A few weeks ago I saw an ad for a new book and as soon as I read the ad I knew that I had to get the book and read it. The book was written by James T. Keane, a senior editor at the Jesuit magazine America. Its title is “Reading Culture Through Catholic Eyes: 50 Writers, Thinkers & Firebrands Who Challenge & Change Us” (New York: Orbis Books, 2024, 200 pp., $25.00).
Reading the book has been an exceptionally enjoyable experience. My expectations were high, and I was not disappointed. Occasionally, I was surprised. Even though I have been interested in what I identify as “Catholic Novels,” Keane’s book offers strong evidence of how many and marvelous the contributions of Catholics were to the world of literature in the 20th century.
The book contains 50 columns that Keane has written over the years. Here are some of the people about whom he has written: Dorothy Day, Sigrid Undset, Toni Morrison, Alice McDermott, Pierre Teilhard, Walker Percy, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.F. Powers, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Fulton Sheen, Shisaku Endo, C.S. Lewis, William Lynch, and Ron Hansen. The list is almost a “Who’s Who in Catholic Circles in the 20th Century.” On the back cover is the following quote from Paul Elie: “James T. Keane’s ‘Reading Culture Through Catholic Eyes’ is really three books in one — a book about Catholic writers renowned and overlooked, a registry of the literary criticism undertaken in America, and an encounter with the amiably all-knowing sensibility of Keane himself.”
After reading four or five of Keane’s essays, I knew that I was going to enjoy the book. When I discovered that I was mentioned a few times in the book, I liked it even more! One of the first essays I read was Keane’s on one of my favorite novelists, Alice McDermott. Keane titled that essay “A Sacramental World.” Keane quotes Angela Alaimo O’Donnell’s one.” O’Donnell wrote the following:
“Her focus is on the way in which human beings make a home in whatever world they happen to find themselves. And the key to that home is not location, location, location — it is love. This is McDermott’s true subject, and she writes about it expertly, realistically, and poignantly.” I agree completely with O’Donnell. McDermott once claimed that every line she wrote was influenced by her faith. Several times while reading Keane’s essays I had to marvel at his talent to deal with difficult subjects succinctly but accurately. The following Keane wrote about Teilhard:
“Much of Teilhard’s fame came posthumously, particularly with the publication of his major works ‘The Divine Milieu’ and ‘The Phenomenon of Man.’ Teilhard is remembered most for his concepts of the social evolution of humanity itself, which could be partially directed by humanity itself (transcending physical evolution); the convergence of all humanity toward a moment of omniscience and unity of consciousness, which he called the ‘Omega Point’ and identified with the Logos of Christ; and the integral relationship between humanity and the rest of matter in a constantly evolving universe” (p. 67).
One reason that I am enjoying Keane’s book is the interesting anecdotes sprinkled throughout, especially those anecdotes that I have never come upon previously. One I especially enjoyed was about my favorite novelist, Graham Greene. Keane reports the following:
“In 1948, the author and critic Richard McLaughlin published a lengthy profile, “Graham Greene: Saint or Cynic?” in which the author related an evening spent with Greene discussing literature. ‘I am firmly convinced that Graham Greene is no ordinary novelist,’ he wrote. ‘Not only is he one of our finest craftsmen writing today, but he is so preoccupied with man’s inner struggle to save his soul that he is comparable only to our greatest literary masters. His moral fervor, his peculiar concern with man as beset by evil and yearning to reach God through a maze of despair and anguish pervades his writing; but what is even more awesome is to find it so evident in the man’s mien and conversation.’ ” (p. 142).
I had the feeling while reading Keane’s book that I was spending time with my friends, some of whom I thought I knew fairly well through reading their works. I feel that way about Alice McDermott, Graham Greene, Walker Percy, and Ron Hansen. But I also met writers whom I am determined to know better. Toni Morrison is one of those writers. I have heard her name often and read about her frequently, but I have never read any of her novels. Because of Keane’s essay about her, I plan to fill that gap in my reading.
Another nice surprise was Keane’s essay on an original thinker whom I have long admired — Jesuit priest William Lynch. I am eager to recommend Keane’s book to my friends.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.