"What's the most important event in woman's history?"

According to the book I am reading, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, this question was once publically offered to an english novelist named Alice Thomas Ellis. Now, I'd never heard of this author before (perhaps to my shame), but her answer convinced me that I needed to learn more about her. In reply, she said simply: "The Annunciation."

Apparently Alice Thomas Ellis reposed almost two years ago and an article in the Telegraph gives us some insight into who she was. A staunch defender of traditional catholicsm and I suppose traditionalism in general, however she was raised in a pecuilar sort of atheism until she "no longer found it possible to disbelieve in God" (which rings a very familiar chord with me.)

When asked about pop teen fiction she encopuraged parents not to let them rad it, saying: "They are narcissistic enough and should be encouraged to snap out of it. Make them read Crime and Punishment and dock their pocket money if you catch them reading tripe."

And one more intriguing quote: "Those who live on vanity must, not unreasonably, expect to die of mortification."

Anyone read her work?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Crime and Punishment happens to be one of my all time favorite books. However, having actually spent some time attempting to homeschool my kids I do have actual experience. When my oldest daughter was a young teenager I did encourage her to read the book. Needless to say she did not understand it at all and the horrible murder scene was to say the least inappropriate for her. So I would say, maybe not Crime and Punishment but there are a lot of other more edifying books that kids can read.

-Rick
1:10 PM
Anonymous said…
Alice Thomas Ellis was not English, she was Welsh!!

Byddwch lawen, cadwch y ffydd.

Dafydd.
11:26 AM
Meg said…
Yes, I've read Alice Thomas Ellis. Her books used to be available through "A Common Reader," a catalogue of unusual books now, sadly, fallen to the Amazon Empire. To describe her as a traditionalist Catholic is like describing the Grand Canyon as a hole in the ground. That said, my favorite quote from one of her books (can't remember which one) was when her son encountered a fundamentalist with typical teen flippancy. Finally, the fundie intoned, "Young man, doesn't Armageddon mean *anything* to you?" "Yes," replied her son, "it means, 'Armageddon out of here.'"
3:06 AM
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