What are you currently reading?

[Heinrich]

Just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - enjoyed it.

reading Hilaire Belloc - the Jews (but it is a bit heavy going) - many interesting points though.  It's interesting to note that when it was written that there was no state of Israel so many of the points he makes about the Jewish diaspora have a different perspective.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50556

I might read this again. It was very sad but then it fits my melancholy temperament.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unreasonable-Behaviour-Jim-Parton/dp/068481692X/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&qid=1595588012&refinements=p_27%3AJim+Parton&s=books&sr=1-4&text=Jim+Parton

"Harry Potter is from Hell." -- a priest  There is significant evidence from Exorcists that aforesaid books are portals to darkness. Not recommended, Paul. I know you are a grown man and will make your own decisions, but I say this in full Charity.

The Belloc title, on the other hand, is something for indexing for later. Thanks.

Who are these 'priests' you speak of?  Would they be the priests who have closed the churches for 4 months and deprived countless billions of the sacraments!  Harry Potter may be a portal to hell (in your opinion) but these priests have closed the portal to Heaven.

Go forth and multiply.

Here's one who is not alive to close churches: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/worlds-top-exorcist-saw-the-devil-in-harry-potter-yoga-and-thousands-of-middle-aged-middle-class-women

Who is your priest who has not closed up church and is OK with the HP?

[paul14]

I'm tired of the old Harry Potter canard which gets rolled out on a regular basis.

If you are going to spout warnings about anything in the modern world it should be pornography. I reckon it is by far the biggest temptation for men.

The irony is that I was not really into Harry Potter all that much when it came out. I know people who raved about it. I picked up a copy in the library about 5 years after all the hysteria had died down. Bottom line, I just thought it was quite a good story. Sure, they are waving wands and casting spells and stuff but doesn't Gandalf do stuff like that in Lord of the Rings. I liked the way everything linked up and the character development.

It did not make me interested in the occult or anything. I finished it and then moved onto other books.

Maybe everybody is perfect on this forum but I think that there is a fair bit of literary virtue signalling going on. Everybody seems to be reading St Ignatius, or some kind of spiritual exercises. I do not believe that some of these same people do not read other profane literature (they just talk about all the virtuous stuff). I do not think people like to admit that the are reading it in case it makes them look bad. Same thing applies to TV. I guarantee people are watching stuff which has the odd unsuitable bit in it which perhaps they have to skip. They would not admit to it.

The post was, "What are you reading at the moment". Well, that is what I was reading. This whole covid19 stuff has
really got me down and I just wanted a story to take my mind off my troubles. I have about 50 books on my Kindle; some are religious, some are scientific, financial etc.

There is a similar series to Harry Potter called His Dark Materials which I think is more sinister and I would not read.

Rant Over.

[Jayne]

There is a similar series to Harry Potter called His Dark Materials which I think is more sinister and I would not read.

This author of His Dark Materials, Philip Pulman, is on record saying that his goal in writing this series is to draw children to atheism.  He sees himself as an atheist version of CS Lewis, presenting his ideas through children's stories.  They really are horrid and blasphemous.  I always found it ironic that people make such a big fuss about Harry Potter, when Pulman's stories are far worse.  I acknowledge that there are legitimate criticisms of Harry Potter, but it is not at the same level.

Since I'm on this thread, I'll say that I am currently reading a Regency romance series by Sheila Simonson.  I know I have read some of them already but it was a long time ago so I am just put them all on my Kobo and am doing the whole thing in order now. 

[truly-a-philosofan]

The irony is that I was not really into Harry Potter all that much when it came out. I know people who raved about it. I picked up a copy in the library about 5 years after all the hysteria had died down. Bottom line, I just thought it was quite a good story. Sure, they are waving wands and casting spells and stuff but doesn't Gandalf do stuff like that in Lord of the Rings. I liked the way everything linked up and the character development.

Gandalf, according to the lore, is not human anyway. And the power he has is one of his natural faculties. So comparing the LOTR ?wizards? with the human wizards in Harry Potter is a non-starter.

Anyway, to add to this thread, I am also reading The City of God by St. Augustine (yes I am attracted to the works of this great western Father), and Pensées by Blaise Pascal.


P. S. I did not read either of the Harry Potter books or the LOTR books. But I pretty much learned some facts about the LOTR lore by spoilers from the internet.

[Daniel]

I always found it ironic that people make such a big fuss about Harry Potter, when Pulman's stories are far worse.  I acknowledge that there are legitimate criticisms of Harry Potter, but it is not at the same level.

I suppose so. But it's only because His Dark Materials isn't as mainstream. So Harry Potter is the bigger danger, even though it's not as bad.

I liked the way everything linked up and the character development.

Personally, I didn't like the seventh book. (And I read it before I was Catholic, before I was much aware of all the controversy.) I enjoyed the first six books, but the seventh seemed sloppy and abrupt. As if the author wanted to end the series in a certain way but realized too late that there were still like four or five horcruxes left, and that she needed to squeeze it all into a single book, so she basically came up with the whole "Nazis take over the school" idea in order to abandon the established formula, and then she started killing off characters left and right to get them out of the way. The ending didn't make a whole lot of sense either, though my memory's kind of foggy on the details.

The thing with the character development is that it only worked because most of the heroes were antiheroes and because most of the villains were antivillains. While this may make the story more interesting or more entertaining, it's extremely problematic for a young audience who looks up to the "heroes" as role models. This is the problem with most literature and movies these days. Nothing's black and white, and there's no sense of a "virtuous hero" until you get to the very end of the final book (and that's assuming the hero has actually attained virtue by the end).

[red solo cup]

The Decline and Fall of the House of Windsor by Donald Spoto

[Prayerful]

Imperial Tragedy, from Constantine's empire to the destruction of Roman Italy AD 363-568 Michael Kulikowski.

[red solo cup]

The Sea-Wolf by Jack London

[Philip G.]

I am reading California by Dana Fuller Ross.  It is a fictional novel set in California gold country during beginning years of the gold rush.  It is really good.

[Bernadette]

Little, by Edward Carey. About Mme. Toussaud and the French Revolution. Very creepy.

[Non Nobis]

Little, by Edward Carey. About Mme. Toussaud and the French Revolution. Very creepy.

I was intrigued after reading the Amazon reviews too, and it was only $1.99 for Kindle so I gave into the impulse... Maybe good for Halloween?

[red solo cup]

Benedict Arnold's Navy by James L. Nelson

[Bernadette]

Flowers for Algernon and Oliver Twist.

[maryslittlegarden]

Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy
https://www.amazon.com/Lark-Rise-Candleford-Flora-Thompson/dp/1567923631/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K4VOH9LGJEWP&dchild=1&keywords=lark+rise+to+candleford+book&qid=1600102317&sprefix=lark+rise+%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-1

[Bernadette]

Ooh, that looks good!