A Dreadful Joy Is Conjured

A Dreadful Joy Is Conjured

The Princess of All Lands by Russell Kirk. Arkham House, 1979. Hardcover, 238 pages. (Stories reprinted in Ancestral Shadows, ISI, 2004). Reviewed by Stephen Schmalhofer One unexpected benefit of moving from New York City to Connecticut is the recovery of October from...
A Most Hospitable Benedict Option

A Most Hospitable Benedict Option

Building the Benedict Option: A Guide to Gathering Two or Three Together in His Name by Leah Libresco. Ignatius, 2018. Paperback, 163 pages, $17. Reviewed by Gracy M. Olmstead Nobody was meant to be a loner. In the Garden of Eden, God said that it was “not good for...
Hope When There’s Nowhere to Hide

Hope When There’s Nowhere to Hide

A Quiet PLace Directed by John Krasinski. Paramount, 2018. Run time: 90 minutes. Reviewed by Ryan Shinkel Apocalypses are one way to get religious at the box office. End times unveil moral character as wheat from chaff: the hopeful sacrifice for a better future while...
The First Church of Cinema

The First Church of Cinema

By Jacob Bruggeman The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere—in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion, and in ourselves. No one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the beautiful, there is...
The Presence of the Counterkingdom

The Presence of the Counterkingdom

The Year of Our Lord 1943: Christian Humanism in an Age of Crisis by Alan Jacobs. Oxford University Press, 2018. Cloth, 280 pages, $30. Reviewed by Adam Schwartz John Henry Newman once dubbed the Christian Church a “counter-kingdom.” As the historical embodiment of...