James Lee mentioned that he really liked Kristin Hannah’s novels, which I pooh-poohed as chick-lit. He assured me that they are really good, and that with my love of Russian literature I would appreciate Winter Garden, parts of which are set in Leningrad…
Read More
Recently I finished a book only half-remembered from my youth, Yevtushenko’s A Precocious Autobiography. I had no idea that a poet I had long admired was such a phony.
Read More
Where has the love gone, the magic that everyone associated with Christmas? Is it because we insist that the world should be devoid of the love that Jesus Christ brings in the manger, that it should be devoid of the wonder and magic that Santa Claus brings down every chimney?
Read More
All around lays a gentle silence, as if the world is holding its breath in anticipation of a momentous occasion. In sharp contrast to the silence, cold, and darkness is a church all aglow with the light of several candles as voices raise in joyous song. Jesus Christ has been born!
Read More
What is it about Christmas music that can steer our emotions so effectively? Sure, all music can do this, but I feel it most deeply with Christmas music…
Read More
Mr. Frost crafts smooth, flowing iambic tetrameter and iambic pentameter, sometimes rhyming but sometimes not. That he makes rhyme work so well demonstrates the excellence of his art; there are only five – arguably six – vowel sounds in English, which rhymed through the pen or keyboard of a learner usually ends in clunkiness or unintended comedy.
Read More
“Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee”. Thus begins one of the most well-known, and possibly most debated, prayers in the history of the Church.
Read More
I was thinking about Monty Python and the Holy Grail in all its ridiculous glory when I realized that similar skewed logic is used all the time in the real world, as if it were true logic. The conclusion seems sure before the argument, and as often as not, it is to the detriment of others.
Read More
J.R.R. Tolkien, a Biography by Humphrey Carpenter is a nice little biography for those who love Tolkien and the Inklings. Humphrey Carpenter’s several biographies are always well-researched and, even when alluding to awkward moments in the subjects’ lives, infinitely kind and generous.
Read More
Censorship is the control of public speech by a government agency; it has always existed and always will. Even the freest government cannot allow state secrets to be published. Censorship, when kept in its legal place, is good; when it is not kept in its legal place, it is bad.
Read More
Once upon a time, a great king wanted to send his son to live among his people to save them from their wretched ways. First, he chose a woman to care for his child, and then he chose a man to take of them both. They were the poorest of the poor, but the purest to be found anywhere.
Read More
Have you ever rooted for a character, wishing you could be there to help them in the hard times and to rejoice with them in the good times? We always give that treatment to characters we love, sometimes even the ones we don’t always like, and for good reason.
Read More
I eventually watched the movies. That’s when things really started to bother me. What was it with these movies and showing a colorless world? It irked me to no end for I truly enjoy a good splash of color.
Read More
Have you ever wondered where they got the names for some of their characters, or how close they were, if they didn’t know, to their own faith? There was bound to be some similarities, but I’ll bet you didn’t know that many of their characters were named after saints, whether intentionally or not.
Read More
LogoSophia Magazine 