Currently reading
Swann's Way
Mating
The Unknown University
Postmodern Belief: American Literature and Religion since 1960 (20/21)
The Fun Stuff: And Other Essays
Death Comes for the Archbishop is a beautiful story, beautifully told. Suffused with the color of the desert Southwest, unusually (or surprisingly) respectful of the indigenous populations of New Mexico in the 1800s (both Native American and Mexican), and very Roman Catholic in its sympathies. In spite of its heavily religious themes and imagery, this is a very good story and well worth the reader’s time. The book I finished just before starting this classic was Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great and this made for an interesting juxtaposition. It’s impossible not to empathize with the devout Bishop Latour whose story this is (even for a nonbeliever like myself). Cather tells her story with great compassion, an eye for detail, and a profound sense of the Good to be found in people of all sorts.