en-US Tue, 15 Apr 2025 18:13:50 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 74176 320 Max Weber 048642703X Benedict 0 to-read 3.92 1904
author: Max Weber
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1904
rating: 0
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]]> 53989348

In The Light Ages, Cambridge science historian Seb Falk takes us on an immersive tour of medieval science through the story of one fourteenth-century monk, John of Westwyk. From multiplying Roman numerals to navigating by the stars, curing disease, and telling time with an ancient astrolabe, we learn emerging science alongside Westwyk, while following the gripping story of the struggles and successes of an ordinary man in a precarious world. An enlightening history that argues that these times weren’t so dark after all, The Light Ages shows how medieval ideas continue to color how we see the world today.]]> 398 Seb Falk 1324002948 Benedict 0 to-read, histo 3.64 2020
author: Seb Falk
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read, histo
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]]> 25825420
The Abolition of Man, Lewis uses his graceful prose, delightful humor, and keen understanding of the human mind to challenge our notions about how to best teach our children--and ourselves--not merely reading and writing, but also a sense of morality.]]> 113 C.S. Lewis Benedict 3 philo 4.16 1943
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1943
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: philo
review:
C. S. Lewis tries his hand at a Chesterton style takedown. Pretty good but goes a little far with the strawman slope even if it’s necessary to see subjectivism’s logical conclusion. Highlight was certainly pinpointing subjectivism’s failures in the modern education system.
]]> 240485
Young, tough, patriotic, but also disturbingly self-aware, Jünger exulted in the Great War, which he saw not just as a great national conflict, but more importantly as a unique personal struggle.

Leading raiding parties, defending trenches against murderous British incursions, simply enduring as shells tore his comrades apart, Jünger kept testing himself, braced for the death that will mark his failure.

Published shortly after the war's end, 'Storm of Steel' was a worldwide bestseller and can now be rediscovered through Michael Hofmann's brilliant new translation.]]> 289 Ernst Jünger 0141186917 Benedict 0 4.13 1920
author: Ernst Jünger
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1920
rating: 0
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]]> 15997 Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, who are motivated by all too human temptations but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.

Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition, Paradise Lost is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years, it has held generation upon generation of audiences in rapt attention, and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.]]> 453 John Milton 0140424393 Benedict 0 3.83 1667
author: John Milton
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1667
rating: 0
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]]> 60832788
This book explodes that delusion. Beginning with the Italian elite school, Parvini shows the top-down and elite driven nature of politics by explicating one thinker per chapter: Mosca, Pareto, Michels, Schmitt, Jouvenel, Burnham, Francis, and Gottfried. The sobering picture that emerges is that the interests of the people have only ever been advanced by a tightly organized minority. Just as fire drives out fire, so an elite is only ever driven out by another elite.

The Populist Delusion is the remedy for a self-defeating folk politics that has done the people a great disservice.]]> 174 Neema Parvini 1922602442 Benedict 0 to-read, politik 4.32
author: Neema Parvini
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> 55139 230 Robert Lacey 0316511579 Benedict 0 to-read 3.89 1998
author: Robert Lacey
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 248084 180 Thomas Dubay 0898709210 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.38 1981
author: Thomas Dubay
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/06
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]]> 568236 Barbara Tuchman anatomizes the century, revealing both the great rhythms of history and the grain and texture of domestic life as it was lived.]]> 714 Barbara W. Tuchman 0345349571 Benedict 0 to-read 4.04 1978
author: Barbara W. Tuchman
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1978
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/06
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review:

]]> 596814 144 Luigi Giussani 0824518993 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.44 1977
author: Luigi Giussani
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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]]> 62804
At one level, it may be read as an account of how a puny, bookish boy discovered the importance of his own physical being; the "sun and steel" of the title are themselves symbols respectively of the cult of the open air and the weights used in bodybuilding. At another level, it is a discussion by a major novelist of the relation between action and art, and his own highly polished art in particular. More personally, it is an account of one individual's search for identity and self-integration. Or again, the work could be seen as a demonstration of how an intensely individual preoccupation can be developed into a profound philosophy of life.

All these elements are woven together by Mishima's complex yet polished and supple style. The confession and the self-analysis, the philosophy and the poetry combine in the end to create something that is in itself perfect and self-sufficient. It is a piece of literature that is as carefully fashioned as Mishima's novels, and at the same time provides an indispensable key to the understanding of them as art.

The road Mishima took to salvation is a highly personal one. Yet here, ultimately, one detects the unmistakable tones of a self transcending the particular and attaining to a poetic vision of the universal. The book is therefore a moving document, and is highly significant as a pointer to the future development of one of the most interesting novelists of modern times.]]> 108 Yukio Mishima 4770029039 Benedict 3 philo 3.90 1968
author: Yukio Mishima
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: philo
review:
Extremely difficult to read due to Mishima's abstract way in which he comes to describe such simple things, but after all, that is the way in which he came into contact with the rest of the world. His words came before his flesh and that shaped his worldview. Once I understood this, however, I fully believed it due to this absolute raw honesty he presents his findings with.
]]> 424125 For example, the belief in a never-ending ‘progress��, which until recently was held as a sort of inviolable and indisputable dogma, is no longer so widespread; there are those who perceive, though in a vague and confused manner, that the civilization of the West may not always go on developing in the same direction, but may some day reach a point where it will stop, or even be plunged in its entirety into some cataclysm. Such persons may not see clearly where the danger lies�� the fantastic or puerile fears they sometimes express being proof enough that their minds still harbor many errors�� but it is already something that they realize there is a danger, even if it is felt rather than understood; and it is also something that they can conceive that this civilization, with which the moderns are so infatuated, holds no privileged position in the history of the world, and may easily encounter the same fate as has befallen many others that have already disappeared at more or less remote periods, some of them having left traces so slight as to be hardly noticeable, let alone recognizable.]]> 136 René Guénon 0900588241 Benedict 0 to-read, politik 4.13 1927
author: René Guénon
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1927
rating: 0
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]]> 549384 264 Antonin Sertillanges 0813206464 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.38 1921
author: Antonin Sertillanges
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1921
rating: 0
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]]> 754771 306 Thérèse of Lisieux 0935216588 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.41 1898
author: Thérèse of Lisieux
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1898
rating: 0
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]]> 1603615 404 Jean-Pierre de Caussade 1602064334 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.13 1861
author: Jean-Pierre de Caussade
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1861
rating: 0
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]]> 406373 Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last forever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephistopheles and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe’s great work, the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a rejuvenated life and winning the love of the beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire, and self-delusion, Faust heads inexorably toward an infernal destruction.]]> 503 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 0385031149 Benedict 0 3.90 1808
author: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1808
rating: 0
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]]> 71653 215 0895552795 Benedict 0 to-read, theo 4.52 1712
author: Louis-Marie Grignion de Monfort
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1712
rating: 0
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]]> 3836
With its experimental form and literary playfulness, Don Quixote has been generally recognized as the first modern novel. The book has been enormously influential on a host of writers, from Fielding and Sterne to Flaubert, Dickens, Melville, and Faulkner, who reread it once a year, "just as some people read the Bible."]]> 1023 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook, lit 3.87 1615
author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1615
rating: 0
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]]> 2696 The procession that crosses Chaucer's pages is as full of life and as richly textured as a medieval tapestry. The Knight, the Miller, the Friar, the Squire, the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, and others who make up the cast of characters -- including Chaucer himself -- are real people, with human emotions and weaknesses. When it is remembered that Chaucer wrote in English at a time when Latin was the standard literary language across western Europe, the magnitude of his achievement is even more remarkable. But Chaucer's genius needs no historical introduction; it bursts forth from every page of The Canterbury Tales.

If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

]]> 504 Geoffrey Chaucer 0140424385 Benedict 0 3.51 1400
author: Geoffrey Chaucer
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1400
rating: 0
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]]> 6656 This Everyman’s Library edition–containing in one volume all three cantos, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso–includes an introduction by Nobel Prize—winning poet Eugenio Montale, a chronology, notes, and a bibliography. Also included are forty-two drawings selected from Botticelli’s marvelous late-fifteenth-century series of illustrations.

Translated in this edition by Allen Mandelbaum, The Divine Comedy begins in a shadowed forest on Good Friday in the year 1300. It proceeds on a journey that, in its intense recreation of the depths and the heights of human experience, has become the key with which Western civilization has sought to unlock the mystery of its own identity.

Mandelbaum’s astonishingly Dantean translation, which captures so much of the life of the original, renders whole for us the masterpiece of that genius whom our greatest poets have recognized as a central model for all poets.]]> 798 Dante Alighieri 0679433139 Benedict 0 4.08 1320
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1320
rating: 0
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]]> 25709 2900 Thomas Aquinas Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook, theo 4.10 1274
author: Thomas Aquinas
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1274
rating: 0
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]]> 31837
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 155 Boethius 0140447806 Benedict 0 to-read, philo, theo 4.03 524
author: Boethius
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.03
book published: 524
rating: 0
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]]> 27037 Confessions is one of the most influential and most innovative works of Latin literature. Written in the author's early forties in the last years of the fourth century A.D. and during his first years as a bishop, they reflect on his life and on the activity of remembering and interpreting a life. Books I-IV are concerned with infancy and learning to talk, schooldays, sexual desire and adolescent rebellion, intense friendships and intellectual exploration. Augustine evolves and analyses his past with all the resources of the reading which shaped his mind: Virgil and Cicero, Neoplatonism and the Bible. This volume, which aims to be usable by students who are new to Augustine, alerts readers to the verbal echoes and allusions of Augustine's brilliant and varied Latin, and explains his theological and philosophical questioning of what God is and what it is to be human. The edition is intended for use by students and scholars of Latin literature, theology and Church history.]]> 341 Augustine of Hippo 0192833723 Benedict 4 theo 3.95 400
author: Augustine of Hippo
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.95
book published: 400
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/04/06
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]]> 30659 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Marcus Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and readers throughout the centuries.]]> 254 Marcus Aurelius 0140449337 Benedict 0 to-read, philo 4.29 180
author: Marcus Aurelius
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.29
book published: 180
rating: 0
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]]> 12914
Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his city after its fall, with his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius �� for Aeneas is destined to found Rome and father the Roman race. As Aeneas journeys closer to his goal, he must first prove his worth and attain the maturity necessary for such an illustrious task. He battles raging storms in the Mediterranean, encounters the fearsome Cyclopes, falls in love with Dido, Queen of Carthage, travels into the Underworld and wages war in Italy.]]> 442 Virgil 0679729526 Benedict 0 3.86 -19
author: Virgil
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.86
book published: -19
rating: 0
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]]> 1554
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex has never been surpassed for the raw and terrible power with which its hero struggles to answer the eternal question, "Who am I?" The play, a story of a king who acting entirely in ignorance kills his father and marries his mother, unfolds with shattering power; we are helplessly carried along with Oedipus towards the final, horrific truth.

To make Oedipus more accessible for the modern reader, our Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classics includes a glossary of the more difficult words, as well as convenient sidebar notes to enlighten the reader on aspects that may be confusing or overlooked. We hope that the reader may, through this edition, more fully enjoy the beauty of the verse, the wisdom of the insights, and the impact of the drama.]]> 75 Sophocles 1580495931 Benedict 0 3.73 -429
author: Sophocles
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.73
book published: -429
rating: 0
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]]> 752900
Euripides' masterly portrayal of the motives fiercely driving Medea's pursuit of vengeance for her husband's insult and betrayal has held theater audiences spellbound for more than twenty centuries. Rex Warner's authoritative translation brings this great classic of world literature vividly to life.

Reprint of the John Lane, The Bodley Head Limited, London, 1944 edition.]]> 59 Euripides 0486275485 Benedict 0 3.93 -431
author: Euripides
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.93
book published: -431
rating: 0
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]]> 7728
Antigone raises issues of law and morality that are just as relevant today as they were more than two thousand years ago. Whether this is your first reading or your twentieth, Antigone will move you as few pieces of literature can.

To make this quintessential Greek drama more accessible to the modern reader, this Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary of difficult terms, a list of vocabulary words, and convenient sidebar notes. By providing these, it is our intention that readers will more fully enjoy the beauty, wisdom, and intent of the play.]]> 80 Sophocles 1580493882 Benedict 0 to-read, play, epic 3.69 -441
author: Sophocles
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.69
book published: -441
rating: 0
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]]> 1519 Alternate covers of this ISBN here, here, here, here. Most recent cover is here.

In the Oresteia—the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity—Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos.

Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration.]]> 336 Aeschylus Benedict 0 to-read, play, epic 4.03 -458
author: Aeschylus
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.03
book published: -458
rating: 0
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]]> 1381 Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.

So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey.

If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life. Odysseus' reliance on his wit and wiliness for survival in his encounters with divine and natural forces, during his ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, is at once a timeless human story and an individual test of moral endurance.

In the myths and legends that are retold here, Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom, and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery.

Renowned classicist Bernard Knox's superb Introduction and textual commentary provide new insights and background information for the general reader and scholar alike, intensifying the strength of Fagles' translation.

This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the public at large, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

--

Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning new modern-verse translation.]]> 541 Homer 0143039954 Benedict 0 3.79 -700
author: Homer
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.79
book published: -700
rating: 0
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]]> 77265004 848 Homer 1324001801 Benedict 0 4.09 -800
author: Homer
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.09
book published: -800
rating: 0
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]]> 19351 Epic of Gilgamesh is, above all, about mankind’s eternal struggle with the fear of death.

The Babylonian version has been known for over a century, but linguists are still deciphering new fragments in Akkadian and Sumerian.]]> 72 Anonymous 0141026286 Benedict 2 epic 3.69 -1200
author: Anonymous
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.69
book published: -1200
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: epic
review:

]]> 58577815
In The Two Cities: A History of Christian Politics, Andrew Willard Jones rewrites the political history of the West with a new plot, a plot in which Christianity is true, in which human history is Church history.

The Two Cities moves through the rise and fall of empires; cycles of corruption and reform; the rise and fall of Christendom; the emergence of new political forms, such as the modern state, and new political ideologies, such as liberalism and socialism; through the horrible destruction of modern warfare; and on to the plight of contemporary Christians. These movements of history are all considered in light of their orientation toward or away from God.

The Two Cities advances a theory of Christian politics that is both an explanation of secular politics and a proposal for Christians seeking to navigate today's most urgent political questions.]]> 376 Andrew Willard Jones 1645851222 Benedict 0 to-read 4.48
author: Andrew Willard Jones
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/23
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]]> 767958 Leisure: the Basis of Culture is more significant, even more crucial, today than it was when it first appeared fifty years ago. Pieper shows that the Greeks understood and valued leisure, as did the medieval Europeans. He points out that religion can be born only in leisure - a leisure that allows time for the contemplation of the nature of God. Leisure has been, and always will be, the first foundation of any culture.

He maintains that our bourgeois world of total labor has vanquished leisure, and issues a startling warning: Unless we regain the art of silence and insight, the ability for nonactivity, unless we substitute true leisure for our hectic amusements, we will destroy our culture - and ourselves.

These astonishing essays contradict all our pragmatic and puritanical conceptions about labor and leisure; Josef Pieper demolishes the twentieth-century cult of "work" as he predicts its destructive consequences.]]> 176 Josef Pieper 1890318353 Benedict 0 to-read 4.24 1948
author: Josef Pieper
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1948
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 8520897 404 Brett Brannen 0615345514 Benedict 5 4.40 2010
author: Brett Brannen
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
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]]> 293624
We tend to overlook Peter's opening words to the crowd that first Pentecost morning, to our own peril. His denial of drunkenness in the wake of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit should stop us in our tracks. What was going on here? How did the apostles experience the Holy Spirit? What was he teaching them? How was he empowering them? What does this scene in the streets of Jerusalem mean for us today?

Father Raniero Cantalamessa offers pastoral advice and leads the reader through passages of Scripture and the Fathers of the Church to remind us of the incalculable power of the Spirit available to us. This spiritual "intoxication" is an infilling—through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and the action of God—that purifies us of sin, renews the heart and enlightens the mind. As St. Augustine said of the Spirit, "He found you empty and he filled you…I like this kind of intoxication. The Spirit of God is both drink and light."]]> 176 Raniero Cantalamessa 0867167130 Benedict 0 to-read 4.37 2005
author: Raniero Cantalamessa
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/16
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]]> 210255 Against Nature or as Against The Grain, this wildly original fin-de-siècle novel follows its sole character, Des Esseintes, a decadent, ailing aristocrat who retreats to an isolated villa where he indulges his taste for luxury and excess. Veering between nervous excitability and debilitating ennui, he gluts his aesthetic appetites with classical literature and art, exotic jewels (with which he fatally encrusts the shell of his tortoise), rich perfumes, and a kaleidoscope of sensual experiences. The original handbook of decadence, Against Nature exploded like a grenade (in the words of Huysmans) and has enjoyed a cult readership from its publication to the present day.]]> 288 Joris-Karl Huysmans 0140447636 Benedict 0 to-read 3.88 1884
author: Joris-Karl Huysmans
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1884
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> 63672 312 Georges Bernanos 0786709618 Benedict 0 to-read 3.97 1936
author: Georges Bernanos
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1936
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> 637654 539 Henri de Lubac 089870443X Benedict 0 to-read 4.31
author: Henri de Lubac
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 53097837 ���ܴڰ��ä����� and theorist of aristocratic radicalism. His accusers identify in his ‘superman�� the origins of Nazism, and thus issue an irrevocable condemnation; his defenders pursue a hermeneutics of innocence founded ultimately in allegory. In a work that constitutes the most important contribution to Nietzschean studies in recent decades, Domenico Losurdo instead pursues a less reductive strategy. Taking literally the ruthless implications of Nietzsche's anti-democratic thinking �� his celebration of slavery, of war and colonial expansion, and eugenics �� he nevertheless refuses to treat these from the perspective of the mid-twentieth century. In doing so, he restores Nietzsche’s works to their complex nineteenth-century context, and presents a more compelling account of the importance of Nietzsche as philosopher than can be expected from his many contemporary apologists.

Translated by Gregor Benton. With an Introduction by Harrison Fluss.

Originally published in Italian by Bollati Boringhieri Editore as Domenico Losurdo, Nietzsche, il ribelle aristocratico: Biografia intellettuale e bilancio critico, Turin, 2002.]]> 1076 Domenico Losurdo Benedict 0 to-read 4.63 2002
author: Domenico Losurdo
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 6763725 81 Mark Fisher 1846943175 Benedict 0 to-read 4.20 2009
author: Mark Fisher
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> 112760 As always with Chesterton, there is in this analysis something (as he said of Blake) "very plain and emphatic." He sees in Christianity a rare blending of philosophy and mythology, or reason and story, which satisfies both the mind and the heart. On both levels it rings true. As he puts it, "in answer to the historical query of why it was accepted, and is accepted, I answer for millions of others in my reply; because it fits the lock; because it is like life." Here, as so often in Chesterton, we sense a lived, awakened faith. All that he writes derives from a keen intellect guided by the heart's own knowledge.

]]> 260 G.K. Chesterton 1573832979 Benedict 0 to-read 4.15 1925
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1925
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 31866 A History Of Philosophy has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English.

Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangled with A. J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God and the possibility of metaphysics, knew that seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate diet of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity with most of history's great thinkers was reduced to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to redress the wrong by writing a complete history of Western philosophy, one crackling with incident and intellectual excitement -- and one that gives full place to each thinker, presenting his thought in a beautifully rounded manner and showing his links to those who went before and to those who came after him.

The result of Copleston's prodigious labors is a history of philosophy that is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Thought magazine summed up the general agreement among scholars and students alike when it reviewed Copleston's A History of Philosophy as "broad-minded and objective, comprehensive and scholarly, unified and well proportioned... We cannot recommend [it] too highly."]]> 521 Frederick Charles Copleston 0385468431 Benedict 0 to-read 4.12 1946
author: Frederick Charles Copleston
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1946
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/07
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]]> 3627351
We often forget the real secret to gaining time and being productive is to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness , and all these things shall be yours as well (Mt 6:33). If we make time for God through prayer, He multiplies our time and makes it fruitful and productive in all areas of our life. But have you ever felt unsure about how to pray? For that matter, what exactly is prayer and who is it for? And where, when and how should you pray?

These questions find an answer in this latest book from Scepter, Time for God. Written in a simple and modern style, author Jacques Philippe draws on years of experience as a spiritual guide to illuminate the fundamental principles of true prayer and describes some common mistakes and misconceptions that can lead it astray. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to make better use of their time with God.]]> 120 Jacques Philippe 1594170665 Benedict 3 4.60 2005
author: Jacques Philippe
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
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review:

]]> 314161 102 Seraphim Rose 1887904069 Benedict 0 to-read 4.26 1994
author: Seraphim Rose
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> 355697
In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their schoolmaster to troop off to the ‘glorious war��. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. What follows is the moving story of a young ‘unknown soldier�� experiencing the horror and disillusionment of life in the trenches.]]> 296 Erich Maria Remarque 0449213943 Benedict 4 essential-25 4.04 1928
author: Erich Maria Remarque
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: essential-25
review:

]]> 10176119 "The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way..."

It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments 211, 212 and 213 to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is stupider, uglier, weaker, or slower than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced.

One April, fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron is taken away from his parents, George and Hazel, by the government and to a place unknown. But what happens in the aftermath will challenge the status quo and inspire his peers about the hidden potential within one's own individuality.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922��2007) was an American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. He was born in Indianapolis, later the setting for many of his novels. His experiences as an advance scout in the Battle of the Bulge during WWII, and in particular his witnessing of the bombing of Dresden, Germany whilst a prisoner of war, would inform much of his work. The novelist is best known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as 'Slaughterhouse-Five' (1969), 'Cat's Cradle' (1963), and 'Breakfast of Champions' (1973).]]> 9 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Benedict 5 4.14 1961
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/29
date added: 2025/01/02
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]]> 110795
Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. 

The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms.

Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.]]> 846 Catholic Church 0385479670 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.47 1992
author: Catholic Church
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read, audiobook
review:

]]> 1923820 Kršćani Bibliju proučavaju kao svoju normativnu, za život smjerodavnu knjigu u kojoj oni nalaze poruku - riječ Božju. No, Biblija je uz to i spomenik historije čovječanstva, jedna od najstarijih knjiga, u kojoj je genij Hebreja na svoj način asimilirao i dalje obogatio razmišljanje i mudrost drevne Mezopotamije i Egipta, da je onda, obogaćenu grčkim genijem, po Novom zavjetu i daljnjem kršćanskom razmišljanju unese u tadašnji grčko-rimski svijet. Po postanku i jeziku, po sadržaju i stilu, po slikovitosti i metaforici, Biblija nije jedna knjiga, nego zbir knjiga koje su nastajale u razdoblju od 13. st. pr. Kr do 2. st. po Kr.
Biblija je za kršćane sveta, inspirirana i kanonska knjiga. Za svakog čovjeka Biblija je istovremeno zbirka povijesnih isprava i književno djelo izvorne i neprolazne umjetničke snage. Ona pripada zajedničkoj kulturi čovječanstva.
Stari zavjet u Bibliji Stvarnosti plod je mnogostruko udruženog rada hrvatskih bibličara i književnika. Kao polazišni tekst izabran je prijevod Antuna Sovića, s tim da je Petoknjižje preveo Silvije Grubišić, Psalme Filibert Gass, a Pjesmu nad pjesmama Nikola Miličević. Novi zavjet preveo je Ljudevit Rupčić.]]> 1590 Anonymous Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.44 1611
author: Anonymous
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1611
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, audiobook
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]]> 207546 143 C.S. Lewis 0195003454 Benedict 0 to-read 4.28 1942
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> 772556


One of the things which has characterized the Dominican spirit from the beginning is a sense of openness to the world. Dominicans such as Thomas Aquinas, Jordan of Saxony, and Catherine of Siena, were not only impressive celebrants of grace. They were also defenders of nature. After the example of St Dominic himself, they learned to drink deep from the wine of God's Word, and became witnesses not only of certain great moral and doctrinal truths but witnesses also of an unimaginable joy.



One reason, in society today, why so many feel unfulfilled and are not happy is because the vision of life offered is one that is restricted to a pragmatic, one-dimensional view of the world. The Dominican vision of life we find presented in this book is one that is truly broad and joyous. It is a path of spirituality - a way - open to people of all kinds and conditions.]]> 208 Paul Murray 0860124177 Benedict 0 to-read 4.31 2006
author: Paul Murray
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> 2079415
This book, written in 1907, is Benson's dystopic vision of a near future world in which religion has, by and large, been rejected or simply fallen by the wayside. The Catholic Church has retreated to Italy and Ireland, while the majority of the rest of the world is either Humanistic or Pantheistic. There is a 'one world' government, and euthanasia is widely available. The plot follows the tale of a priest, Percy Franklin, who becomes Pope Silvester III, and a mysterious man named Julian Felsenburgh, who is identical in looks to the priest and who becomes "Lord of the World".

"The one condition of progress...on the planet that happened to be men's dwelling place, was peace, not the sword which Christ brought or that which Mahomet wielded; but peace that arose from, not passed, understanding; the peace that sprang from a knowledge that man was all and was able to develop himself only by sympathy with his fellows..."]]> 296 Robert Hugh Benson 1406548421 Benedict 0 to-read 4.11 1907
author: Robert Hugh Benson
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1907
rating: 0
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]]> 21484
Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II, as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.

The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance stand as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers.]]> 896 Herman Wouk 0316952664 Benedict 0 to-read 4.37 1971
author: Herman Wouk
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1971
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Benedict 0 3.99 1961
author: Joseph Heller
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: essential-25, to-read, audiobook
review:

]]> 119073 552 Umberto Eco 0156001314 Benedict 0 4.13 1980
author: Umberto Eco
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: iron-maiden, to-read, audiobook
review:

]]> 14662 The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical portrayal of French society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui, and Julien - the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions - is one of the most intriguing characters in European literature.

Roger Gard's fine translation remains faithful to the natural, conversational tone of the original, while his introduction elucidates the complexities of Julien's character. This edition also contains a chronology, further reading and an appendix on Stendhal's use of epigraphs.]]> 577 Stendhal 0140447644 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 3.91 1830
author: Stendhal
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1830
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read, audiobook
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]]> 387749 620 Lew Wallace 1934648205 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.03 1880
author: Lew Wallace
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1880
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read, audiobook
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]]> 12505 667 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0679642420 Benedict 0 to-read 4.22 1869
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1869
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 5695 0679734511. (ISBN13: 9780679734512)

Inspired by the true story of a political murder that horrified Russians in 1869, Fyodor Dostoevsky conceived of Demons as a "novel-pamphlet" in which he would say everything about the plague of materialist ideology that he saw infecting his native land. What emerged was a prophetic and ferociously funny masterpiece of ideology and murder in pre-revolutionary Russia.]]> 733 Fyodor Dostoevsky Benedict 0 to-read 4.31 1872
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1872
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28381 Dead Souls, Russia's first major novel, is one of the most unusual works of nineteenth-century fiction and a devastating satire on social hypocrisy.

In his introduction to this new translation, Robert A. Maguire discusses Gogol's life and literary career, his depiction of Russian society, and the language and narrative techniques employed in Dead Souls. This edition also includes a chronology, further reading, appendices, a glossary, map and notes.]]> 464 Nikolai Gogol 0140448071 Benedict 0 to-read 4.00 1842
author: Nikolai Gogol
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1842
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
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]]> 117833 The first complete, annotated English Translation of Mikhail Bulgakov's comic masterpiece.

An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is recognized as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of the common Russian speech.

One hot spring, the devil arrives in Moscow, accompanied by a retinue that includes a beautiful naked witch and an immense talking black cat with a fondness for chess and vodka. The visitors quickly wreak havoc in a city that refuses to believe in either God or Satan. But they also bring peace to two unhappy Muscovites: one is the Master, a writer pilloried for daring to write a novel about Christ and Pontius Pilate; the other is Margarita, who loves the Master so deeply that she is willing literally to go to hell for him. What ensues is a novel of inexhaustible energy, humor, and philosophical depth, a work whose nuances emerge for the first time in Diana Burgin's and Katherine Tiernan O'Connor's splendid English version.]]> 372 Mikhail Bulgakov 0679760806 Benedict 0 to-read 4.31 1967
author: Mikhail Bulgakov
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1967
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/01
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]]> 30597
The novel has been described as a key text in French literature[1] and has been adapted for film over a dozen times, in addition to numerous television and stage adaptations, such as a 1923 silent film with Lon Chaney, a 1939 sound film with Charles Laughton, and a 1996 Disney animated film with Tom Hulce (both as Quasimodo).

The novel sought to preserve values of French culture in a time period of great change, which resulted in the destruction of many French Gothic structures. The novel made Notre-Dame de Paris a national icon and served as a catalyst for renewed interest in the restoration of Gothic form.]]> 510 Victor Hugo 0451527887 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.01 1831
author: Victor Hugo
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1831
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: to-read, audiobook
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]]> 2932658 256 Caroline Winterer 0801867991 Benedict 0 to-read 3.90 2001
author: Caroline Winterer
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 103086 96 Rudyard Kipling 0976140705 Benedict 3 3.67 1888
author: Rudyard Kipling
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1888
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
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]]> 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Benedict 2 essential-25 3.93 1925
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: essential-25
review:
Works much better as a drama than any allegory but still nothing really stands out. Not wrong in its cynical conclusions of modernity and wealth but nothing thought-provoking. Unfortunately the highlights are pretty random, like some great humor in the sea of dry prose, plus the fiery drama of Chapter VII comes and leaves quickly. Overall just serviceable in every aspect.
]]> 8939893 10 Flannery O'Connor 1441753796 Benedict 5 4.06 1965
author: Flannery O'Connor
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/08/09
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]]> 87669
“None of these by itself �� has a crucial significance in the spiritual makeup of contemporary man; but each one in its own way typifies the striving of men today to find a new spiritual path, distinct from the Christianity of yesterday, and the sum of them together reveals a frightening unity of purpose whose final end seems just now to be looming above the horizon.��

–Fr. Seraphim Rose

This work is a concise and unequivocal Orthodox statement on contemporary trends; its urgent message rings loud and clear. Viewed from the foundation of patristic teaching, many of the spiritual movements of today are seen to be spiritual deceptions which have existed since the beginning of the Church—and not achievements of a “new religious consciousness.�� Addressing soberly and directly the trends of pseudo-spirituality which appear enticing today, ORTHODOXY AND THE RELIGION OF THE FUTURE provides a beacon of discernment in these times of widespread deception.

ORTHODOXY AND THE RELIGION OF THE FUTURE examines a broad spectrum of issues facing modern Christians—each from the perspective of the early Church Fathers. As the “New Age�� is becoming a household concept and is moving into wider acceptance by mainstream society, the “new religious consciousness�� can be seen progressing precisely along the lines described by the late Fr. Seraphim. Included in this edition is an epilogue that chronicles the signs of the religion of the future that have made their appearance since this book was first published.]]> 242 Seraphim Rose 188790400X Benedict 0 to-read 4.31 1983
author: Seraphim Rose
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1983
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> 15730101 The Call of Cthulhu is a harrowing tale of the weakness of the human mind when confronted by powers and intelligences from beyond our world.]]> 43 H.P. Lovecraft Benedict 0 to-read, iron-maiden 3.97 1928
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1928
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, iron-maiden
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]]> 164154 334 Walter M. Miller Jr. 0060892994 Benedict 0 to-read 3.99 1959
author: Walter M. Miller Jr.
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1959
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11500294
Before the Protestant Reformation, Western Christianity was an institutionalized worldview laden with expectations of security for earthly societies and hopes of eternal salvation for individuals. The Reformation's protagonists sought to advance the realization of this vision, not disrupt it. But a complex web of rejections, retentions, and transformations of medieval Christianity gradually replaced the religious fabric that bound societies together in the West. Today, what we are left with are fragments: intellectual disagreements that splinter into ever finer fractals of specialized discourse; a notion that modern science—as the source of all truth—necessarily undermines religious belief; a pervasive resort to a therapeutic vision of religion; a set of smuggled moral values with which we try to fertilize a sterile liberalism; and the institutionalized assumption that only secular universities can pursue knowledge.

The Unintended Reformation asks what propelled the West into this trajectory of pluralism and polarization, and finds answers deep in our medieval Christian past.]]> 539 Brad S. Gregory 0674045637 Benedict 0 to-read 4.02 2012
author: Brad S. Gregory
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 13006 Oxford School Shakespeare has become the preferred introduction to the literary legacy of the greatest playwright in the English language. This exclusive collection of the Bard's best works has been designed specifically for readers new to Shakespeare's rich literary legacy. Each play is
presented complete and unabridged, in large print. Every book is well illustrated, and starts with a commentary and character summary. Scene synopses and character summaries clarify confusing plots, while incisive essays explore the historical context and Shakespeare's sources. Each book ends with a complete list of Shakespeare's plays and a brief chronology of the Bard's life. The detailed explanatory notes are written clearly and positioned right next to the text--no more squinting at microscopic footnotes or flipping pages back and forth in search of endnotes!

The new edition of the series features new covers and new illustrations, including both new drawings and photos from recent productions of Shakespeare's plays around the globe. In addition, the notes and the introductory material have been completely revised in line with new research and in order to
make them clearer and more accessible. Finally, the entire text has been redesigned and reset to enhance readability. The new edition achieves the feat of unprecedented clarity of presentation without any cuts to the original text or the detailed explanations.]]> 175 William Shakespeare 0198320272 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.69 1599
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1599
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
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]]> 1625 Twelfth Night plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian; caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia—only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.]]> 272 William Shakespeare 0743482778 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.97 1602
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1602
rating: 0
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]]> 12957 Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare includes two quite different stories of romantic love. Hero and Claudio fall in love almost at first sight, but an outsider, Don John, strikes out at their happiness. Beatrice and Benedick are kept apart by pride and mutual antagonism until others decide to play Cupid.]]> 249 William Shakespeare Benedict 0 to-read, play 4.06 1598
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1598
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: to-read, play
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]]> 12985
Each edition includes:
�� Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

�� Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

�� Scene-by-scene plot summaries

�� A key to famous lines and phrases

�� An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

�� An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

�� Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books]]> 218 William Shakespeare Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.78 1611
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1611
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: to-read, play
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]]> 1591 Lysistrata a bawdy comedy without peer in the history of theatre.]]> 132 Aristophanes 0872206033 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.87 -423
author: Aristophanes
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.87
book published: -423
rating: 0
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]]> 148313 144 Sophocles 0195135040 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.76 -401
author: Sophocles
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.76
book published: -401
rating: 0
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]]> 12938
The play tells us about families struggling between greed and cruelty, on the one hand, and support and consolation, on the other. Emotions are extreme, magnified to gigantic proportions. We also see old age portrayed in all its vulnerability, pride, and, perhaps, wisdom—one reason this most devastating of Shakespeare’s tragedies is also perhaps his most moving.

The authoritative edition of King Lear from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:

-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play

-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

-Scene-by-scene plot summaries

-A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases

-An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language

-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books

-An annotated guide to further reading

Essay by Susan Snyder

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.]]> 339 William Shakespeare Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.91 1605
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1605
rating: 0
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]]> 1622 298 William Shakespeare 0743477545 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.95 1595
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1595
rating: 0
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]]> 18135 Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare creates a violent world, in which two young people fall in love. It is not simply that their families disapprove; the Montagues and the Capulets are engaged in a blood feud.

In this death-filled setting, the movement from love at first sight to the lovers�� final union in death seems almost inevitable. And yet, this play set in an extraordinary world has become the quintessential story of young love. In part because of its exquisite language, it is easy to respond as if it were about all young lovers.]]> 281 William Shakespeare 0743477111 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.74 1597
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1597
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
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]]> 92303
Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Ernest while Algernon has also posed as Ernest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend the "rivals" to fight for Ernest's undivided attention and the "Ernests" to claim their beloveds pandemonium breaks loose. Only a senile nursemaid and an old, discarded hand-bag can save the day!

This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Edition includes a glossary and reader's notes to help the modern reader appreciate Wilde's wry wit and elaborate plot twists.]]> 89 Oscar Wilde 158049580X Benedict 0 play, to-read 4.17 1895
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1895
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: play, to-read
review:

]]> 8852
This shocking tragedy - a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake - is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces.]]> 249 William Shakespeare 0743477103 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.90 1623
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1623
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: to-read, play
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]]> 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Benedict 0 to-read, play 4.02 1601
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: to-read, play
review:

]]> 17250
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, "Political opposition... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence."

WIth an introduction by Christopher Bigsby.
(back cover)]]> 143 Arthur Miller 0142437336 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.60 1953
author: Arthur Miller
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1953
rating: 0
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]]> 12996 319 William Shakespeare Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.89 1603
author: William Shakespeare
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1603
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/19
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]]> 12220 Death of a Salesman and The Crucible), and Williams�� essay “The World I Live In.��

It is a very short list of 20th-century American plays that continue to have the same power and impact as when they first appeared��57 years after its Broadway premiere, Tennessee Williams�� A Streetcar Named Desire is one of those plays. The story famously recounts how the faded and promiscuous Blanche DuBois is pushed over the edge by her sexy and brutal brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Streetcar launched the careers of Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden, and solidified the position of Tennessee Williams as one of the most important young playwrights of his generation, as well as that of Elia Kazan as the greatest American stage director of the ��40s and ��50s.]]> 107 Tennessee Williams 0822210894 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.98 1947
author: Tennessee Williams
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1947
rating: 0
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]]> 12898 'For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to life. He don't put a bolt to a nut, he don't tell you the law or give you medicine. He's a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.'

Willy Loman has been a salesman for 34 years. At 60, he is cast aside, his usefulness now exhausted. With no future to dream about he must face the crushing disappointments of his past. He takes one final brave action, but is he heroic at last?, or a self-deluding fool?]]> 144 Arthur Miller 0435233076 Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.57 1949
author: Arthur Miller
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1949
rating: 0
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shelves: to-read, play
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]]> 17716 109 Samuel Beckett Benedict 0 to-read, play 3.85 1951
author: Samuel Beckett
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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shelves: to-read, play
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]]> 10572
It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Here is the second volume in George R.R. Martin magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R.R. Martin stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.]]> 1009 George R.R. Martin 0553381695 Benedict 3 4.42 1998
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
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]]> 332613 9780451163967

Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy �� the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.]]> 325 Ken Kesey Benedict 0 to-read 4.20 1962
author: Ken Kesey
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1962
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 33 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.]]> 1216 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618640150 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.52 1954
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1954
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
shelves: to-read, audiobook
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]]> 4406
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.]]> 601 John Steinbeck 0142000655 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.41 1952
author: John Steinbeck
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1952
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
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]]> 4934
This award-winning translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky remains true to the verbal inventiveness of Dostoevsky’s prose, preserving the multiple voices, the humor, and the surprising modernity of the original. It is an achievement worthy of Dostoevsky’s last and greatest novel.]]> 796 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0374528373 Benedict 0 4.36 1880
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1880
rating: 0
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]]> 15823480 Anna Karenina provides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in all of literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.]]> 964 Leo Tolstoy 0345803922 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.11 1878
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 0
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]]> 656
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.

As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.


Tolstoy gave his personal approval to this translation, published here in a new single volume edition, which includes an introduction by Henry Gifford, and Tolstoy's important essay `Some Words about War and Peace'.]]> 1392 Leo Tolstoy 0192833987 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.14 1869
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1869
rating: 0
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]]> 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]> 658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Benedict 0 4.33 1965
author: Frank Herbert
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
shelves: iron-maiden, essential-25, to-read, audiobook
review:

]]> 5043 Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

For the TV tie-in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition
]]> 976 Ken Follett 045122213X Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.34 1989
author: Ken Follett
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
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]]> 18405 1037 Margaret Mitchell 0446365386 Benedict 0 4.30 1936
author: Margaret Mitchell
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1936
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
shelves: essential-25, to-read, audiobook
review:

]]> 7126 The epic tale of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge, in its definitive translation

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to use the treasure to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. Dumas�� epic tale of suffering and retribution, inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was a huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s.

Translated with an Introduction by Robin Buss

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here]]> 1276 Alexandre Dumas 0140449264 Benedict 0 to-read, audiobook 4.29 1846
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1846
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
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]]> 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Benedict 0 4.19 1862
author: Victor Hugo
name: Benedict
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 0
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shelves: to-read, essential-25, audiobook
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]]> 153747 "It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it."

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

This edition of Moby-Dick, which reproduces the definitive text of the novel, includes invaluable explanatory notes, along with maps, illustrations, and a glossary of nautical terms.]]> 720 Herman Melville 0142437247 Benedict 0 3.53 1851
author: Herman Melville
name: Benedict
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1851
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/29
shelves: essential-25, to-read, classical-education
review:

]]>