Permanent Things: Toward the Recovery of a More Human Scale at the End of the Twentieth Century [Paperback]

Andrew A. Tadie (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

This inspirational collection gathers essays and studies of the work of some of this century's most imaginative writers--C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, and Evelyn Waugh--all giving voice to the permanence of Christian truth amid the secularist spirit of the age.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The essays in this collection are united in their affirmation of T. S. Eliot's "permanent things" and in their conviction that those "things" provide a basis for critical engagement with a generally decadent society. The essayists reflect on the work of a small group of twentieth-century writers who responded to the experience of chaos with an appeal to permanence: Eliot, G. K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy Sayers, and C. S. Lewis. That canon means, not surprisingly, that the collection is critically (and sometimes crankily) conservative. It is an appreciative treatment of the authors in question, which, while assuming a celebratory response to the demise of Communism, is far from sanguine about the state of Western civilization. The book is an interesting contribution to an old debate about permanence and change that should serve as a pointer to some important twentieth-century authors whose art continues to enliven political discussion at the end of the century. Steve Schroeder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 327 pages
• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802842313
• ISBN-13: 978-0802842312
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,778,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strongly recommended., December 1, 1997

By 

Edward Peters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Permanent Things: Toward the Recovery of a More Human Scale at the End of the Twentieth Century (Paperback)

A splendid interfaith, interdisciplinary study of Lewis and Chesterton, with numerous contributions by leading lights in the field. I did a longer review of this volume in the "Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Newsletter" (March 1996), p. 42. There is an earlier simliar volume by the same editors called "RIDDLE OF JOY", also highly recommended.