Gary Scott

A Draw, July 15 2004

McCarthy admits up front, in his foreword, that both he and Waiss had one aim: to convert the other. That the book is published by an evangelical publishing house testifies to the fact that Waiss failed; that the book is not titled "Letters that Converted a Catholic Priest" testifies to the fact that McCarthy failed.

Who won the debate is more a question of readers' preconceptions than anything else. Catholics will be unconvinced by McCathy's arguments, and few Protestants will be moved by Waiss's somewhat bland presentation.

Of the two, McCarthy is much more aggressive, and in many ways, much more rational. But there is a mystical element in Catholicism that doesn't mix well with pure… Read more

A good afternoon read, May 27 2004

Salinger is the master of irreverent prose, and he uses that mastery perfect use in this book, a study on the nature of ego, knowledge, "establishment" (imagine that in a Salinger book?!), and religious piety, to name a few of the ideas and themes that get tossed around.

The setting and plot are simple: Salinger's Glass family returns, and we're given the dialog of three conversations and the entire contents of two letters -- that's it. But in that short space (and my edition of the book is only about 130 pages), Salinger manages to pack more than many writers can get into a book three times the size. He shows instead of telling.

This is a must of those who like Salinger's… Read more

A bit dry and distant, but an okay read, May 20 2004

The basis for Forester's "Passage to India," this late eighteenth century collection of letters shows an India in the ever-tightening grip of colonization and the naively racist mindset behind colonization in general.

The letter's author, Eliza Fay, is a young, newly wed, upper-middle class Englishwoman making and admittedly harrowing passage to India with her husband. The trip begins with a journey through France, then at war with England, followed by a passage through the Egyptian desert and, upon arrival on the Sub-continent, imprisonment by Hyder Ali, "Muslim ruler of Mysore and military commander who played an important part in the wars in southern India in the mid-18th century"… Read more