Fiction Archives

GWML#7 Harriet Beecher Stowe and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce

Episode 7 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe was appalled by slavery, and she took one of the few options open to nineteenth century women who wanted to affect public opinion: she wrote a novel, a huge, enthralling narrative that claimed the heart, soul, and politics of millions of her contemporaries. Uncle Tom’s Cabin paints pictures of three plantations, each worse than the other, where even the best plantation leaves a slave at the mercy of fate or debt. Her questions remain penetrating even today: “Can man ever be trusted with wholly irresponsible power?”

First published more than 150 years ago, this monumental work is today being reexamined by critics, scholars, and students. Though “Uncle Tom” has become a synonym for a fawning black yes-man, Stowe’s Tom is actually American literature’s first black hero, a man who suffers for refusing to obey his oppressors. Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a living, relevant story, passionate in its vivid depiction of the cruelest forms of injustice and inhumanity-and the courage it takes to fight against them.

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Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life, the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature .

Joseph Pearce is currently the Writer-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He is co-editor of the Saint Austin Review (or StAR), an international review of Christian culture, literature, and ideas published in England (Family Publications) and the United States (Sapientia Press). He is also the author of many books, including literary biographies of Solzhenitsyn, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Oscar Wilde.

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Critical Editions

IP#281 Vivian Dudro – Meriol Trevor’s “Shadows and Images” on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor

It is with great delight to once again have a conversation with Vivian Dudro about another standout Catholic author. This time we discuss the prolific Meriol Trevor and her work of historical fiction entitled “Shadows and Images”. Trevor, who had already authored a two part biography of John Henry Cardinal Newman, sets him into this engaging story which spans many years during which pivotal historical influences, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Oxford Movement, are shaping Victorian England. An enjoyable read…highly recommended!

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Meriol Trevor (15 April 1919 – 12 January 2000) was one of the most prolific Roman Catholic women writers of the twentieth century. In 1946 she went to Italy as a relief worker with UNRRA and lived for nearly a year in the Abruzzi. In Italy Trevor was exposed to Catholic culture. Previously an agnostic humanist, she was received into the Roman Catholic Church at Oxford in 1950. Her two-volume biography of John Henry Newman was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography in 1962. She also wrote biographies of Pope John XXIII, Philip Neri, and James II, as well as many historical novels and children’s stories and a book of poetry. In 1967 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. An annual lecture series in her honour was begun in 2000 in her home town of Bath. – wikipedia

You can find the book here

From the book description:

This is the story of a Protestant young woman and her journey to the Roman Catholic Church. The fascinating novel is set in nineteenth-century England-a time when Catholicism was regarded with suspicion and prejudice against Catholics was commonplace. Leaving her sheltered life in the countryside, young Clem becomes acquainted with the fascinating ideas and people of Oxford-including a brilliant young clergyman, John Henry Newman. But when her relationship to a Roman Catholic man with a colorful reputation leads to an Italian elopement that is more innocent than it appears, the scandal drives a wedge between Clem and the upright Anglican circle of friends and family she left behind. Woven into the story of Clem and Augustine, their courtship and marriage, and Clem’s conversion, is the vital, influential, and holy Newman, as seen through the eyes of friends.

Many important events, personages, and ideas in the life of Newman appear in the story-his reasons for becoming a Roman Catholic, his differences with Cardinal Manning, his work in the Birmingham Oratory, and his being made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. The author, a renowned biographer of Newman, used Newman’s actual correspondence as the basis for his parts in the dialogue.

GWML#6 Jonathan Swift and “Gulliver’s Travels” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce

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Episode 6- Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Jonathan Swift

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is one of the greatest satirical works ever written. Through the misadventures of Lemuel Gulliver, his hopelessly “modern” protagonist, Swift exposes many of the follies of the English Enlightenment, from its worship of science to its neglect of traditional philosophy and theology. Swift’s satire on the threats posed by the Enlightenment and the embryonic spirit of secular fundamentalism makes Gulliver’s Travels priceless reading for today’s defenders of tradition.

Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life,the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature .

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Critical Editions

GWML#3 Mary Shelley and “Frankenstein” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts

Episode 3 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most influential and controversial novels of the nineteenth century; but has also become one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted. It has been vivisected critically by latter-day Victor Frankenstein’s who have transformed the meanings emergent from the novel into monsters of postmodern misconception. Rather than understanding Frankenstein and his monster through the lens of tradition, the moderns have seized upon the book and carried off bits to construct their own particular bogeymen.

Seldom has a work of fiction suffered so scandalously from the slings and arrows of outrageous criticism. This critical edition, containing tradition-oriented essays by literary scholars, refutes the errors and serves as an antidote to the poison that has contaminated the critical understanding of this classic gothic novel.

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Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life,the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature .

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Critical Editions

GWML#2 Emily Bronte and “Wuthering Heights” – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts

Episode 2 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Emily Bronte

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Wuthering Heights is one of the classic novels of nineteenth century romanticism. As a major work of modern literature it retains its controversial status. What was Emily Brontë’s intention? Were her intentions iconoclastic? Were they feminist? Were they Christian or post-Christian? Who are the heroes and the villains in this dark masterpiece? Are there any heroes? Are there any villains?

Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life,the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature .

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Critical Editions

IP#155 Elizabeth Kantor – The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After on Inside the Pages

What great fun and an outstanding resource all in one fantastic book. I love Jane Austen…I love this book. Elizabeth Kantor gets it so right! The book description says it best:

Women today are settling for less than we want when it comes to men, relationships, sex, and marriage. But we don’t have to, argues Elizabeth Kantor. Jane Austen can show us how to find the love we really want.

In The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After, Kantor reveals how the examples of Jane Austen heroines such as Elizabeth Bennett, Elinor Dashwood, and Anne Elliot can help us navigate the modern-day minefields of dating, love, relationships, and sex. By following in their footsteps—and steering clear of the sad endings suffered by characters such as Maria Bertram and Charlotte Lucas—modern women can discover the path to lifelong love and true happiness.

Charged with honesty and humor, Kantor’s book includes testimonies from modern women, pop culture parallels, the author’s personal experiences and, of course, a thorough examination of Austen’s beloved novels.

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You can find the book here

“This book would have helped me avoid a few broken hearts for sure! Kantor teaches you how to guard your emotions in an independent, sophisticated, and empowered way through Jane Austen’s works. She offers timeless wisdom for the modern woman, and most importantly, encourages us to take our relationships seriously.”

—Amy Bonaccorso, author of How to Get to “I Do”

IP#123 Michael O’Brien – A Father’s Tale on Inside the Pages

Michael O’Brien has gone beyond his previous work to bring us an incredible tale of love, forgiveness…holiness. “A Father’s Tale” is a pilgrim’s journey told in a way that stands up with greats like Tolkien and Lewis. The prayerful reflection he pours into his work is born from his skill as a writer of icons. Here, his pallette consists of words, and he layers them as carefully as he does his works of art…in plot, character and storytelling. “A Father’s Tale” is deeply statisfying and leaves you desiring more. Our conversation with Michael is is a wonderful one. This is the book you’ll enjoy spending time with.

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“In this epic tale of the complex and mysterious workings of love, O’Brien takes his readers on a harrowing intercontinental odyssey, offering them an inside view both of brutal torture and mystical transport in which the dark incongruities of divine providence reorder faith and hope so that love becomes fully possible.”
– David Lyle Jeffrey, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities, Baylor University

You can find the book here

Be sure to check out the discussion with Michael about his book “Theophilos” on Inside the Pages #4

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” read by Flannery O’Connor

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Here is an absolute GEM!!!!! The “Happy Catholic” Julie Davis told me that an audio was available of Flannery O’Connor actually reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” …and indeed there was (is…whatever). This was recorded shortly before her death of lupus at a talk given at Vanderbilt University. Take a listen to the “Master” in her own voice…priceless!

IP#108 T. M. Doran – Toward the Gleam on Inside the Pages

“Toward the Gleam” is a fantastic novel written by T. M. (Tom) Doran! I love the adventure, but also the philosophical discussions which take place in the context of the story.

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Just don’t take my word for it, here is what our friend Joseph Pearce had to say:

“The works of Tolkien and Lewis continue to inspire new generations of writers, most of whom are not worthy to bask in the reflected glory of their mentors. T. M. Doran is a noble and notable exception. Towards the Gleam rises above the level of parody or pastiche to reach the heights that few writers have achieved. Although it basks in the reflected glory of The Lord of the Rings and conveys inklings of That Hideous Strength, it does not merely reflect the light that Tolkien and Lewis have shone; it refracts it in exciting new directions, toward the gleam of the glorious light that is the source of all great literature.”

For more information on “Toward the Gleam” go to ignatius.com