How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic

"Only a Christian, nay a mystic, because he has some idea of what there is in man, can be a complete novelist." --Jacques Maritain Literature . . . is the science or history partly and at best of the natural man, partly of man in rebellion. It is a contradiction in terms to attempt a sinless Literature of sinful man. --Saint John Henry Newman All my stories are about the action of grace on a character who is not very willing to support it. --Flannery O'Connor How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic is a sweeping survey of some of the finest literary works ever written by our fallen and yet redeemed race. Joshua Hren takes readers on a tour that spans centuries and explores our broken path to salvation, passing through stories known to many but perhaps understood by few, and others that merit a broader readership. With appeals to staples of the Catholic literary tradition such as Flannery O'Connor and Evelyn Waugh, to the often-sidelined works of Léon Bloy, Caroline Gordon, and Christopher Beha, to the masterpieces of even those who were distanced from the Church--Flaubert and James Joyce and Chekhov; Hemingway and David Foster Wallace and George Saunders--Hren sheds light on stories that grapple with matters essential to Catholics. His intrinsically Catholic approach to the study of literature examines the presence of conversion in great literary texts, and considers the way in which writers dramatize the workings of grace upon nature. His analysis also bears a sacramental vision, articulating the ways in which seen images point to unseen realities. How to Read (and Write) Like a Catholic searches out the persistence of Catholic ideas, images, and concerns in purportedly secular and postmodern stories. It is a love letter to the Christic imagination which incarnates human nature as having its final end not in the characters' self-actualization, but in their salvation, giving readers of this work a deeper understanding of how the power of story can lead them closer to Christ. Includes a section for aspiring writers devoted to the techniques and devices that make good fiction, as well as a list of must-read literary works by which all Catholics can be enriched.

About the Author :
Joshua Hren is founder of Wiseblood Books and co-founder of the Honors College at Belmont Abbey where he teaches and writes at the intersection of Christianity and culture. He has published essays and poems in such journals as First Things, America, and LOGOS. His books include the short story collections This Our Exile and In the Wine Press, as well as Middle-earth and the Return of the Common Good: Tolkien and Political Philosophy. Joshua's first novel is forthcoming.

Review :
Catholic literature is, for many people today, at best a minor genre, at worst an impossibility, since they think religious commitment stunts the imagination. In this wide-ranging survey, Joshua Hren shows how very wrong those prejudices are by an examination of some of the great Catholic writers of the past. In addition, while there are no sure rules for creating literature that deeply engages faith, he offers some valuable insights into how writers can further the Catholic literary tradition in their own work, even in our unfavorable circumstances. --Robert Royal, president of the Faith and Reason Institute and author of Dante Alighieri: Divine Comedy, Divine Spirituality and A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century. "Joshua Hren shows us how to read well by delving deeply into the well of living meaning to be found in great literature. Learning to read (and write) like a Catholic is to leave the shallows to swim in the depths and to step out of the shadows into the light. It is life changing." --Joseph Pearce, author of Catholic Literary Giants: A Field Guide to the Catholic Literary Landscape, and many more "Joshua Hren's How to Read (and Write) Like A Catholic pays tribute to a wide range of notable authors from the Catholic literary tradition. But what follows Hren's exquisite and original exploration of literary texts is a quiet challenge: a Catholic writer whose work finds deep relevance in our age will be one who shrugs off easy platitudes and instead pursues an unflinching moral, intellectual, and artistic engagement." --Christine Flanagan, author/editor The Letters of Flannery O'Connor and Caroline Gordon Joshua Hren's How to Read (and Write) like a Catholic is not just another thick, square book. It is a catechism that will guide you through the long Catholic literary tradition, stopping along the way to introduce you to its best authors and to examine the great questions of judgment and craft that every reader and every writer must consider. This is not just a new book by an important young author; it is the fruit of an entire tradition. It is no mere survey; it is an introduction to a way of living well within the human drama of Christianity. -James Matthew Wilson, Poet-in-Residence, Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Liturgy