Catholic Thought discussion

Let's start the nomination process for our next read. The catagory up next in our cycle of book types is Catholic fiction. Please nominate a work of fiction that has a strong Catholic orientation to it. Nominations close Saturday night unless there are a large number of nominated books. Let's say the first six nominations make it; we'll assess after that if we want to squeeze in another.

This week will be the nomination week. Next week I will put up a poll for us to vote on. One week for voting. Then we will take a week for all to acquire the book. That means we'll start reading the week of 24 May.

In the mean time, to carry us over to the next read, we have a short read to keep us reading and discussing. The short read is the Flannery O'Connor short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." You can find the story on line here on page 130.:
https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net...

Let's take up this week to read, and by next week I'll put up a folder for us to discuss the story.

Let me be the first to nominate a book for the fiction read. I nominate Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson. Given what we're living in, it feels appropriate to read an apocalyptic dystopia .

The Catholic Book Club did Lord of the World not long ago, but it is an amazing and prophetic book. I would like to nominate another apocalyptic Catholic book, much more recent, based on the aftermath of the EMP attack which would render all our electricity, power plants, computers, all wifi, all devices, even our cars, useless. It's The Light: What Do You Become When the World Falls Away?, It is Book #1 in a 5-part series but works as a standalone. Otherwise, if one apocalypse is enough, I would nominate Frances Richardson's Not All of Me Is Dust--all three of those are terrific reads.

Madeleine, you are so very thoughtful, but I am going to respectfully decline. Thank you, though.

Good nominations so far, so I probably don’t need to name another book. I would, however, like to nominate one of the books from Graham Greene’s Catholic trilogy: not The Power and The Glory, which I think we’ve probably all read, but either The Heart of the Matter or a personal favorite, Brighton Rock, which has one of the most unforgettable endings in all literature.

I second Manny's nomination. (You beat me to it!)

Let me edit that. It may have come across as a little too strong. I apologize if I did. There's only one book nomination per person. You'll have to narrow it down.

I'd like to nominate Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. It's been on our family reading list for a while and with the pandemic my wife would be interested in reading it with us if selected.

I nominate The Comedians by Graham Greene

Madeleine wrote: "The Catholic Book Club did Lord of the World not long ago, but it is an amazing and prophetic book. I would like to nominate another apocalyptic Catholic book, much more recent, based on the afterm..."

Madeliene, I can't seem to find your recommendation. Is that the correct title? Can you provide the link to its page on Goodreads?

Edit: Never mind, I found it. It's "Who do you Become..." Is this it?
The Light: Who Do You Become When the World Falls Away?

Frances wrote: "Madeleine, you are so very thoughtful, but I am going to respectfully decline. Thank you, though.

Good nominations so far, so I probably don’t need to name another book. I would, however, like to ..."

I like the idea of Brighton Rock. Please pick that as your nomination.

Manny, I want to rescind my nomination. I would rather read Brighton Rock.

Celia wrote: "Manny, I want to rescind my nomination. I would rather read Brighton Rock."

Ok. Brighton Rock is a great novel. I don’t know Madeliene’s selection, but all of the others are excellent.

Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene, one of his “Catholic Trilogy”

I will nominate
"Five for Sorrow Ten for Joy" by Rumer Godden
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy

Irene wrote: "I will nominate
"Five for Sorrow Ten for Joy" by Rumer Godden
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy"

That looks interesting Irene.

Manny wrote: "Madeleine wrote: "The Catholic Book Club did Lord of the World not long ago, but it is an amazing and prophetic book. I would like to nominate another apocalyptic Catholic book, much more recent, b..."

Yes, that's the book, "The Light: Who do you become....." But the drawback is that it's Part 1 of a 5-part series (all excellent). So I think I will go with Brighton Rock.

Madeleine wrote: "Manny wrote: "Madeleine wrote: "The Catholic Book Club did Lord of the World not long ago, but it is an amazing and prophetic book. I would like to nominate another apocalyptic Catholic book, much ..."

We’re not voting until next week. Should I keep your nomination?

Yes, do. I'm not so sure about Brighton Rock if we still have more time.

So far I have Five books nominated:

Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
The Light: Who Do You Become When the World Falls Away? by Jacqueline Brown
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Rumer Godden

Today is Thursday. We have all day today, tomorrow, and up to midnight Saturday for at least one more nomination.

All wonderful nominations.

I'll throw my hat in the ring with Thomas More's Utopia

Kerstin wrote: "I'll throw my hat in the ring with Thomas More's Utopia"

Oh that's a good one. That's a classic I have not read.

Kerstin and Manny, last summer, because Mariette in Ecstasy was a slender book, we also did Death Comes For The Archbishop. Looking up Utopia on Amazon, I found that it is only about 91 pages. Do you think we might do another book along with it?

Frances wrote: "Kerstin and Manny, last summer, because Mariette in Ecstasy was a slender book, we also did Death Comes For The Archbishop. Looking up Utopia on Amazon, I found that it is only about 91 pages. Do y..."

Hold that thought Frances. Let’s see how the vote pans out. I don’t know how long these other books are. Well, I do know for Brideshead and Brighton Rock since I have read them already. I think both around 300 pages.

Frances wrote: "Kerstin and Manny, last summer, because Mariette in Ecstasy was a slender book, we also did Death Comes For The Archbishop. Looking up Utopia on Amazon, I found that it is only about 91 pages. Do y..."

Good memory Frances! I had forgotten that detail. Yes, Utopia is pretty short, 135 pages from what I saw, but that might be a different publisher.

Alright. The nomination process has come to an end, and we have six nominations for our spring Catholic fiction read. I will set up the poll. Voting from Sunday to Saturday night, midnight in somebody's time zone. ;)

The poll is over here:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

We have winners! :-)
Don't know if you are in the same predicament as I am, but whenever comments are made in the polls folder I don't get any notifications. Not sure if this is a bug in the website or my laptop.
Anyway, take a look:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

It might be your default settings Kerstin.

I don't think so, because I do have the notifications for this group turned on.

Kerstin, I did not get notification of the postings in the poll thread either. I would have weighed in on the decision if I had.

I think I've figured it out, Irene. You have to check the notification box with each and every poll. It is on the bottom similar to regular discussion pages. Why these notifications are separated within the group is a mystery to me.

So few polls in my GR groups have any substantial conversation in the comment threads that I never think about looking there. I probably won't remember to check the notification box in every GR poll. No system can be perfect.

I don't know why you guys don't get notifications of comments in polls. I do. It has to be a default setting. Perhaps once you check that box, as Kerstin recommends, you will get them all the time.

We'll see what happens next time, if checking the box has to be done with each poll or not.

Test, test.

Did you get a notice for this comment Kerstin and Irene?

I did, as I expected I would.