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JUNE 22, 1957.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
ELEVEN
BOOK REVIEWS
EDITED BY EILEEN HALL
3087 Old Jonesboro Road, Hapevilie, Georgia
Each issue of ibis Book Page
is confided io ihe patronage of
Mary. Mediatrix of All Graces,
with ihe hope that every read
er and every contributor may
be specially favored by her
and her Divine Son.
of this page. This was originally :
printed in The Kenyon Review
and subsequently appeared also
in Miss O’Connor’s book of short
stories, A Good Man Is Hard to
Find, which was published in;
1955.
THE LIVELY ARTS OF SIS-i
FICTION TER GERVAISE ' b y J° hn L.'
SOUND OF A DISTANT HORN Bonn ’ S J -’ (Kenedy $3.50), re-
by Sven Stolpe. (Sheed & Ward | V |f wed ; b f. M f got Atwoo f An ‘
conn) u t , • i other fictional picture of con-
■ S3.9d). Swedish novelist and his-1 A ... . * .......
c « 04.-i i !vent life—and of a highly indi-
torian ^>ven Stolpe) was recently .. .. 4 . . .. . 1
, + A , vidualistic teaching’ nun. Sister
introduced to American readers * .
, . + i i ■, 4.• x- Geravise, dramatic nun at St.
through the translation of his , ’ , 0 , . , , ,
0+ll j, t tu j i Ritas High School, nas a taste
study cri St. Joan. The Maid of Or- 1 . 4 . ,. J
, . for the artistic, which is mhent-
leans. Tms is the first of his novels , , . ,,
, , led from her actor-father. Her
to be translated into English. , . , . , ,, . , ,
,,,, , . . _ . , 1 championsmp of the arts, mclud-
The protagonist is Edward . , . v . '
ing abstract madonnas, Gregorian
Kansdorf, a young Swede living b b
in Paris, just after World War II.
The book jacket’s’ statement that |
this “is the story of three men
and their relations with two wo
men” is confusing and mislead
ing. True, there are other inter
esting characters, including an
agnostic doctor, a handsome and
arrogant Dominican preacher, a
Russian girl whs has suffered j
much :n a Nazi concentration!
camp, and others. But Kansdorf, ;
dying of cancer and- struggling
with conflicts of nature and grace,
is the center around which all
the others revolve.
The book jacket’s parathentical
“it may be a relief to know that |
no one becomes a Catholic in the
course of the book” raises some
questions. Why should, it be con
sidered a “forcing of reality” for
characters in novels to become
Catholics? What is unreal about
either the acceptance of graces
which craw the human soul clos
er to God or the rejection of those
graces, with consequent disastrous
chant, and the works of T. S.
Eliot and Henri Gheon, brings her
into conflict with her superior
and the parish priest, who prefers
minstrels to Murder in ihe Ca-
results? Aren’t the graces that jihedral.
bring souls into the Church, | Father Bonn, author of Gates
Christ’s Mystical Body, among Iof Dannemora and House on ihe
those of the highest order and
quite realistic?
The book jacket’s final comment
is well stated: “The psychology,
Sands, creates a lively nun with
a dynamic personality and with
plenty of human problems, for
instance, how to accomplish her
or rather the sub-psychology, of' duty as a teacher, get along with
sin and grace is profoundly un
derstood.” This, together with the
interesting characterizations,
makes Mr. Stolpe’s novel satis
fying. Kansdorf’s final acceptance
of his suffering in union with
her fellow-Sisters, Mother super
ior, pastor, students, their pa
rents, and even the janitor. How
far must she “bend her under
standing ... to conform docilely
. . . to obedience imposed on her?”
made by John Chapin who, not
long ago, compiled and edited
“The Book of Catholic Quota
tions,” also published by Farrar,
Straus and Cudahy, publishers of
the present book. The “Treasury”
is priced at $7.50. In his intro
duction, Mr. Chapin explains that
individual selections in each of
the thirteen sections of the book
have been arranged chronologic
ally with respect to content, not
to author or source. Documentary
or contemporary sources have
been used, as well as literary ones.
The work of such modern Ameri
cans as Thomas Merton, Paul Hor-
gan, and Lucile Hesley appears
hand-in-hand with classics by St.
Augustine, St. Bernard, and Tho
mas a Kempis. Every reader is
certain to find many favorite au
thors and favorite subjects. The
compiler proposes to “offer the
general reader a sort of panoramic
survey. . . a sampling from many
different kinds of sources, old
and new, which might serve both
to stimulate further exploration
and satisfy present needs.”
THE POPE SPEAKS is a com
pilation of the most important
pronouncements of the present
Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, on
the numerous pressing problems
which face mankind today. This
priceless reference book was com
piled and edited by Michael Chin-
igo, with the assistance of the
Vatican Archieves, and submitted
to His Holiness for approval. It is
published by Pantheon Books and
sells for $4.50. It is illustrated
with 22 interesting photographs,
plus an attractive color portrait
of the Holy Father on the book
jacket. Matters of intimate con
cern to individuals are treated, as
well as such world problems as
atomic warfare, international law,
the social order, church and state,
capital and labor, education,
science and art, and the lay apos-
tolate. The table of contents re
veals a comprehensive, well-or
ganized structure of Pope Pius
XII’s thought, an idea of timeless
order in the midst of the world’s
chaos and insecurity. It is en
couraging to note how many pro
nouncements are devoted to such
vital and universally important
topics as marriage, the family,
the duties of husband and wife,
Christian love, modern woman,
the education of the child, etc.
SERVICES FOR
MRS. RYAN
SAVANNAH, Ga., — Funeral
services for Mrs. Helen Persse
Ryan, were held May 31 with a
Requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart
Church, Rev. Terence Kiernan
O.S.B., assisted by Rev. John Sta
pleton, officiating.
Survivors are her husband, John
Z. Ryan; four daughters, Mrs.
Donald V. Richardson, Bremer-
haven, Germany, Mrs. Joseph S.
Dowling, Mrs. Thomas K. O’
Brien, and Miss Jane Elizabeth
Ryan, all of Savannah; a son,
James Persse Ryan of San Anto
nio, Texas; a sister,. Mrs. William
D. Prescott of Savannah; a bro
ther, John J. Persse of Enterprise,
Ala.; and twelve grandchildren.
‘the death agony of Christ, which The reader finds himself readily
in this manner is prolonged to
the end of time in His mystical
body,” as well as the other cha
racters’ acceptance of various
graces, leaves the reader hopeful
of similar triumphs of grace in
real life and in fiction — a pleas
ant change from the depressing
effect of many novels.
THE BEST AMERICAN
SHORT STORIES, 1956. edited by
Martha Foley, (Houghton Mifflin,
$4.00). Martha Foley is also con
cerned with reality in her Fore
word to this collection of 21 short
stories, the 41st volume in The
Best American Shori Stories se
ries. “If the big magazines only
showed the same awareness of
reality in fiction,” she says, “—
and all fiction has a springboard
of reality—that they do in their
articles I would be more than
happy to reprint their short sto
ries.” Miss Foley notes “a new
surge :n the writing of short
stories. . . Most of these stories
have appeared in the littler
magazines. . . ”
Most of her selections in this
volume have been taken from
those "littler magazines,” and
they cover a wide range of sub
ject matter, all of them being
skillfully wrought examples of
quality fiction. Of particular in
terest to Bulletin readers is The
Artificial Nigger, by Flannery O’
Connor, of Milledgeville, Ga.,
whose book reviews are a feature
involved in her struggles and,
through Father Bonn’s picture of
this vivacious nun, is reminded
that a girl “Becomes a religious
to get rid of her faults, not be
cause she had already gotten rid
of them.”
THE LAST CRUSADER, by
Louis de Wohl, (Lippincott $3.95),
reviewed by Michael Patron. Six
teenth century life at the court of
the King of Spain, on the battle
field, and in the humble mona
stery of Del Abrojo, where Fray
Juan de Calahorro lived, is made
strikingly realistic in this, Mr.
de Wohl’s latest novel. The stir
ring life of Don Juan of Austria,
soldier, sailor, administrator, dip
lomat, and hero of Lepanto, vib
rates with action and color. The
heartaches, pains, and sorrows
of unrecognized royal blood, the
thoughts, ambitions, and disap
pointments of this robust per
sonality, become immediate to the
reader, who, is also introduced
to such men as Cervantes, Ad
miral Andrea Doria, and St. Pius
V. This is undoubtedly one of
Mr. de Wohls’ best books.
ANTHOLOGIES
Two splendid and valuable an
thologies were published early in
June.
A TREASURE OF CATHOLIC
READING contains 108 selections
illustrating “the Catholic way of
life in some of its more import
ant aspects.” The selections were
RELIGION
THE LIVING GOD, by Ro
mano Guardini, (Partheon $2.75).
Monsignor Guardini, professor of
philosophy at the University of
Munich, Germany, is one of the
foremost Catholic theologians and
educators in the world today.
English translations of many of
his works, notably The Lord, have
become familiar to American
readers.
This latest book is a penetrating
study designed to 1 bring the truth
of God’s living reality home to
man. It consists of eleven essays
plus the author’s introduction, in
which he explains that the essays
were originally sermons and that,
to benefit fully from them, the
reader should listen to them as J
if hearing them spoken.
Each of the eleven can be read
and meditated separately—and re
peatedly. Each reveals new depths
of understanding of God. In one,
the author considers God’s pa
tience, in others, providence, re
pentance, the will of God, how
we know God, etc. He is patient
with the listener who is slow to
grasp the truths he sees so clear
ly, patient even with the object
or. “Such objections must be con
sidered seriously,” he says, “very
seriously. To make them honestly
is better than to pretend to feel
something one does not really
possess. But these objections can
not be regarded as final. The
knowledge of God is a living
thing. And all living things grow.”
This little book is a priceless
treasure for anyone desirous of
deepening his knowledge of God,
of reaching even beyond con
cepts to “the things that ‘pass all
understanding’ and are neverthe
less so very close at hand.”
RELIGION AND THE PSY
CHOLOGY OF JUNG, by Ray
mond Hostie, (Sheed & Ward
$3.50), reviewed by Flannery O’
Connor. The psychology of Jung is
of particular interest to Catholics
because Jung, breaking with
Freud sometime after 1913, was
the first modern psychologist to
put forward ideas arising from
the relationship of analytical psy
chology and religion. Father Hos
tie, a Belgian Jesuit priest who
has attend the Jung Institute in
Zurich, thoroughly and compe
tently examines Jung’s empirical
method and fundamental ideas
compares them with his religious
ideas, always making the neces
sary distinctions between the psy
chological and the ontological as
pects of religion.
While Father Hostie is able to
agree with many of Jung’s conclu
sions, he points out that psycholo
gy can tell us nothing about meta
physics or theology in themselves
or about God, their specific object.
He says, “Jung’s contribution to
philosophy, theology and religion
remains . . . indirect. I have ac
knowledged his right to enter
this field. . . but he in his turn
should be prepared to accept the
limitations which his science im
poses upon him.”
This is a thorough and valuable
book for anyone interested in ana
lytical psychology or for anyone
Spain’s Enemies
Distort Unrest—
(Continued From Page Ten)
fited the entire nation; that if
they knew the extent of the
transfcrmation and revival ac
hieved in every branch of the
national life, they would be mov
ed by the results of all our sacri
fices.
Finally, all those who are not
guilty of crimes and free of mal
ice, and wish to return to live in
Spain, will find here, with those
who have already returned, a
welcome in our common home.
11. As for the future, what
would you say are the basic
sources of Spain’s stability and
endurance—the best tokens for
the historical destiny of your na
tion?
The preservation of the out
standing virtues of her citizens;
the maintenance of the unity of
the Spanish people, which was
the foundation of our greatness
in the past; unity of faith and
social unity among the men and
lands of Spain; and finally, that
Spaniards may never forget the
hard lessons of history.
Doctorate For
Thomas Pinkston
ALBANY — William Thomas
Pinkston has been awarded a
degree of Doctor of Philosophy
by Catholic University, Washing
ton, D. C.
Dr. Pinkston is the son of Mr.
and Mrs. Ray Pinkston of Albany
and is now teaching freshman
physics at Princeton.
A native; of Albany, Dr. Pinks
ton was born Jan. 19, 1931, and
was graduated from Albany High
School. Also he was graduated
from St. Bernard College, St.
Bernard, Ala., A.S., 1949; the
Catholic University of America,
Washington, D. C., B.A., 1952, and
M.S., 1955.
interested in the problems that
the Church has to face in com
batting a growing attitude which
tends toward psychologism in its
appraisal of religion.
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