The Great Divorce - C. S. Lewis

Publisher - HarperOne (1946)
ISBN - 9780060652951

Necro Rating - 90%

Before we begin, let us clarify a number of points. Though C. S. Lewis is an exceptionally readable author, we often find his books to be somewhat saccharine. We found Mere Christianity to be somewhat simplistic, though it had a few good points and was, as mentioned, very readable. But the same can be said of Dan Brown.

Nevertheless we feel comfortable in saying that the Great Divorce is an exceptional book. Despite its literary shortcomings (hark at us), Lewis's style of prose flows well, his language conjuring images of those days when men smoked pipes, wore tweed and were thoroughly decent. He is, as we have said, no Tolkien. But nevertheless, one does not always need complex or sophisticated language for complex and sophisticated concepts. There is often merit in the simplistic.

The plot was solid. And extremely thought-provoking. The scene with the lust-lizard - as quoted by Christopher West - was one of the highlights. The whole concept of the book has made us reconsider what the concept of Universalism means, and the struggle that one must go through in Purgatory. Like anything though, it is not perfect. The extended dialogue chapters were important but sometimes became tedious - though the lack of conclusions made them more interesting.

Much of the character development was established through these means - and despite the occasional tediosity, Lewis is most effective. The character of MacDonald was charming, and reminiscent of Dante's Virgil, and the various hard-hearters were also utterly pitiable. Sometimes they may have seemed detestable - but only in that a reader can recognise, in them, aspects of themselves.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book.

The Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith - John Salza

Publisher - Our Sunday Visitor Inc., U.S. (2005)
ISBN - 9781592761463

Necro Rating - 12.5%

Some people say, having read a book, that they "cannot recommend it enough". I, Lord Necro, "cannot recommend it," full stop. Don't buy it or read it.

We hear your piteous cries, "Why, oh Lord of Death, dost thou lambast this tome so?" and being the merciful King of Corpses that we are, shall eloquate.

We first discovered John Salza in 2008 when the mortal known as P. Cummins recommended his website, Scripture Catholic. This site proved to be most effective in educating ourselves in ways to combat the heresies of fundamentalist wing of Christianity, who accuse Catholicism as being unscriptural and therefore wrong etc. On the strength of Villein Salza's excellent website, our Lordship decided to purchase this binding of paper and ink to support Villein Salza, and to learn more.

While we do not regret supporting the villein, we are disappointed with what was found therein. His explanations of the practise derided as 'Mariolatry' was eloquent and thorough, as were his dismissals of the heretical lies of Sola Scriptura and his supports of the Church's importance. However, we found his accounts for the nature of the Sacraments, Justification and Salvation to be simplistic, and thus dangerous. Verily, your almighty Necrotic Sovreign did find himself in an awkward position after having read the chapter on the Sacraments, due to the nature of the Eucharist. But after four nights of chillingly perditious strandedity, with the help of the mortal P. Cummins, we were able to reallign ourselves with the Church. We thank this mortal, and the other mortals known in this land as Aquinas, Jimmy Akin and Fr X for their help. For those who wish to investigate the scriptural support for Catholicism, the Rotting One recommends Salza's website, as well as the thing that is known as google.

Those who struggle with the idea of an angry God, mark these words. By the beard of Vargner I tell you, have a look-see over this, this and this.