then we’ll take a week for everyone to acquire the book. Hope that sounds reasonable.

So let me start the nominations with Sigrid Undset's Ida Elisabeth.

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

The kindle Edition is listed as 392 pages

Celia wrote: "In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

The kindle Edition is listed as 392 pages"

We already read that once Celia. You can look up the discussion on our boards. A re-read is not against the rules, so you can keep the nomination. But I would be surprised if those who already participated would vote for it.

I might be mistaken: is Quo Vadis eligible? If it is, I'll nominate it.

Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

The kindle Edition is listed as 392 pages"

We already read that once Celia. You can look up the discussion on our boards. A re..."

Thank you Manny. I missed it on the bookshelf. Sorry.

Michelle wrote: "I might be mistaken: is Quo Vadis eligible? If it is, I'll nominate it."

It is and if chosen I will read and comment.

Michelle wrote: "I might be mistaken: is Quo Vadis eligible? If it is, I'll nominate it."

Yes it is. It comes in at 428 pages but we’ll go with it. My nomination came in at 425 pages, so I can’t complain…lol.

By the way, it’s definitely a novel I’ve been wanting to read too.

I'm currently taking my time reading three books, among them "The Lamb's Supper" and "Imitation of Christ", so a shorter book would have been better for me, too. But I have been wanting to read this for years!

I’d like to nominate Atticus, by Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy. Atticus was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award; it has a very definite Catholic theme.

Frances wrote: "I’d like to nominate Atticus, by Ron Hansen, author of Mariette in Ecstasy. Atticus was a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award; it has a very definite Catholic theme."

Interesting. Here is the Goodreads page on it. Atticus

We read Hanson's Mariette in Ecstasy Mariette in Ecstasy a few years ago as part of the book club. That's a great novel. The discussion is in our boards for those interested.

Thank you, Manny.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey
160 pages

One of my favorite books of a lifetime, Kerstin, I'll join you in your nomination.

Michelle wrote: "I might be mistaken: is Quo Vadis eligible? If it is, I'll nominate it."

If it is chosen, I'd love to read it.

I read Quo Vadis in high school, and loved it. I would love to revisit the book too.

I am definitely in on Quo Vadis if it is selected. I meant to read it during the summer and did not find the time. It must mean I was to wait and read and discuss it with this group. 😎

Celia wrote: "I am definitely in on Quo Vadis if it is selected. I meant to read it during the summer and did not find the time. It must mean I was to wait and read and discuss it with this group. 😎"

So Celia, do you pull back your nomination of In This House of Brede?

Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "I am definitely in on Quo Vadis if it is selected. I meant to read it during the summer and did not find the time. It must mean I was to wait and read and discuss it with this group. ..."

Yes, you said we had already read it. I thought it was automatically pulled back. 😊

Celia wrote: "Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "I am definitely in on Quo Vadis if it is selected. I meant to read it during the summer and did not find the time. It must mean I was to wait and read and discuss it wit..."

No, we can re-read books. That's not against the rules. I just said it probably would not get that many votes.

Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "I am definitely in on Quo Vadis if it is selected. I meant to read it during the summer and did not find the time. It must mean I was to wait and read and ..."

Thanks for the clarification.

Manny, I want to be sure I have been clear: I am voting for Quo Vadis and withdrawing my nomination of Atticus, although I hope members will look at it some day. Ron Hansen, the author, is one of the most eloquent writers we have.

Frances wrote: "Manny, I want to be sure I have been clear: I am voting for Quo Vadis and withdrawing my nomination of Atticus, although I hope members will look at it some day. Ron Hansen, the author, is one of t..."

I did not see that. You can keep the nomination and still vote for Quo Vadis. OK.

We'll leave the nominations open until Saturday midnight. Sunday I will put up a poll for us to vote.

So I this point we have three nominations?

Ida Elisabeth
Quo Vadis
The Bridge of San Luis Rey

If Celia and Frances want to reconsider, let me know.

Thank you, Manny. Please withdraw my nomination of Atticus (for another day). My nomination is Quo Vadis.

Nominations are closed. I'm setting up the poll.

You can find the poll at our home page or here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Voting ends at midnight on Saturday, November 4th.

OK, Quo Vadis has been selected. Let's take this week to acquire the book. I'll get a reading schedule in place once I figure out the logical breaks. We'll start the read next week.

I don't know why, but this link to the kindle version shows a little less than 300 pages. It's 0.99 U.S.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

Maybe what we first saw was a hardcover? I thought the page count was much higher.

I have the Audible edition, and it is 22 hours, 6 minutes; so it seems to be quite long.

Sherri wrote: "I have the Audible edition, and it is 22 hours, 6 minutes; so it seems to be quite long."

Then perhaps the product page is wrong. That's happened before!

Michelle wrote: "I don't know why, but this link to the kindle version shows a little less than 300 pages. It's 0.99 U.S.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...-..."

Unfortunately Kindle editions can be all over the place in terms of page numbers. I find the number of chapters more telling. I downloaded an English version with 73 chapters plus epilogue, and a German version that only has 60 chapters plus epilogue. Looks like the German is likely abbreviated, which is a bummer. As a rule I like to read translations from other languages in German.

Thank you, Kerstin! I just checked the Kindle version, and it does have 73 chapters.

My kindle version says 582 pages. It’s a bit longer than we anticipated but we’ll go with it. My Kindle version also says 73 chapters plus an epilogue. It also doesn’t have page numbers which makes it difficult to figure out reading segments. Does anyone have a hardcopy with page numbers? I need to try to figure out how to divide the reading segments. I can try to do it with page locators on kindle but if someone has actual page numbers it might be helpful.