On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books

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Overview

Publishers Weekly starred review
A Best Book of 2018 in Religion,
Publishers Weekly

Reading great literature well has the power to cultivate virtue, says acclaimed author Karen Swallow Prior. In this book, she takes readers on a guided tour through works of great literature both ancient and modern, exploring twelve virtues that philosophers and theologians throughout history have identified as most essential for good character and the good life.

Covering authors from Henry Fielding to Cormac McCarthy, Jane Austen to George Saunders, and Flannery O'Connor to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Prior explores some of the most compelling universal themes found in the pages of classic books, helping readers learn to love life, literature, and God through their encounters with great writing. The book includes end-of-chapter reflection questions geared toward book club discussions, original artwork throughout, and a foreword by Leland Ryken. The hardcover edition was named a Best Book of 2018 in Religion by Publishers Weekly.

"[A] lively treatise on building character through books.'"—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781587435836
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Publication date: 02/01/2022
Pages: 272
Sales rank: 191,206
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karen Swallow Prior (PhD, SUNY Buffalo) is research professor of English and Christianity & Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. She is the author of Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me and Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist. Prior has written for Christianity Today, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, First Things, Vox, Think Christian, and The Gospel Coalition. She is a senior fellow with the Trinity Forum and a member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Humane Society of the United States.

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword by Leland Ryken
Introduction: Read Well, Live Well
Part One: The Cardinal Virtues
1. Prudence: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
2. Temperance: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Justice: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
4. Courage: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Part Two: The Theological Virtues
5. Faith: Silence by Shusaku Endo
6. Hope: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
7. Love: The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
Part Three: The Heavenly Virtues
8. Chastity: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
9. Diligence: Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
10. Patience: Persuasion by Jane Austen
11. Kindness: "Tenth of December" by George Saunders
12. Humility: "Revelation" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" by Flannery O'Connor
Discussion Questions
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