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February 17, 2007
BOOK REVIEW: Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly
Loyola Press has been reprinting classic Catholic literature for a couple of years now. And they’re doing an excellent job at selecting the books! I just read Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly, which is one of their “Loyola Classics” selections.
In short, Mr. Blue is the story of a man who accepts the challenge of Christianity and moves forward living a life of poverty, joy, and love. He’s dedicated to God alone and spends his time praying before a crucifix and talking to others about God. Sound crazy? After reading Mr. Blue you may interpret it differently! And the story is told by a sceptic and placed in Boston and New York City, which makes it all the more interesting.
It’s a short little book – only about 115 pages – but packed with ideas and challenges to your way of thinking that will keep you contemplating for a while. And, for the record, it’s good literature. It isn’t a Catholic book that happens to be good, it’s a well-written, good book that happens to be Catholic. I’ve found over the years that that makes a big difference to the reader.
I thought this passage was exceptionally good:
Blue is a mystic, and mystics while they appear crystal-clear are sometimes difficult to understand. He saw my shrugged shoulders.
“No great battle for a great cause can ever be forgotten. That up there is no mere group of college buildings; that up there is a battlefield, a sanctuary; that up there is a hearth and home for the Lost Cause that is never lost, the citadel of strength that shall outlast the hill and rocks it stands upon.
“A great desolation grows about us but up there is the warmth of a fireside and the loveliness of a garden. There are shrines for the devout, but up there is a shrine for those who are going to war, for those who will see the shivering void beyond the rim of faith. Once heroes built fortresses against the Mongol and the Saracen; now they must build fortresses against the whole world. Once they fought with spear and pikestaff against hordes of riding men. Today they must fight against pride and indifference and knowledge, against the agnosticism that like a poison gas decomposes the minds of the earth.
“I tell you I know what I am talking about. Once they – the believers, the students, the scholars, the soldiers, the saints – could fight heresies and heretics. Today they have to fight a state of mind. One might as well fight a plague with a bow and arrow . . . “
This is a book I’ve heard is very popular among college kids and for good reason: it challenges the reader to decide what kind of a life they want. What is it that makes a great life? I wish I had read this in college, because frankly it might of made me focus a bit more in my “rebellious” years on something worth rebelling for.
I recommend this both as great literature and a wonderful book about the call of Christianity and our approach to living the faith. You can buy it at Amazon.com here.
God bless,
Jay
Posted by jay at February 17, 2007 10:09 AM
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Comments
I really enjoyed this book as well, for all the reasons you mentioned. I'd never heard of it until I found out about the Loyola series, and started reading the ones I hadn't yet encountered. Glad I did!
Posted by: Barb Szyszkiewicz, sfo at February 17, 2007 7:28 PM
I just found it and am enjoying it. I love the note in the forward about the relationship between J. Blue and J Gatsby.
Posted by: Mary B at February 27, 2007 8:24 AM
