I admit to have been rather jealous when some my favorite writers such as Anne Rice and S. M. Stirling have responded to comments to reviews on other Catholic blogs. Though it is rather silly since some of my favorite Catholic writers have responded to some of my reviews. Maybe it is the former atheist in me that sees writers that are more popular in the secular world as more important. This is of course a failing that I have to work on (along with a myriad of others), though I now have a response from a top notch writer myself.
Michael Flynn who wrote the novel Eifelhem which was up for a Hugo Award (and should have won it) wrote in response to my very positive review which had a minor quibbling on the timing of the inquisition for Germany and using the term Holy Office in it.
Well, okay, I cheated a little. The medieval inquisition was never centralized. In fact, you can’t even speak of “the” inquisition in the 14th century. But inquisitions were made. (Remember the Cathars.) The modern translation of “medieval inquisitor” is “special prosecutor,” and that is no joke, since the role of the special prosecutor (or the French “investigating magistrate”) is to make inquiry into the appointed cases. The manuals used by the Spanish, Roman, and Venetian Inquisitions were based on manuals written in the Middle Ages. Using the term “Holy Office” was the same sort of cheat as having Dietrich coin Greek words like ‘elektonikos’ or ‘proteins.’ The reader must have some chance of following along.
3 comments
i think you’re pretty famous!
Thanks for the tip on Eifelheim. I plowed through it in a hurry in early summer, and it was an excellent book – a rarity in modern fiction, and a definite superior to Canticle for Leibowitz.
Yes, thank you for recommending Eifelheim earlier this year. I read it over the summer, loaned my copy to a friend, and recommended it to another friend who subsequently bout the book, read it, and loved it. As a science fiction fan and someone who deals with misconceptions about the middle ages regularly (in university classes) I appreciate a book about a medieval person who isn’t stupid or ignorant or easily frightened, even moreso when that book has a decidedly Catholic bent. I plan to continue recommending the book to all my friends who like science fiction–it’s wonderful.
Comments are closed.