Church, Interrupted – Havoc & Hope: The Tender Revolt of Pope Francis by John Cornwell (Chronicle Prism, £21.99/€25.00) You know you are in the hands of a master author and story-teller when you open a book by John Cornwell. Readers may be familiar with his best-seller A Thief in the Night: the Death of John Paul I (1989),…
The World of Books By the books editor This year France is marking, in various ways and styles, the bicentenary of the death of Napoléon Bonaparte. In the cause of heritage preservation the emperor has joined the Bourbons as part of the great panoply of French culture. The current head of the family, international investment banker Jean-Christophe,…
The Messenger Advent Booklet 2021: reflections on the Weekday Reading by Donal Neary SJ (Messenger Publications, €4.95/£4.50) The author opens his little seasonal booklet with the observation that “Advent is the annual season of waiting”. This year, however, the notion of waiting has taken on an even heavier weight of expectation: will the pandemic die away,…
For some reason, coincidence or God-incidence, the theme of vocation has featured a few times in the media this week. 75 Years in Japan (RTÉ One, Thursday) was one of the most marvellously inspiring and moving programmes I’ve seen this year. This documentary told the story of Jennie O’Sullivan who became Sr Paschal when she…
Remembering this year is the fiftieth anniversary of Stravinsky’s death, I wrote about him in this column of September 2 reaching his Symphony in C of 1940 when he had settled in America. This followed the death of his first wife Katya and marriage in March 1940 to extrovert artist and divorcee Vera Sudeykina. They…
The Innocence of Pontius Pilate. How the Roman trial of Jesus shaped history by David Lloyd Dusenbury (Hurst and Company, £25.00/€30.00) Frank Litton Stories we are told can win or lose wars. The Taliban’s story — David vs Goliath in a ‘holy’ war — proved more telling than the United States’ and its allies’ story of a nation…
The exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the painter Jack B. Yeats is one which everyone at all interested in Irish art – or indeed Irish culture in general – will want to see. The catalogue to accompany the show is also one to have.…
Voices from the Desert. The Lost Legacy of the Skelligs by Hugh MacMahon (Columba Books. €14.99/£12.99) Skellig Michael is one of the most famous heritage sites in Ireland, which the Office of Public Works has made great effort to render more accessible to visitors. Having appeared in one of the segments of the Star Wars series…
This seems to be women’s month. Annette is a musical romance about a couple who have a ‘puppet’ daughter with an unusual gift – she can sing in her mother’s voice. Rose Plays Julie has a veterinary student looking for the mother who put her up for adoption years ago. Gunpowder Milkshake features three generations…
Last week I mentioned near death experiences in the context of Joe Duffy’s interview with Jane Seymour. I never know what to make of these accounts – are they hallucinations resulting from medication or real glimpses of the afterlife? Calls That item prompted calls to Liveline (RTÉ Radio One, Tuesday) from listeners who had similar…
Peter Costello
Brendan O’Regan
Aubrey Malone