Thursday, February 15, 2024

On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior*

 When my son reads The Great Gatsby, I will have him also read Ms. Prior's essay/chapter about "Temperance". It was thought-provoking.

In this book Ms. Prior takes classic literature and highlights virtues that can be found (or not found!) in them. She divides the book up into three parts-The Cardinal Virtues (prudence, temperance, justice, courage), The Theological Virtues (faith, hope, love), & The Heavenly Virtues (chastity, diligence, patience, kindness, & humility). Authors/books she includes are: Henry Fielding, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Dickens (The Tale of Two Cities), Mark Twain (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn),Shusaku Endo, Cormac McCarthy, Leo Tolstoy (The Death of Ivan Ilych),Edith Wharton (Ethan Frome), John Bunyan, Jane Austen (Persuasion), George Saunders, & Flannery O'Connor.

I only read "Temperance" pertaining to The Great Gatsby. I would like to read some of the other chapters at a later date. "Humility" featuring short stories by O'Connor especially interests me. 

*Highly recommend.

-Borrowed from the library.



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