This month we lead with Bob Dylan, carrying both a reflection by Michael Kirke on the famous American musician’s 2022 reflections on music The Philosophy of Modern Song, as well as an analysis of the recently released biopic about Dylan, A Complete Unknown. “Dylan, as always, is fearless”, says Michael Kirke – fearless in his critique of “a society which has side-lined God in its reading of the human condition”, exemplified for example, in the cynical divorce industry in the USA. Meanwhile Alex Taylor of Word on Fire tells us that “The new Dylan biopic,… should also intrigue fellow Catholics interested in thinking about art, tradition, …… which have ramifications for our thinking not only about twentieth-century music but also about the current state of the Church.”
James Bradshaw reviews the most recent work by US historian Sean McMeekin, To Overthrow the World: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism, in which the author traces the bloody trajectory of Communism since its inception in the eighteenth century. A timely read given the current tribulations of that child of Communism: Wokeism.
We also carry a review of the Pope’s recently published autobiography, though given how much this work appears to be the work of its ghost-writer and how much is selected from already existing published material, it is hard to know if “autobiography” is a correct subtitle for the book.
Gerard Scullion reviews Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law by Neil Gorsuch and his co-author Janie Nitze. It is surprising to see a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States arguing that there is too much law, but this review suggests he may well be right. It would be interesting to see to what extent the same is true here in Ireland.
Given that recently here in Ireland, St Brigid (not the Swedish St Bridget), has been honoured with a State bank holiday around the time of her feast day on 1st February, Fr James Hurley looks back at two recent lives of St Brigid.
Finally Pat Hanratty reviews what looks like a charming book of advice for grandfathers from a man who having thirty-eight grandchildren knows a bit about the subject.
Happy reading!