Notre Dame '55 Book Club

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Women Who Make the World Worse : and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports

Ed Machuga

Women who make the world
worse by Kate O'Beirne. This is not a book against
women but against the feminists who havbe done a lot
of damage. Its a no holds barred book. Anyway for the
it provides good reading.

John Paul the Great : Remembering a Spiritual Father

Ed Machuga

John Paul II the great by Peggy Noonan.She is a
great writer.

A Thread Across the Ocean

Jerry Hughes

"A Thread Across the Ocean"
The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable
by John Steele Gordon
(Walker Publishing, 2002)
...the frustration and perserverance in laying the first cable across the ocean.

Empire Express

Jerry Hughes

"Empire Express"
Building the Transcontinental Railroad
by David Bain
(Viking Press, 1999)
...the absolutely best book on this stupendous achievement.

One Palestine, Complete

Jerry Hughes

"One Palestine, Complete"
Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate
by Tom Segev
(Henry Holt, 1999)
...an intriguing background on the formation of Israel.

The Myth of Hitler's Pope

Jerry Hughes

"The Myth of Hitler's Pope"
How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews From the Nazis
by Rabbi David G. Dalin
(Regnery, 2005)
...an answer to the popular trashing of Pius' WWII actions.

Racing the Enemy

Jerry Hughes

"Racing the Enemy"
Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan
by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
(Harvard University Press, 2005)
...the intrigues and power plays nearing the end of WW II.

The Case for Democracy

Jerry Hughes

"The Case for Democracy"
The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror
by Natan Sharansky
(Public Affairs, 2004)
...the impact of an idea on the world's contentions.

Mark Twain

Jerry Hughes

"Mark Twain"
A Life
by Ron Powers
(Free Press, 2005)
...our premier American writer, with all his warts.

Memoirs of a Chaplain Life

Jerry Hughes

"Memoirs of a Chaplain Life"
Three Years with the Irish Brigade in the Army of the Potomac
by William Corby, CSC
(Fordham University Press, 1992)
...Father Corby's testament to the heroism and vitality of the military chaplaincy

The People's Tycoon

Jerry Hughes

"The People's Tycoon"
Henry Ford & the American Century
by Steven Watts
(Knopf, 2005)
...a pioneer and shaper of our culture, for good and ill

The Liberation of the Laity

Jerry Hughes

"The Liberation of the Laity"
In Search of an Accountable Church
by Paul Lakeland
(Continuum, 2002)
...pressing for a fuller realization of the promise of Vatican II

The Spirit of the Liturgy

Jerry Hughes

"The Spirit of the Liturgy"
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
(Ignatius Press, 2000)
...for those seeking an understanding of Pope Benedict XVI's views on centrality in the liturgy.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

75 Readings - A Freshman Anthology

Dick Callahan

Right now I'm immersed in two books simultaneously, both of which are worthwhile reading - for me, anyway.

The second is "75 Readings - A Freshman Anthology", which offers a selection of writings that I somehow missed out on reading earlier in life, on a range of subjects by a wide variety of authors, from Plato to H. L. Mencken to Woody Allen.

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide

Dick Callahan

Right now I'm immersed in two books simultaneously, both of which are worthwhile reading - for me, anyway.

The first is "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power, which details how various U. S. administrations have chosen to ignore genocides - from the Turks against the Armenians in 1915 through the Holocaust and right up to the present day - for "practical" political considerations.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

JACQUES & RAISSA MARITAIN: BEGGARS FOR HEAVEN

Frank Tonini

The book I suggested to Paul who got the ball rolling with this "book club" idea, is out of print but used copies can be found at Amazon, AbeBooks or Alibris.

However, I should have mentioned that Bernard Doering translated an excellent biography of Maritain which was published by the Notre Dame Press last Oct. 2006. The title is: JACQUES & RAISSA MARITAIN: BEGGARS FOR HEAVEN, and the author is Jean - Luc Barre. When the book was published in France (1996) it won the Grand Prize for Litereature of the French Academy and the Grand Prize for Catholic Litereature. In short, a great book and one that O'Malley followers should add to their libraries.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

The Shadow of the Wind

Dan Healy

This is a wonderful novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. It is a mystery and a great love story. It is one I will probably read again. There is a used-book store here in Houston that brings back the images of The Cemetary of Forgotten Books. It is a wonderful place to browse.

Zafon is a screen writer and lives in Los Angeles. He is originally from Barcelona. He was here on a book tour and we got to hear him. No one edits his books. He says he spends a lot of time selecting the wording of each sentence and does not want anyone messing it up. The original is in Spanish. He apparently works very will with the translator Lucia Graves.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

The Leopard

Bob Haidinger

My most recently read book was The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa.

Many "Domers" are visiting Italy these days . . . they might find it interesting to know how the country came about.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Excavating Jesus

Jack Reed

EXCAVATING JESUS
John Dominic Crossan (Loyola Univ/Chicago)
Jonathan L. Reed (Archaeologist)
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. (2001)
ISBN 0-06-061633-4

This is an extemely interesting book and a good read.

The Secret History of the Iraq War

Geno Marquette

This is not a political finger pointer. If you want a book blaming the President or the administration this is not for you.

The author was the Director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and unconventional warfare for over 10 years. It is an eye opener. (Item 27,000 Iranian Special Force Troops infiltrating Iraq during the early months of the second Iraq War.)

This book is slow reading but a must for anyone who wants to open their mouth and velk loudly about the situation in Iraq.

Boyd

Geno Marquette

Boyd. (Robert Coram, Little Brown and Co.) The true story of the father of the F-16 and F-16. He was known as 40 second Boyd while at Nellis AFB teaching fighter tactics. (It took a maximum of 40 seconds to defeat any opponent in air to air combat.

The important part of the book is revealing just how the "Pentagon" works in developing multi million dollar weapons and systems. It is frightening.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

PG Wodehouse, A Life

Jac Fitz-enz

I just finished PG Wodehouse, A Life, by Robert McCrum. It is a treasure for P.G. fans.

Mother Angelica

Ed Machuga


I think a good book to read would be the life of
Mother Angelica, the feisty Italian nun from Canton
Ohio who took 200 dollars to start a new convent in
Birmingham and proceeded to build the largest Catholic
television network known as EWTN. The trials she went
thru are something to read. The author is Raymond
Arroyo.

Red Star Rogue

Jim Gulde

RED STAR ROGUE by Kenneth Sewell w/Clint Richmond.
A little known historical event of 1968 that in many ways did in fact change the course of history.

The man behind the scene was Mikhail Suslov, the ardent communist idealogue and ultimate insider; whom my wife and I, with special state department approval, met in 1972 in Moscow- (the height of the cold war).

Monday, May 01, 2006

Freakonomics

Tom Magill

The Freakonomics book takes a crack at a variety of held positions......e.g. Education and ethnics; correlations between name choices and life success; Ilegal drug organizations in Chicago that sound like a lecture in management...Some interesting data........Draw a your own conclusions...

Seven Story Mountain

Cy Lindemann

Just finished re-reading " The Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton." Good stuff.

The World is Flat

John Hester

The most interesting and fascinating book I have recently read is The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It makes you concerned about the future for our children and grandchildren.

Tom Magill

The World is Flat is NY Times columnist, Thomas Friedman reminding us (as he often does in his columns) that perhaps the 21st century will be the province of Asia. England had the 19th, US the 20th and now it may be someone else's turn.

He talks a lot about world economic issues and American geopolitical "strategy."

Rediscovering Catholicism

Paul Fullmer

I'll toss in Matthew Kelly's Rediscovering Catholicism (Beacon Publishing, 2002).

Jacques Maritain and the French Catholic Intellectuals

Frank Tonini

Bernard Doering's (professor emeritus at ND) book, Jacques Maritain and the French Catholic Intellectuals (ND Press, 1983). Frank adds, "For those of us who took Frank O'Malley's "Modern Catholic Writers" course, this is a first-rate follow-on. I hope I'm not being too heavy."