No one would mistake Lloyd C. Douglas’ Disputed Passage for literature, but the plot and characters are far above the pot boiler level.
Archive for the ‘Religious’ Category
Doctors Lock Horns in Service of Science
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Medical, Religious, Romance, tagged China, Lloyd C. Douglas, Medical research, scientists on July 8, 2009 | Comments Off
The Nazarene Is Bizarre
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Religious, tagged Catholics, crucifixion, first century AD, Nicodemus, Scholem Asch, Warsaw on July 1, 2009 | Comments Off
Sholem Asch’s The Nazarene is a bizarre retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth by two first century characters whose souls are transmigrated to 1930s Warsaw.
Mary Is No Entertainer
Posted in 1949 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Religious, tagged Bible, Jesus, Nazareth, Sholem Asch on April 1, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Sholem Asch’s novel Mary has to follow the familiar Biblical narrative about the mother of Jesus, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for surprises. Before you open the cover, you know what’s going to happen.
Dangle in 1948 files for Big Fisherman
Posted in 1948 Bestselling Novels, 1949 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Religious on April 1, 2009 | Comments Off
The #2 bestseller for 1949, The Big Fisherman, was #1 in1948.
For read my review of the historical-religious novel by Lloyd C. Douglas, use the drop down menu links at the right. You will find the review under these categories:
1948 novels
religious novels
historical novels
The Dear and Glorious Physician is Luke Warm
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Religious on February 11, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Dear and Glorious Physician is worth reading for the setting and scenery. Look elsewhere for entertainment or better understanding of people.
Annie Spragg Is Understated Gem
Posted in 1928 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, Religious, Suspense, tagged cults, Louis Bromfield, religion, saints, Stigmata on October 22, 2008 | Comments Off
If you can imagine a novel written by Alfred Hitchcock, you’ll understand the fascination of Louis Bromfield’s 1928 bestseller The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg.Bromfield increases the fascination of the story by his squeaky-clean presentation. Readers grasping for clues can’t be sure whether the sordid story they infer is in the material or in their own dirty minds.
Slender Bridge Destroyed by Weighty Prose
Posted in 1928 Bestselling Novels, Literary, Philosophical, Religious, tagged Inquisition, monk, Peru, Pulitzer Prize on September 3, 2008 | Comments Off
The Bridge of San Luis Rey won Thornton Wilder a Pulitzer Prize in 1928. The novel has since been ignored in favor of less literary but more entertaining reading.
Big Fisherman, Big Disappointment.
Posted in 1948 Bestselling Novels, Fictional biography, Historical, Religious, tagged Antipas, Apostle Peter, Christianity, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East on March 26, 2008 | Comments Off
In The Big Fisherman, Lloyd C. Douglas explores the rise of Christianity in a complicated story tangled around the figure of Simon Peter.
The Winthrop Woman Makes History Live
Posted in 1958 Bestselling Novels, Adventure, Fictional biography, Historical, My Top Pics, Religious, tagged colonial America, Dutch, Massachusetts, Puritans, witchcraft on February 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Historical fiction doesn’t get any better than The Winthrop Woman, Anya Seton’s fascinating tale of Puritan America. The facts, dates, and circumstances are all true. Sexton said the story didn’t need any additions to make it exciting. (She’s right.) She even incorporated characters’ written words into the novel’s dialogue.
Humor Gives Religious Novel Appeal
Posted in 1947 Bestselling Novels, Humor, Religious, tagged actress, film industry, publicity on September 1, 2007 | Comments Off
The Miracle of the Bells is a standard religious novel to which Russell Janney has added a dollop of humor. The humor increases the novel’s appeal but can’t disguise it’s poor quality.
Press agent William “Spats” Dunnigan had met Olga when she was an innocent waif determined to be a star. He felt sorry for her [...]
