The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1957-10-11
The Neo-P agan Novel
Priest Filled Books
Not Necessarily Good
by Erik v. KuehneIf-L eddihn

Far away from the United States but receiving
many American periodicals, Catholic and secular ones,
Cozzen,s latest novel, by LOVE Possessed
/ am sure that | would have bought borrowed, or
stolen this book twenty years ago, when curiosity for
everything and anything was my greatest driving power,
but today l simply would not take the time to read its
$40 apparently scintillating, racy, and captivating pages.
The reason for this indifference lies in the fact that
curiosity" Not that am subject TO the AngIo-saxon con-
tempt for mere fiction" tquife unknown on the Con-
finenf where the serious term bellies leffres" is used
instead of fhe understanding "ficfion"l but want nov.
els TO carry a message, to inpart ideas, TO raise i'm
Porfant questions, at least to aIlude to the Being who
is the center, the prime mover, the reason and fhe end
In other words, / can no longer read novels which,
while pretending to represent life, only move on the sur
face, which avoid all theology and pertinent philosophy
and get begged down in mere psychology. This sort OF
novel has achieved, in the English language, a perfection
as nowhere else. ~
AS a matter of fact, for pure entertainment" the
American and British average novel hOldS-in reprints
and Observation-Disclosures sway on the Continent. 2a
Yet, while style and the good psychological analysis
OF human beings are important, a Christian reader Will
require a great deal more from a novel. He wants the
inclusion of God and of the eternal verities either inn
plcitly or explicitly.
He needs this element not because he wants to for
tify his faith, but because he himself sees the world and
life in these terms.
This does not mean that a mature Catholic, wishing
to do more than Just TO kill time, requires . novel full
Of priests, sodaIty projects, miracles, confessions, and
constant references to the supernatural, but the pres.
enee Of God ought to be felt by the sensitive reader.
Such a novel need not be written by a pious Catho-
Lie; it can be the work Of a devout Protestant however
antiCatholic(, or of a God-fearing Jew.
There used to be a number of Eastern Jewish pol
~ish-Jewsh, Russian,JeWish) authors who wrote delight
full novels and short stories breathing a spirit of real
piety and devotion which could not but move the Chris
tan reader.
The neopagan novel, however, is pure psychology
if it does not represent a philosophy that is either shall
low optomism or what might be styled heroic pessirn-
ism"
A novel based on psychology pure and simple MIGHT
hold our attention the last page, but then we put it
down with a feeling which might be summed up in the
simple words: "Now, so what?'
The optimistic novel with q happy end" is usually
untrue TO life though it pleases the supplemented read
ers-and Hollywood directors.
Life deprived of the supernatural, starting with
birth and terminating with death, is always a~'tragedy
or a near tragedy.
From a purely earthly point of view, Sartre is right
when he says that the life of every human being is a
failure. The happy end novel, like the happy end play,
is an effort to identify life down here with Paradise,
whereas in reality it is, as the prayer says, "a vale OF
tears" Heroic pessimism, y on the other hand approaches
truth inasmuch as it depicts one part of reality: human
suffering. -
Yet it also tells a lie because it represents man as
suffering vanly in a senseless universe.
The universe is not senseless, suffering is meaning
full. man is not a beast but created in the Image of God;
man might fail in this world, but he can triumph in an
other. All this the neo-pagan author does not realize,
And therefore he cannot hold the Christians interest.
He disappoints us profoundly. His very success in litera-
ture is an all human failure.