Great Catholic Fiction--NOT!!!

[bluemaydie]

OK, so after reading the Inside Catholic discussion on "Where, oh where, is great Catholic fiction?" I picked up some books. Not O'Connor or Waugh or Greene or Hansen. No, I picked up Dean Koontz. I thought, "He sells so many books, surely there's something to him. ANd he's Catholic. ANd the 'Odd Thomas' books are supposed to be spiritual. ANd fluff is all my brian can handle right now, so..."

Yeah. Mistake.

"Odd Thomas" was so boring, and so full of unnecessary diversions that I didn't finish it. In a fit of boredom, I picked up the third book, "Brother Odd," without realizing I'd skipped the second. I hadn't missed anything. The plot was tighter on the third book--it wouldn't be a bad airplane read--but it was also far more predictable than anything billed as suspense has a right to be. Good monk and nun characters, though. No albino assassins, no blaming the faith for the bad guy's actions. But still: so badly written. I have failed to discover why Koontz is popular. I mean, Dan BRown is better than this guy!

So are there any other Catholic writers out there whom you WOULDN"T recommend? People who make you think, "Oh, I wish you were an Episcopalian"?

[katycarl]

Ergh, thank you, Kate, for rescuing me. I read Tick Tock a couple of years ago, on purpose because my husband had read and hated it. He wanted to be able to laugh at it with me. When I read the article about Koontz's new books in NCR(egister), I was tempted to pick them up, to anticipate a very different experience. I will now anticipate the same and save myself the trouble of actually experiencing it.

As for your real question, I don't know offhand of any other Catholic authors I positively *wouldn't* recommend.

[job]

All,

I waited the polite 12 hours for someone else to pick up the ball: but since none are forthcoming, here you go (the three most obvious that come to mind):

Andrew Greeley (offensively not-Catholic literature)

Mary Higgins Clarke (not-offensively not-Catholic literature)

Bud McFarlan (offensively Catholic harlequin romance)

umm....?

JOB

[katycarl]

OK, I've got two more after thinking: Rebecca Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood = would have been a nice fluff read if not for the post-Catholic or pseudo-Catholic, can't figure out which, angst), and Paulo Coelho, who (at least in By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept) both misrepresents Catholic theology, but awfully, and writes bland, unconvincing prose.

[Bernardo]

Oh goodness, Paulo Coelho! He's very popular in Colombia. You have no idea how many times I've been accosted by people imploring that I read him because he's such a "profound" author. Why does every body just eat up this fluff? I can only think it is evidence the Church has considerably failed in recent decades in its proclamation of the Gospel, if it's this type of stuff that people find nourishing.

[Bernardo]

By the way JOB, I noticed your fine program on Catholic Radio International. Congratulations! We will be sure to post a link to your site from the DT website.

[katycarl]

Re: the Catholic Radio Int'l program: ooooh, shiny! Link?

Re: Coelho: On the other hand, the fact that he churns out mush might not be such a bad thing, given the content. What worries me is that so many people's educations, in America and everywhere, have only prepared them to receive said mush and not, so to speak, solid food. ... I hear there are lots of awesome Colombian authors one should check out instead of Coelho; who would you recommend?

[job]

Bernardo,

Thank you for your kind words.

I couldn't decide whether it was false or sincere humility which prevented me from mentioning it in this forum. Not sure it would have been taken kindly hawking my other other non-day job here.

www.catholicradiointernational.com/covertocover.php

But yes, I have recorded a reading of J.F. Powers' Morte D'Urban. It was fun and I hope it meets with eager ears to hear.


At any rate, I'm glad you noticed - now since the cat's out of the recording studio, I might as well say it: please spread the word! - not just about my program, but about the whole project. Catholic Radio International. Look us up. We''re trying to do the Catholic NPR. I think you will notice there is a distinct difference between CRI and other Catholic radio ventures.

Pray it succeeds. I think it will!

JOB

[katycarl]

Oh wow, I am all about that! Powers has been on my reading list for some serious time now. You just brightened my commute for a month, Job -- and I'll definitely be praying, and telling others!

P.S., I see Pavel Chichikov, whose work I've been admiring from a distance for some months now, is a regular on the Cover to Cover program. You don't think you could happen to persuade him to submit something to DT, could you? Or is he too far across the line from "emerging" into "established"? Maybe he could submit us something for consideration as a feature one of these quarters... ?

[job]

Ms. Carl,

Actually, Chichikov has his own show on CRI - but I will forward your request to him through Jeff Gardner.

Thanks,

JOB

[katycarl]

Thanks -- how lovely of you! It's not a guarantee, of course, but oh how I do enjoy his work. (and yours. )

[Bernardo]

In response to your question, Katy, there is indeed a wealth of excellent Colombian authors. Just to be clear, though, Coelho is Brazilian, unless I'm very much mistaken. Foremost among Colombian authors is (obviously) García Marquez. I believe you've already read some of his books, but in case you want some suggestions here are some titles worth picking up: One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, No One Writes to the Colonel, The Autumn of the Patriarch, News of a Kidnapping (non-fiction), and Living to Tell the Tale (memoir), among others.

Other important Colombian authors to get you started include Alvaro Mutis (poet/essayist/novelist), Leon de Greiff (poet), Julio Florez (bizarre, macabre poet, but awesome), Jorge Isaacs (his novel Maria, is considered the classic of Romanticism in Colombia), and Jose Asuncion Silva (perhaps the most important Colombian poet, though I don't think it is easy to find him in translation... poke around on Amazon), among others.

One author who has been recently making a name for himself is Philip Potdevin, who is the brother of one of one of the best freinds of my parents. His first novel, Metatron, gained some national attention a few years ago. To be honest, though, I have not actually read any of his work, so I can't really vouch for it, and in any case I don't think you'll find his work in translation. Hector Abad Faciolince seems to be a big name right now, but I have not read any of his novels yet and his anti-Catholic rants as a columnist annoy me to much to make me willing to pick up his books any time soon. But, again, I don't think you'll find him in translation.

[Bernardo]

P.S.: I just checked out Alvaro Mutis and at least a couple of his books are available on Amazon in translation.

[Bernardo]

Back to Coelho, here's one odd thing I've noticed: It seems to me that many people like his writing *because* of, rather than despite, its preachiness... it's almost like self-help fiction, or something, and sells as well as self-help books.

[katycarl]

JOB (should I be calling you Mr. O'Brien?),

I'm so very, very, *very* glad you posted the announcement about Cover to Cover. I've been listening to Morte d'Urban while I've cooked dinner these past few nights. Usually, for me, time spent cooking is time lost from reading, so being able to hear this awesome book has cheered me very much during the duller chores involved in k.p. The only downside is that I've been leaving the window open for a breeze and cackling so loud at Powers' sly wit and at your delightful rendition of his characters' voices that I think my neighbors may be beginning to wonder if all is quite well upstairs. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Berni, you're right... I can see the sort of mind that's inspired by self-help books being also inspired by Coelho's bully paper pulpit. And I grieve for the state of publishing. But I've added some of your Colombian-author suggestions to my reading list (alongside Garcia, whose work I love), and that's soothing my sorrow.