Home2023-10-23T03:22:07-05:00
November/December issue: Beauteous Truth

November/December issue: Beauteous Truth

Sample Content from Our Latest Issue Table of Contents Sample Article Love, Reason and Imagination: Samuel Schirra Interviews Joseph Pearce...
Read More
July/August Issue: Faith and Fantasy: Chesterton, Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling and Other Tellers of Tall Tales
May / June Issue — The Mere Genius of C. S. Lewis

May / June Issue — The Mere Genius of C. S. Lewis

Sample Content from Our Latest Issue Table of Contents Sample Article The Great Divorce: A Novel Answer to an Immodest...
Read More

Raising a Glass to Healthy Drinking

As we enter the holiday season, let's follow the advice of G. K. Chesterton and raise a healthy glass to...
Read More

The Best and Worst of Centuries

Which is the greatest century in the history of Christendom? The Best and Worst of Centuries - Joseph Pearce (jpearce.co)
Read More

Charles Dickens and Human Dignity

Joseph Pearce sees the secret of Dickens' success in his successful defence of the dignity of the human person... Charles Dickens and...
Read More

The St. Austin Review

The St. Austin Review (StAR) is an international journal of Catholic culture, literature, and ideas. In its pages, printed every two months, some of the brightest and most vigorous minds around meet to explore the people, ideas, movements, and events that shape and misshape our world.

Beauteous Truth: Love, Reason and Imagination

Sample Article Samuel Schirra Interviews Joseph Pearce

The following is from two interviews between Mr. Schirra and Mr. Pearce about Mr. Pearce’s philosophy of reading, writing, and analyzing literature, as well as his own experiences as a writer. An abridged version of this interview was first published in Christendom College’s Spring 2023 edition of In Corde.

PART I: ON READING

SS: Mr. Pearce, what is the purpose of reading literature?

JP: The humanities show us our humanity. Literature shows us who we are in our relations with our neighbours, including our closest neighbour, God Himself. Literature reflects the three facets of the essence of humanity: we are homo viator, the pilgrim on the quest for heaven; we are homo superbus, the proud man who refuses the quest; and we are anthropos, the man who looks up in wonder at the beauty of the cosmos. We are on a journey, or we refuse the journey, which makes our lives a story ofa journey taken or a journey forsaken. Our lives are a life-story. We are also called to see the goodness, truth and beauty of Creation, looking in wonder at God’s Presence in His creation. The journey is reflected in narrative literature; the wonder in lyrical literature, generally speaking. And, of course, narrative literature has been sanctified by God Himself in salvation history, which is His story of salvation, and in the fictional narratives that Jesus tells us in the form of parables.

The Ink Desk Blog

Check Them Out

St. Austin Review Issues

Check out our other issues here and see what you're missing!
Check Them Out

More From The Ink Desk Blog

2411, 2023

Humanism and Inhumanity

November 24th, 2023|0 Comments

Joseph Pearce, Father Fessio and Vivian Dudro discuss the drama and the tragedy of atheist humanism... Humanism and Inhumanity - Joseph Pearce (jpearce.co)

1911, 2023

What’s New in the Inner Sanctum

November 19th, 2023|0 Comments

Joseph Pearce introduces the new, exclusive content on the Inner Sanctum of his personal website, including a new video lecture series on Tolkien's philosophy of myth and new weekly audio podcasts... What's New in the Inner Sanctum [...]

Get Involved

Support St. Austin Review

To be truly effective, we need the help from clergy and laity everywhere. Help us help the next generation of Catholics to grow up educated in Catholic truth, beauty, and goodness. Please consider a one-time or continuing, tax-deductible gift to StAR!
Get Involved
Go to Top