Rome

March 22, 2021 Peace and Good, I am still in Rome (for a little more than another week). The weather is slowly warming up. Spring hasn't quite arrived yet, but it is around the corner. Rome is considered to be in a red zone for covid. Most people are not allowed on the street. This will probably last at least until Easter. I finished my quarantine, and now I and the definitory are in retreat. We have a Sister from Padua preaching to us through zoom. She is very good, and she is speaking about Francis' intuitions from the two rules of 1221 and 1223 as well as the writings of St. Anthony. We finish the retreat on Wednesday, and then Friday we begin our definitory. I finished some reading: The Preying Mantis Bride by Dean Koontz This is a long (84 sessions) study of American Literature from its earliest moments to the present (the last book treated is Beloved by Toni Morrison). At times the professor is very insightful, at other times he is selling his own unusual theories on certain works. Rather than say that the whole series of lectures is good, I would have to say that it is spotty at best. Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky These are the musings of a most misanthropic man, dealing with some of his many reasons for hating both himself and the rest of humanity. It is not an especially enjoyable book, but it is good to see the world through this character’s point of view. A Spy by Nature By Charles Cumming This the story of a young British man whose career is going nowhere fast. He is interviewed by the secret services, but not hired. He then begins to work for a British oil company with interests in the Caspian Sea, handing on secrets of a group of Americans who are sponsored by the CIA, in a type of sting operation. Jeffery Deaver by Audible Interviews Deaver is one of my favorite mystery authors, especially with the Lincoln Rhyme series, and this interview was actually quite informative on the development of this particular character. I enjoyed Deaver’s insights, especially in proposing a hero who is basically helpless (being a quadriplegic) and who must depend upon the agility of his assistants. In the Heart of the Fire by Dean Koontz This is the first of a six part series of novellas on a character named Nameless who travels around to right horrible wrongs which the legal system cannot handle. In this first book, he must stop a sheriff whose family basically owns the country and who is practicing murderous pedophilia. In spite of the fact that the book is relatively short, Koontz is an expert at character development, and by the end of the book one is a fan of this series. The Fall of Richard Nixon by Tom Brokow This is a relatively short account of Tom Brokow’s career during the fall of Richard Nixon. I originally thought it would center more on Nixon, but it definitely is not that. It deals much, much more with Brokow (which is not bad, but not quite what I thought it would be). Keep safe, fr. Jude