My, my, but we've been actively posting lately. I wonder if it's the weather, or a desire to avoid schoolwork?
Anyhoo, I've just popped in to recommend Peter Kreeft's The Snakebite Letters. Why, yes, it is written in the style of Lewis' Screwtape Letters, thank you for noticing. Screwtape just happens to be one of my favorite books ever (and that's saying a lot, coming from the girl who can't make up her mind whether to go for the caesar salad or the caesar salad wrap), so this book has been sitting on my "to-read" pile for a while now. Since I work in the college's library, I snagged our copy sometime at the beginning of the semester and finally settled down to it a few weeks ago.
Although I didn't find it as engrossing as Lewis' original (in most of the letters, Kreeft tries too hard to be Lewis-writing-for-a-modernish-American-audience, and the cleverly diabolical viewpoint is a leetle forced on his part, but I loved the extravagance of Kreeft's descriptive phrases, as I tend towards that style of writing myself), it was still pretty good. The letters on the liturgy and all of its faults, failures, and flaws (as well as how to look past them to what is really going on during Mass) were especially interesting and enjoyable. So, while I wouldn't recommend running out and buying this book for your Lenten meditations, I would definitely pick it up should you happen across a copy.
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In more-than-slightly-related news, Fr. Longenecker has a series of (very) short columns at patheos written in Screwtapian (if it's not a word yet, I just made it one) style. Personally, I find his take on the genre a bit more true-to-the-original and...zingy than Kreeft's. First installment here, with a complete list of articles here.
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Thank you for sharing this info about Screwtapian elements of the world. (Yes, it is a word!)
ReplyDeleteI love Kreeft, but I've never read any of his fiction. But, (and maybe this is the pot calling the kettle black) I can see him being a little too obsessed with Lewis and trying too hard to imitate him. Screwtapian style is a hard one to imitate. :)
ReplyDeleteOh. And the recent upshot in activity is my desire to avoid homework/new resolution to write more. :)
ReplyDeleteI've been avoiding starting a paper recently. And I, too, have made resolutions about more regular posting. :P
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