Books Archives - The Pillarist

The Pillarist

Saint Simeon Stylites, Ora Pro Nobis.

April 28, 2025 Merri

SPOTLIGHT: Solaris – Stanislaw Lem (1961; 1970, Faber & Faber) & Andrei Tarkovsky (1972, Mosfilm)

In adapting Solaris to cinema screen, Andrei Tarkovsky turned a novel about contact into a film with deep meditations on art and identity.

Books Reviews

February 22, 2025 Merri

REVIEW: The MANIAC – Benjamin Labatut (Penguin, 2023)

Author Benjamin Labatut uses fiction to explore the life and legacy of John von Neumann, the physicist and engineer who propelled man’s knowledge past the particle and into the digital.

Books Classic Commentary

January 21, 2025 Merri

Art, Tolkien, and Consumer Media Part III: Art as Sub-Creation and Communication

In this conclusion, we look at Tolkien’s thoughts on art and the place his work occupies in the social landscape, and in particular, the importance of cultivating appropriate interpretive modes.

Books Commentary

December 14, 2024 Merri

Art, Tolkien, and Consumer Media Part II: Interpreting The Lord of the Rings

Part Two: A look at how Tolkien’s use of setting, violence and power severely contrasts with Jackson’s depiction of them in the films.

Books Commentary Projects

November 21, 2024 Merri

Art, Tolkien, and Consumer Media, Part I: Defining Fantasy

Part One: how Tolkien defines fantasy, its relationship to escapism, and how this contrasts with popular definitions of the terms.

Books Reviews

May 18, 2024 Merri

REVIEW: Ordered by Love – Thomas M. Ward (Angelico Press, 2022)

Thomas Ward offers a brief but intriguing look at the thought of Bl. John Duns Scotus, the great Catholic scholastic and theologian.

Books Reviews

February 18, 2024 Merri

REVIEW: Rainbow Body and Resurrection – Fr. Francis V. Tiso (2016, North Atlantic Books)

Francis Tiso examines the phenomenon of the rainbow body and draws theoretical comparisons to the Christian doctrine of resurrection. Or, what exactly is happening to mystics in Tibet?