“He [the Enemy] wants men, so far as I can see, to ask very simple questions; is it righteous? Is it prudent? Is it possible? Now if we can keep men asking ‘Is it in accordance with the general movement of our time? is it progressive or reactionary? Is this the way that History is going?’ they will neglect the relevant questions.”
The Screwtape Letters
I don’t know if they changed my perspective on life, but they certainly had a large impact on me. I read them both when I was a freshman in College and perhaps they helped inoculate me against the skepticism as to religion that college can bring.
Put your books in the comboxes.
“Centuries old, but recently widened, the highway was the same road used by pagan armies, pilgrims, peasants, donkey carts, nomads, wild horsemen out of the east, artillery, tanks, and ten-ton trucks. Its traffic gushed or trickled or dripped, according to the age and season. Once before, long ago, there had been six lanes and robot traffic. Then the traffic had stopped, the paving had cracked, and sparse grass grew in the cracks after an occasional rain. Dust had covered it. Desert dwellers had dug up its broken concrete for the building of hovels and barricades. Erosion made it a desert trail, crossing wilderness. But now there were six lanes and robot traffic, as before.”
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Life of Christ by Bishop Sheen. Read it when I was about 19-20. Did more to take me out of the “Jesus is cool/wise/my pal” mindset I was marinated in – and it has also brought a heavy influence in the classroom.
St. Augustine’s Confessions.
Gate of Heaven by Catherine Goddard Clarke. Its colorful cover enchanted my six-year-old eyes, but the text has variously enraged, inspired, depressed and consoled me for more than six decades.
Wisdom in 3 Q’s not taught to the young today: “Is it righteous? Is it prudent? Is it possible?”
I can’t say I had one book that was life changing, but I have had many that I reread and still think about. The Chronicles of Narnia, my mom read them to me when I was 6 and I keep rereading them, now to my children. They are so beautifully written that the imagery helps me to meditate when I pray.
The Lord of the Rings. At 13, it was the first hard book I had to work through past the boring parts and read not just for entertainment. I read it every summer for years and still measure most books against it for quality of thought.
St Faustina’s diary, Divine Mercy in my soul, helped me see everything as an expression of God’s infinite mercy
The Lord of the Rings is my perennial favorite, one which I’ve read more times than I can recall. There is also a wonderful little short story by Tolkien called Leaf by Niggle that had a slow, but profound influence on me. The book that has changed me the most (beyond Scripture) is The Case for Christ by Brant Pitre. God used that book to snap me out of a long period of apostasy and ultimately brought me into communion with the Catholic Church.
Read Canticle when I was 12 at the suggestion of my Pa.
Reread Canticle when I was 62.
Pa was smarter than I realized.
The Story of a Soul by Saint Teresa of Lisieux