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Author: Christopher Adam

Book Review: Loser Takes All by Graham Greene

Graham Greene referred to his 1955 novella Loser Takes All as a “frivolity.” Yet that shouldn’t lead any reader to think that this book is throwaway pulp fiction. The story of a couple vacationing in Monte Carlo may be light-hearted fare, but the writing includes Greene’s celebrated, signature style: sharp dialogue, economical and precise language that paints a vivid picture,…

Book Review: Making a Psychopath — My Journey into 7 Dangerous Minds by Mark Freestone

It might seem counterintuitive to describe Dr. Mark Freestone’s book exploring psychopathy as a breezy read, yet that’s exactly what it was. That’s also why I found it this summer amongst the modest selection of books for purchase at London’s overcrowded Stansted Airport, catering to travellers seeking something comfortable enough to read while crammed into the narrow, hard seats of…

Doors Open Ottawa 2023 — A Photo Journal

This past Sunday, I toured places in Ottawa I wouldn’t otherwise visit — thanks to Doors Open Ottawa. The event included free and open access to 89 different buildings and landmarks in the city. Ottawa’s staggering geographic footprint (2,800 square kilometres!) meant that I had to choose five locations. These ended up being the Jami Omar Mosque, the Dormition of…

Feuilleton (4): A reading from Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel

In this scene from Margaret Laurence’s novel The Stone Angel, the elderly Hagar Shipley has escaped from her son Marvin’s house, in order to avoid being placed in a nursing home. She finds refuge in an abandoned building in the forest, along the coast. She has nothing but rainwater to drink until a stranger appears — Murray Ferney Lees. Hagar…

Feuilleton (3): A reading from Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies

This is an audio recorded reading from Chapter 1 of the 1930 novel Vile Bodies. In this scene, passengers are travelling on a ship across the English Channel from France to Dover, England. At the heart of the humorous scene is a sly Jesuit, Father Rothschild, and the entrepreneurial evangelist Mrs. Melrose Ape, along with her troupe of young women…

Feuilleton (2): A reading from Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood

This is an audio recording of a scene from Flannery O’Connor’s novel Wise Blood. Hazel Motes, a tormented and blinded preacher of the fledgling “Church Without Christ” is persistently haunted by that “ragged figure who moves from tree to tree in the back of his mind” — a figure he tries to escape, yet can’t. In this scene Hazel Motes…

Palm Sunday 2023 at St. Joseph’s Parish, Ottawa — A Photo Journal

I was tasked with taking photographs from a corner of the choir loft at St. Joseph’s Parish in Ottawa this morning, for Palm Sunday Mass. Most of the photos are from above, with a few others from ground level. Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord begins Holy Week in the Catholic tradition. The purple vestments of Lent, symbolising…

Book Review: Be Near Me by Andrew O’Hagan

Father David Anderton is the new parish priest of the economically depressed Scottish coastal town of Dalgarnock. He’s thoughtful and book-smart. But he’s also naive and demonstrates poor judgment. When he ignores the principle of maintaining boundaries in pastoral ministry and befriends two troubled teens, he hurtles towards disaster. Page by page, the reader sees with growing clarity that Father…

Feuilleton (1): A reading from Graham Greene’s Brighton Rock

This is an excerpt from Graham Greene’s 1938 novel Brighton Rock read by me, as part of a new series of audio recordings entitled Feuilleton, sampling works of twentieth century literature. In this scene, the young and naive Rose is grappling with the recent suicide of her sociopath husband — who almost took her down with him along his dark, destructive…