MAY 2025 READING LIST
John Thomson. Peculiar shaped Rocks on Kulangsu Island, Amoy, ca. 1869. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
TEACHING A STONE TO TALK: EXPEDITIONS AND ENCOUNTERS BY ANNIE DILLARD
This compelling collection of writings features Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Dillard exploring the natural world and human meaning. Departing from her more extensive, contemplative works, Dillard emphasizes capturing spiritual moments through vivid descriptions of interactions with plants, animals, stars, and beyond, spanning locations from Ecuador to Miami.
I had read A Writer’s Life by Annie Dillard and found her writing to be incredibly philosophical and thought-provoking. Although the writing had the same vivid imagery and Dillard’s ability to bring to life even the most trivial matter, I could not connect with Teaching A Stone To Talk. The book definitely read like a collection of essays; however, to me, it lacked the cohesion I was hoping for, with each essay building on or working with the others. I still enjoyed Dillard's writing, her reflections on nature, and her thoughts about life, but found it scattered.
John Frederick Peto. Mug, Book, Biscuits, and Match, 1893. National Gallery of Art
THE PROFESSOR’S HOUSE BY WILLA CATHER
Just before relocating to a more attractive new home, Professor Godfrey St. Peter sits in the well-used study of his old house. Surrounded by familiar, comforting objects from his past, he contemplates his life and loved ones—his wife Lillian, his daughters, and Tom Outland, his top student and former potential son-in-law. Mysterious and courageous—and a tragic victim of the Great War—Tom has long been an inspiration to the professor. However, he also left a challenging legacy that caused betrayal and division among the women he cared about most.
I stumbled across The Professor’s House as I was browsing the classics section of the local library. I had not read anything by Cather, but I was intrigued by the synopsis of Professor Godfrey St. Peter, a man attached to his old study in the attic of his house and about to move to a new residence surrounded by comfort. What follows are reflections on his connection to Tom Outland, one of his remarkable students and former son-in-law, and his adventures in the southwestern plains.
At first, I did not understand the connection between the professor and Tom Outland. Yes, he was a student and would have been his son-in-law if not for WWI. The story of the professor who didn't want to move didn’t seem to fit with Tom’s travel journals in the southwestern United States. They appeared like two completely different stories until everything came together in the end. The final pages revealing the professor’s longing for solitude and meaning were incredibly touching. I was deeply moved by Cather’s gentle tone, somewhat similar to Ishiguro’s, and the subtle way she made her characters meaningful. The need for solitude amid a wonderful life touched me deeply, and I felt as if someone had finally articulated the emotions I had long felt.
Intrigued by Cather’s writing, I looked up more of her books to see what else she had written. I discovered that she won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours in 1923. I'm not sure the plot will move me in the same way that this one has, but I have added it to my TBR list and will have to see if her writing in other books has the same eloquence.
Sōami (Japanese, d. 1525). Landscape, early 1500s. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art
SILENCE BY SHUSAKU ENDO
A powerful historical novel about two Portuguese Jesuit priests in the 1640s who traveled to distant Japan to help the brutally oppressed Japanese Christians and uncover the truth about their mentor, a famous teacher rumored to have renounced his faith. The entire book portrays the cruel regime of the shogun and his determination to eradicate the Christian faith from the country. The story is told through the perspective of Father Rodrigues, who is forced to make an impossible decision after facing severe religious persecution: abandon the people he has come to shepherd or denounce God.
Silence was one of the books I discovered to help me with my writing. I was searching for books that touched on faith without being preachy or agenda-driven. Although Silence was neither of those things, it was not exactly the kind of book I was looking for. It is more like a historical fiction novel, almost verging on non-fiction. Based on the historical Italian Giuseppe Chiara, the many letters and notes he had taken while he and his fellow priest were hidden in Japan. Yet Endō goes beyond mere retelling, portraying the reality of 17th-century Japan. If it was not enough that the leaders did not want the Christian faith on their shores, they also caused much of the poverty and humiliation that peasants had to suffer, bringing people low and subjecting them.
I read through the book quickly, partly because of Endō's magnificent writing, partly because the punishments were so horrific and cruel that I didn't want to stop reading, and partly to reach the inevitable conclusion: the death or denouncement of Father Rodrigues. The back-and-forth of his strengths and failings kept me turning pages, not knowing what would happen until the very end.
At first, the title didn’t resonate with me because I wondered what silence could mean, and then I read about it repeatedly. The idea of God's silence kept recurring. Then, the question shifted to how anyone can call on God and expect Him to respond exactly. The challenge of interpreting God’s purpose and the act of prayer—crying out to God—would unfold in different ways. The Bible contains many accounts of people crying out to the Lord, and He answers; however, what we often overlook in the complexity of Scripture is the importance of timing and the perspective of hindsight. Amid severe struggle and torment, it’s understandable to wonder what God truly means by it all, especially when we forget to consider the free will of cruel men.
As stated, Silence reads like historical fiction, filled with vivid imagery and an accurate portrayal of the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate. Intrigued by such extreme religious persecution, I researched Christianity in Japan today and found that there are only 1.1% today! The reason I keep returning to historical fiction is the ability of writers to transport me back in time and to answer the question of how the world looks as it does in the present. Silence was an incredible book, educational, and disturbing, yet one that I couldn't put down.