If she - whipped herself for fun as a child - doesn't need food to live - moves popes and kings to do her bidding she's not your girl. She's St. Catherine of Siena
Book review: “Catherine of Siena” by Sigrid Undset
On pirates and puppet theaters: Chesterton on Robert Louis Stevenson
Rating: 3/5 G. K. Chesterton's Robert Louis Stevenson is another biography that isn't a biography. It's more of a work of literary criticism for a man Chesterton perhaps didn't always agree with all the time, but certainly held in deep respect. Chesterton finds common ground with Stevenson in what he refers to as the "sharp... Continue Reading →
The gentleman general Lord Kitchener: A Chesterton biography
To continue the Chesterton mood, I picked up another one of his biographies of a lesser-known individual, at least among Americans. Lord Kitchener. Again, to comment on Chesterton's unique approach to biographies, rather than stick tot he chronological narrative of his subject's life, Chesterton tries to capture the "spirit" of Kitchener, or the spirit of... Continue Reading →
No, the seagulls do not represent kamikaze airplanes: Review of Chesterton’s “William Blake”
I believe I encountered William Blake for the first time in a high school honor's English class. But the name really meant nothing to me, other than that he was one of the Greats next to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, and Lord Tennyson. They were all just poets who had achieved greatness sometime in... Continue Reading →
Book review: Lords of Finance
After reading one Pulitzer Prize winner, Gilead, I thought I looked into other recent prize winners, and this one caught my eye. What caused the Great Depression? Trying to dredge some of my knowledge from AP US History, I couldn't come up with a good answer. I doubt I could have answered it if it... Continue Reading →
Book review: Terryl Givens’ “Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism”
What does your everyday Mormon recall about one of Mormonism's most important founding figures and most colorful characters, Parley P. Pratt? Before reading this book, I couldn't recall an awful lot. I know that his name pops up in the hymnbook a few times. After a quick peek, he wrote a few well-known ones including... Continue Reading →
