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Zina Gomez-Liss's avatar

Joel, I really enjoyed your analysis here about Latour, a character I wish I could see more of in our current times. I like how you say that he is "principled but measured" while Vaillant is more passionate (he is also one of my favorite literary characters). And both men seem to need the other and are sustained by *philia* -- walking the difficult road of the missionary priesthood as brothers. Cather's ability to depict this love makes the death scene more poignant.

Death Comes for the Archbishop is one of my rotating Lenten reads. For a while I had three, but now there are four. The others are The Power and the Glory, Laurus, and the book I am reading now, A Lesson Before Dying. Cather's book is a deeply reflective portrayal of Roman Catholicism during a specific timeframe in American history when the Southwest was undergoing a dramatic transformation. So beautiful. It is always lovely to revisit it, and it is wonderful to meet others who appreciate the novel as well!

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Ruth Gaskovski's avatar

This book is on my "to read" list and I want to know absolutely nothing about it before digging in. So I'll save this post for later and see what your insights were then :)

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