Interview: Internet Monk on Reading
May 15th, 2007 | Published in Books & Reading, Interviews, Quotes
Part of the The Reading Interviews series.
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
I am a campus minister, communicator and teacher in southeastern KY. I am married with two grown children. I write at Internet Monk and Boars Head Tavern.
What are your favorite books? What do you like about them and how have they influenced you?
- Works of Shakespeare: Unsurpassed. Invented what it means to be human.
- The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis: Incredibly creative way to present a subject most people are adverse to, and exceedingly insightful.
- Between Noon and Three by Robert Capon: Grace is the great theme of life, and this is the most powerful statement of grace I’ve ever read. You never escape it.
- Blood Meridian by Carmack Macarthy: Violence and evil are part of life. This looks at it in a personal and an epic way, with depth and with childlike innocence. A blood bath of a book, but actually beautiful. Some call this the greatest American novel.
Books influence you because you meet another mind who sees the same world that you do, but differently. You know you aren’t alone and that the truth of existence extends past yourself.
Who are your favorite writers?
- Shakespeare. He knows both sides of human beings.
- C.S. Lewis. Clarity.
- Eugene Peterson. The Beauty of the Bible.
- Thomas Merton. A life well lived.
What is the best non-fiction and fiction book you have read recently?
Non-fiction: Shakespeare: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd
Fiction: Henry IV Part I, William Shakespeare
Why do you think reading is important? What has led you to make it a priority in your life?
The encounter with other human minds is joyous and awesome.
The mind and soul are hungry for truth, beauty and story.