Favorite Catholic Writers

F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby in the crucifixion pose on the shimmering blue water of salvation?--oh, yeah.

Yeah. Travels with my Aunt. That was funny. Weird, disturbing but funny. I like Yeats but see him as more political than religious because of the agnostic thing, but the religious themes are there. Had so much Joyce in college that I cannot enjoy his writing. The same with Flannery O'Connor. I had a college prof who seemed to think she was the bees knees. I plain got sick of hearing about her.--s6

lilowl said:

Hi,

It's good to see this question posted! I'm new here and this thread is a bit old, but I couldn't not mention Michael D. O'Brien's Children of the Last Days series. I've read Father Elijiah and Eclipse of the Sun. They are fantastic.

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I have to echo this. Michael O'Brien is a stunningly hypnotic writer. I'm sure the only reason he isn't trumpeted as a genius is of course because he's Catholic.
I first read A Cry of Stone about a First Nations woman from Northern Ontario with a tremendous artistic gift and how she transitions from the North to the city from the 1950's to the 70's- the art world and it's ebbs and flows are fascinating as is the strong spiritual core of the book.
The protagonist was captivating- I absolutely fell in love with her.

I ended up buying everything he wrote after that. Most of his books were very compelling but I must admit I got a bit paranoid after reading Children of the Last Days series- same way I did after reading Atwood's Handmaid's Tale in my late 20's. I had to back off for a while.

Graham Greene. But that's not because of his catholicism. His religious affiliation really has little, if anything, to do with the magnificent volume of work he produced in his long career.

By all accounts Greene was shunned by the Nobel Prize Committee because some members have a prejudice against British Catholics. It's hard to name a 20th century writer who deserved a Nobel more without receiving the honor.

caw

Was T.S. Eliot Catholic? I know his work was Christian and very religious, but didn't know if he was Catholic. If so, he gets my vote hands down.

C.bronco said:

Was T.S. Eliot Catholic? I know his work was Christian and very religious, but didn't know if he was Catholic. If so, he gets my vote hands down.

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He was. Might have been a convert, I don't know. I like his work, too, but he also has been outed convincingly as a serious anti-semite.

I'll add Flannery O'Connor to this list.

caw

I love Why I Live at the P.O.

Also, a prof. in college read us The Waste Land aloud over a few class periods. It was one of most meaningful experiences in college.


I've spents hours reading and re-reading it.


I also read Ash Wednesday every Ash Wednesday.

I'm surprised no one else mentioned G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown Mysteries. I always loved those. Or some of Christopher Stasheff's Warlock books. Some even have MCs that are priests. Although that series went on too long, IMO, but still. The first six or so were pretty good.