<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A good introduction to the writing of Romano Guardini.
Review: For those who have yet to discover Romano Guardini, I have only envy, because discovering him was one of the turning points of my life. The Essential Guardini is excerpts from his writings, grouped by subject, and selected by one of his former pupils, Heinz Kuehn. Father Romano Guardini lived through the Holocaust, was born at the end of the 19th century, and died in 1968, so his life spanned the years before technology and the major two World Wars to after technology and after these wars. With a foot in both a pre-technological and post-technological world, with brilliance, depth and profound vision, with insight and foresight, and with the holiness God conferred on him, he was able to diagnose accurately the problems of our age, pierce the angst of modern man to discuss our spiritual foundation and essence, and prophesy about the direction social/political and religious events were taking. I, personally, think he stands head and shoulders above ANY thinker on these issues in our current day. Because of the nature of his writing, it is easy to pick up excerpts from different sources and read them - a paragraph from Sacred Signs, or a page from Prayer in Practice, or even a line from The Virtues is sufficient for nourishment, guidance, and edification, which makes this book both a good introduction to his thought, and a primer for some of its high points. Heinz Kuehn was one of his pupils, and one of the few living people today who actually knew and was influenced by Guardini. He, himself, is in a very good position to put forth this anthology, because he is a massive Christian model and figure. I highly recommend this book as both an introduction to Guardini's thought, a starting point for further explorations, and a summary, put together by Kuehn, of some of his major views. The reader will find the writing brilliant but simple, profound but clear, powerful but holy, and of such weight that one person said (I paraphrase) that the strength of Guardini's writing knocks one to one's knees. Kuehn also writes an introduction that is very helpful in situating the times out of which Guardini's writing came, and the force of his personality and influence. Highly recommended
<< 1 >>
|
