Following the Pink Ribbon Path by Mary Redmond Ussher (Columba Books, €14.99) This book reminded me in a way of Markings, Dag Hammarskjöld’s only book. Hammarskjöld described his book as “a sort of White Book concerning my talks with myself – and with God”. Both have the same commonplace book structure of the author’s thoughts mingled with…
Jamie Cooks Italy by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph / Penguin, £26.00) Jamie Oliver is perhaps one of the most popular TV chefs of the moment. But he has moved from the costly ingredients and exotic notions to helping ordinary families make the most of what they can afford to cook at home, or have to eat at…
The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World by Bart D. Ehrman (One World, £20.00) Recently we have had several histories of early and medieval Christianity written from a very traditional Catholic point of view. These have in their way been very reassuring, but perhaps only by passing over darker passages in the…
Curious Creatures: Frans Post & Brazil exhibition curated by Niamh MacNally, National Gallery of Ireland, continues to December 9, 2018 Curious Creatures: Frans Post & Brazil catalogue edited by Niamh MacNally (NGI, €9.95) Frans Post: Animals in Brazil by Alexander de Bruin (Riks Museum, Amsterdam, €19.95) When Europeans first intruded into South America their view…
The Family is Good News: Selections from Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) by Pope Francis, prepared for the Council for Marriage and the Family of the Irish Episcopal Conference (Veritas, €9.99) The Beatitudes of Pope Francis: A Manifesto for the Modern Christian by Aidan Donaldson (Veritas, €7.99) These two books inspired by Pope Francis provide the ordinary reader with…
The World of Books by the Books Editor In recent years a new sort of library movement has got under way across Europe, which promises well, because it is created and run by ordinary people and depends on neither commerce nor the state to function. This is the little library movement. I first came…
A Walking Tour of Dublin Churches by Liam C. Martin (Veritas, €7.99) Artist Liam C. Martin was a very popular delineator of Dublin and other places, who died in1998. It is nice to see his little book back in print, for such a thing is much needed. Also available is a new Sightseeing Map of Dublin’s…
The Book of Kells: Official Guide by Bernard Meehan (Thames & Hudson, £12.95) Quite aside from all the changes that have overtaken Christianity in Ireland in recent decades, everyone still has to admit that the art of Early Christian Ireland – exemplified by the Ardagh Chalice, the Cross of Cong, the Derrynaflan hoard, and above all…
To Love and to be Loved by Desmond O’Donnell (Dominican Publications, €15.00) The many people coming to Dublin next week will all have in mind two themes which the Pope Francis has identified as important not just for all Catholics, but for every human being, indeed for all life on earth. These are the themes of the…
The World of Books by the Books Editor These days papal visits, such as Pope Francis will make to Ireland next week, are taken for granted. They have become commonplace, but in the perspective of the two thousand years of history they are a very recent development. Indeed, there is a great need for…