The Napoleon of Nippon Hill

Those reading this blog will probably be familiar with G.K. Chesterton’s marvelous 1904 novel, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, in which a future king of England (in the then-distant year of 1984), being the last man in the kingdom with a sense of humour, re-institutes all of the formal boundaries, fealties, heraldry and clothing of [...]

Read Full Post »

Lacrimosa

[This is a pre-scheduled post; I had intended to have one yesterday, too - which I spend entirely in transit from one city to another - but it slipped my mind during the mad rush to get all the necessary loose ends tied up before leaving.  Anyway, I'm back in Barrie, now, and will be [...]

Read Full Post »

The Everyman’s Chesterton

This was released two weeks ago, but I only just found out about it today. Noted Chesterton scholar Ian Ker has compiled a 950-page volume for the Everyman Library, in which is apparently contained a vast array of the best of the gargantuan author’s works.  Unlike similar and shorter volumes already extant, this one will [...]

Read Full Post »

Also in the news

Unidentified parties make vigorous artistic statement in response to controversial artwork; modified work expected to increase sizeably in renown and monetary value; Guardian newspaper covers event pretty much as you’d expect. (The reader clicking the link is also advised to scroll to the end for one of the “Grauniad”‘s legendary error corrections.)

Read Full Post »

Ecclesial Brawl II: The Revenge

Those who have been following my other ventures will be aware of my keen interest in scenes from literature in which lots of clergymen find themselves thrown together and begin to get on each other’s nerves, in whatever fashion.  Previously there was an astonishing passage from Robertson Davies’ Tempest Tost; today there’s something a bit [...]

Read Full Post »

Charisms, Mystics, &c.

The reader may or may not be familiar with St. Catherine of Siena and Bl. Hildegard von Bingen. If not, and the reader is interested in theology, or mediaeval history, or gender stuff (prophetic ladies in a patriarchal age &c.), the reader is recommended to take a look. There are some rambling thoughts relevant to [...]

Read Full Post »

Murder in the Vatican

I apologize for not bringing this to your attention sooner, but I only just found out about it myself. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, includes a tantalizing throwaway line pointing to the (unrecorded) adventures of the master detective Sherlock Holmes in Rome, solving mysteries for the Pontiff (presumably Leo XIII, [...]

Read Full Post »

We all fall down

Today is Ash Wednesday. So much of the Christian calendar is spent in reminding us of hope, and redemption, and eventual glory – it’s only fitting that there should be at least one day of all the year in which we are reminded of the dispiriting, absolute disaster that awaits all of us.  Sir Thomas [...]

Read Full Post »

The Grand Inquisitor

The Grand Inquisitor John Zmirak and Carla Millar. Crossroad; 2008. 76p.  First reading. “Hey, what’s that you’re reading, there?  Looks interesting.” “It’s a blank-verse graphic novel in which we discover that religious modernism is in fact a dark conspiracy.” “I… okay.” There’s really no way to sell Zmirak and Millar’s The Grand Inquisitor to anyone [...]

Read Full Post »

Les Miserables – Part III

[This is the third of three parts in my ongoing meditation on Victor Hugo's literary masterpiece.  Part one can be found here, and part two can be found here.] In the last two posts I discussed the characters – primary, secondary and otherwise – who drive the novel’s matchless narrative.  As we conclude, it would [...]

Read Full Post »