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t FAC-E 6—THE BULLETIN, June 27, 1959 NURSING can be the best preparation for a PROFESSIONAL or for the RELIGIOUS life career for MOTHERHOOD — Write or Call — ST. JOSEPH’S INFIRMARY SCHOOL OF NURSING ATLANTA. GA. JA. 5-4631 BOOK REVIEWS EDITED BY EILEEN HALL 3087 Old Jonesboro Road, Hapeville, Georgia Each issue of this Book Page is confided to the patronage of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces, with the hope that every read er and every contributor may be specially favored by her and her Divine Son. THIS IS YOUR TOMORROW . . . AND TODAY, by Rev. M. Raymond, O. C. S. O., Bruce, $3.95. What does a wife do when she BEST WISHES '"’sir ii 3 l B. ELAM MAINTENANCE PAINTING 404 SOUTH CHURCH STREET TELEPHONE UN. 5-2020 GASTONIA, N. C. learns that her husband has inoperable cancer and is given only a few months to live? Numerous families face similar problems, but not all of them have the graces and help that Kay Flanagan had. In particular, very few have a brother-in-law like Father Raymond to turn to for advice and assistance, as Kay had. This popular Trappist author not only broke the news to his younger brother Charlie, that Kay and their seven children would soon be left without hus band and father, but he support ed them all, during the remain ing months, with his frequent letters showing persuasively that such a problem, which seems terrible at first glance, is actually, on the contrary, a rich source of graces for all con cerned—an invitation to “fill up what is wanting of the pas sion of Christ” and, moreover, an opportunity to live, here and now, the GLORIOUS mysteries of the Rosary. There is never the slightest note of pity or morbidity in the way that Father Raymond and his family face their great op portunity. Their living of it, told in the familiar style of this eloquent and loquacious Trap pist, should serve as a blueprint for hundreds, even thousands, of others. One only wishes that this book of popular theology were also available in a compact, low- priced, paper-covered edition, so it would reach a larger audi ence, since so many might pro fit by its lessons. Best Wishes NEAL HAWKINS CONTRACTOR ALL TYPES GRADING AND EXCAVATING ALSO — CONCRETE AND ASPHALT PAVING FORTY-THREE YEARS OF SERVICE Main Office: GASTONIA, N. C. — Dial UN. 5-1281 BEST WISHES FROM National Bank Of Commerce Gastonia, North Carolina BEST WISHES FROM Rawlings - Todd Company, Inc. Frigidaire - Carrier - Combustioneer - Maytag - Bendix Delco — General Electric — Youngstown SALES - SERVICE SALES: PHONES UN. 5-2386 & UN. 5-2387 SERVICE PHONES: NIGHT & SUNDAY REFRIGERATION: UN. 7-6019 — 5-8772 — 5-4333 HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING: UN. 5-8772 — 7-7084 — 5-0020 TA. 5-2463 GASTONIA, N. C. MY FIRST SEVENTY YEARS, by Sister M. Madeleva, O. S. C., Macmillian, $3.50 (Reviewed by Barbara C. Jencks, journalism instructor, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind.) “Why has God made me? For Him and His reasons, I had be gun to be.” This is the theme, of Sister Madeleva’s, life. The story of her first seventy years is a chronicle of some of the im portant external events which have marked her life. The author says that the silence of her text is all that she will tell of religious experience. The reader respects this judge ment and privacy. If the full sweep and depth of Sister Made- leva’s religious experience is de sired, one has only to turn to her exquisite poetry. The autobio graphy is like Sister Madeleva in that it is dignified, restrained, direct. It fails however to give the full portrait. Sister Made- leva, who has been troubador of God in poetry, effective pub licist for Catholic education in lecture and convocation, has not done justice to herself in her autobiography. Her story is the kind of book that men will look to a hundred years from now to find what manner of Catholic educator reigned in our day. The journal is reminiscent at times of Car dinal Newman’s. These two great Catholic intellectuals hold many things in common: their literary skill and talent for ex pression, for example. Sister Madeleva had her “idea of a university” too. She founded the first graduate school for Sacred Theology for Women fifteen years ago. It is the school which is honored with the autobio graphy’s dedication. To the reviewer however, the most delightful portion of the story is found in the childhood vignettes. She points with her poetic brush a picture of that happy German-American home of her beloved harnessmaker fa ther, her devoted brothers and mother. The chapter entitled “Lucy Prepared Her Funeral,” relating the preparation of her mother for the journey to God, is a classic. “Why has God made me?” The reader will not have to progress far before his heart knows what hundreds of her students and many of the cele brities who have passed her way already know—that she took the penny catechism 100 percent to heart and has known, loved and served God for fifty years as a Sister of the Holy Cross. “Someday,” she says in closing her autobiography, “I shall have only one Infinite, Absolute Want. I shall not even want, for the time being, my body. I shall not even want the breath I breathe. When the non-essen tials of encumbering humanity have been cut away . . . what shall I say when I see God?” , MRS. CHRISTOPHER, by Elizabeth Myers, Sheed & Ward, $3.00. | (Reviewed by Elizabeth Hester) On this book, one of the jack- . et quotes of critical comment is that Mrs. Christopher is “a mod ern Morality.” That this is pre cisely true, unfortunately, is the book’s failure, since is purports to be a novel. In a Morality, ideally the actor’s status as a symbol is never parred by his disconcerting realism as an in dividual. On the other hand, in a successful novel, a character’s realism as an individual in nev er done violence by his duties as a symbol. In Mrs. Christopher there is a constant limping va cillation between these two op posed art forms, with the result that a great deal of brilliant writing has been most unhap pily used. For Miss Myers, an English woman who died in 1947 when only thirty-four, was most as suredly a brilliant writer. This book, which because of a single rampant violation of a quite el ementary rule fails as a novel, is nevertheless working alive with superb vignettes, sparkling observations, and even generous splashes of prose poetry. Along with that of others, it is the butchered brilliance of Miss Myers’ splendid talent that is our strongest argument for highly developed schools of cre ative writing. For writing pur poses, here within this woman were all the raw materials of wonders; what was lacking was simply a profound command of the techniques and discipline of her craft. Despite its shortcomings, this selection in the Thomas More Book to Live group is one of the small handful of genuinely in teresting Catholic novels to be published in this country in re cent years. Even when misused, genius rarely fails to fascinate. l&rly researcher will welcome with open arms both these facts. What with the many new trans lations of the Bible, the diffi culty of finding the wanted text, even after checking volum inous concordances according to key words, becomes greater and more complicated. The book is particularly valuable to busy librarians of secondary schools (for students in religion classes) whose budget is always inade quate and often a minus quan tity, and whose pupils are ha rassed by the need of getting an assignment done and over with. Over and above a compre hensive index to all the books of the Bible according to subject matter this much needed refer ence work contains alphabetical lists of the miracles, parables and prophecies of Christ which are narrated in the Gospels and a chart showing the place, and in how many of Gospel writings, they can be found. REFLECTION ON AMERICA, by Jacques Maritain, Scribners, $3,50. (Reviewed by Leo J. Zuber) In 1956 Jacques Maritain con ducted a 3-day seminar at the University of Chicago under the title “Random Reflections on the American Scene.” A careful re cord was made of the seminars: the typescript became the origi nal unedited manuscript for this book. Random they may have appeared and may actually have been; however, there was a fine degree of order in the presenta tion. It probably was a causerie, chatty and informal sessions, which by their character veiled serious content and considera tion. Maritain has lived in this country for a considerable num ber of years; he is completely at home in France and else where in Europe. His book is in some contrast to the efforts of fellow European authors, some of whom have spent little more than the proverbial week-end in the United States and then have rushed fearlessly into print on this country. Maritain is an in tellectual, an experienced (Continued on Page 7) GOOD WILL SALES, INC. ★ BIGGER VALUES ★ FASTER SERVICE ★ EASIER TERMS DIRECT-BY-MAIL TO YOU BOX 3 1516 YORK ROAD TELL ME, STRANGER, by Charles B. Flood, Houghton Mifflin, $3.50. (Reviewed by Flannery O’Connor) In fiction there is nothing worse than the combination of slickness and Catholicism. Whenever problems of faith are dealt with in a novel, the novel ist has already committed him self to enter the work at a cer tain level and to people it with characters more than two di mensional. In this third novel of Charles Brancelen Flood, a young man becomes bored ana lysing securities for a Wall Street firm and leaves his job to travel abroad as assistant to a woman photographer. The lady is blonde and divorced; the young man is nothing much but a Catholic. Proximity produces an affair. Although the lady’s assets are more immediately ap pealing than the Church’s, the young man gives her up. How ever, his commemorable action appears to stem from the faith of Mr. Flood rather than his own, and this is because he has never come alive as a person. He is depthless and the author doesn’t seem to be aware of it. The result, fictionalized apolo getics, introduces a depressing new category: light Catholic summer reading. CATHOLIC VIEWPOINT ON CENSORSHIP, by Harold C. Gardiner, S.J., Hanover House, $2.95. (Reviewed by Rev. John Schroder, S.J.) What constitutional right have Catholics to try to dis courage the wide distribution of literature and movies that they consider objectionable? This dif ficult problem is admirably treated by Father Gardner. Ob viously, the subject is a bit hea vy but, like a good T-bone, most satisfying to those who digest it. For appetizers, countless in teresting facts like the follow ing are included: Since the Le gion of Decency began in 1936, no “C” movies and only seven “B” movies have won Oscars; of the 4,000 books on the Index, two-thirds are technical and professional works; only one English novel (Pamela) has been indexed, and no American nov el; although 48 states have ob scenity laws,” the courts are so slow that the Legion of Decen cy and the National Office for Decent Literature are necessary; these two organizations do not aim at censoring, but rather at buiding public opinion. The author gives special treat ment to the thorny problem of when a book or movie is con sidered obscene. BIBLICAL SUBJECT INDEX, by William J. Kiever, Newman, $4.50. (Reviewed by Cecilia L. Hines) As a librarian, Brother Wil liam J. Kiever (Marianist), is most alert to the tools necessary and available to the busy re searcher. Brother Kiever now shares with priests and lay men the product of fifteen years work with a reference book that is neither cumbersome nor relatively expensive. The usefulness of this small volume lies in its large number of cross references and the very fact that it is not cumbersome. The student as well as the scho- GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA Compliments Of GASTONIA MUTUAL BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATION ORGANIZED 1905 GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA THOMAS REALTY CO. MAKE YOUR FUTURE HOME IN GARDNER PARK You Will Be Glad You Did! Chess Thomas Elmore Thomas GASTONIA, N. C. ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS INCORPORATED INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION AND SUPPLIES Telephones: Day 7133, Night 5-4122 1512 EAST OZARK GASTONIA, N. C.