Thinking Under the Influence

by John Wilson

There was, and still is today, a photo of Sinyavsky on one of my bookshelves. Continue Reading »

8 Jun 2018

Poetic Orthodoxy

by Peter J. Leithart

The God who haunts R. S. Thomas’s poetry is a hidden God, known by his absence. Continue Reading »

1 Jun 2018

Humanities and Communities

by Nathan Nielson

The search for community is best accomplished through our common pursuit of the humanistic disciplines. Continue Reading »

29 May 2018

The Catholic Novel: A Footnote

by John Wilson

What follows is a historical footnote on the Catholic fiction debate.
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25 May 2018

Having a Baby at the End of the World

by Randy Boyagoda

Future Home of the Living Godby louise erdrichharpercollins, 288 pages, $28.99 Never trust the teller, trust the tale,” D. H. Lawrence famously declared. Keep that in mind when it comes to Louise Erdrich and her new novel, Future Home of the Living God. In an interview about her latest work, she . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2018

Clarify Me, Please, God of the Galaxies

by Dana Gioia

The English poet Elizabeth Jennings had the peculiar fate of being in the right place at the right time in the wrong way. Her career began splendidly. Her verse appeared in prominent journals, championed by Oxford’s new generation of tastemakers. Her first publication, Poems (1953), . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2018

The Lost Modernist

by David Bentley Hart

David Jones: Engraver, Soldier, Painter, Poetby thomas dilworthcounterpoint, 432 pages, $39.50 The Sleeping Lord and Other Fragmentsby david jonesfaber & faber, 112 pages, £15.99 Epoch and Artistby david jonesfaber & faber, 320 pages, £17.99 The Dying Gaul and Other Writingsby david jonesfaber & . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2018

Chatterley on Trial

by Peter Hitchens

Lady Chatterley’s Loverby d. h. lawrencemacmillan, 432 pages, $12.99 Six weeks after a London criminal court permitted the unexpurgated publication of Lady Chatterley’s Lover on November 2, 1960, a forlorn rearguard action took place in the crimson and gold chamber of the House of Lords, then . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2018

How Much Dreiser Does a Man Need?

by Shalom Carmy

Theodore Dreiser is ranked among our great authors; he was a syllabus mainstay for as polished a master as Saul Bellow. Yet he is neither among the great English-language prose stylists nor a writer of nuanced or profound moral vision. His idea of human life was crudely mechanical and deterministic. . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Feb 2018

Big Mullah

by Randy Boyagoda

2084: The End of the World by boualem sansal translated by alison anderson europa editions, 240 pages, $17 Sleep soundly, good people, everything is sheer falsehood, and the rest is under control.” So begins Boualem Sansal’s new novel, 2084. The author, an Algerian secularist, has . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2017