Summer Book Club - Divine Mercy Parish

A Summer Tradition Continues!

Each summer Divine Mercy Parish holds a summer book club for parishioners and all interested persons who care to join us. Throughout the years, we've focused our time on meaningful, rich, and beautifully nuanced books to get us thinking together about the big questions that make the world go round. If you haven't joined us in the past, consider doing so this summer.

Throughout the ages, human beings across all cultures and religions have pondered the topic of the end of the world, offering perplexing answers to make sense of existence and cosmic destiny. How have Christians imagined the end of the world, and in particular Catholic Christians? And how might this relate to how non-religious persons might imagine it?

Continuing our annual summer book club series, “Literature & Catholic Imagination,” Divine Mercy Parish invites any and all persons – Catholic and non-Catholic! – to a book study where we read, explore, and discuss these and related topics.

This summer, we’ll explore the theme of utopia and dystopia by reading three modern classics:

The Giver (1993), Lois Lowry
- A Newberry Award-Winning Young Adult Novel that many ages can enjoy!
That Hideous Strength (1945), C.S. Lewis
- The wild, wonky, and imaginative third installment of the “Ransom” or “Space” trilogy, this work can be read apart from the others and is a prophetic picture of our times in many ways!
- Fun fact! George Orwell of the famed 1984 reviewed Lewis’ book before he wrote his work. Among his other praises and criticisms, he said this: “There is nothing outrageously improbable in such a [conspiratorial situation the novel presents]. Indeed, at a moment when a single atomic bomb – of a type already pronounced “obsolete” – has just blown probably three hundred thousand people to fragments, it sounds all too topical. Plenty of people in our age do entertain the monstrous dreams of power that Mr. Lewis attributes to his characters, and we are within sight of the time when such dreams will be realisable.”
The Road (2006), Cormac McCarthy
- A dark dystopian novel of a blighted world that is searching and hopeful, despite the evidence. A masterpiece of American literature.

Readers can choose to read all or some of the books and journey with us as we open up the texts’ timeless and timely themes. In an age of both anxiety and optimism about the rapid pace of development in science and technology – perhaps most especially AI – we’ll examine how Christians and non-Christians might engage these perennial questions and ideas with a view to synthesizing both Faith and Science, and confronting our tendencies toward despair with hope.

For Catholics, the end of the world can be understood in at least two ways. More than merely an apocalyptic cataclysm, there’s something far more vital, foundational, and hopeful. Join us this summer for a book club that, despite the topic, is about learning how to cultivate hope, peace, and tranquility of heart in the midst of the anxieties of our beautiful, yet broken and battered world.

Whether you’re a person of Catholic Faith or no faith – or anywhere in between – come join us!

Scroll below for a Reading Plan & Study Guide…

In a world which seems increasingly obsessed with instant gratification, the lure of gain, the pursuit of profit and the overriding importance of possessions, it is striking also to acknowledge a persistent, even growing, fascination with beauty. It may take different forms, but these all seem to indicate an aspiration for "something intangible," which can show us the magic and mystery in things and even far beyond them. Intuitively, the Church was aware of this from its origins and centuries of Christian art magnificently illustrate this. Every true work of art is potentially a way into religious experience. Recognizing the importance of art in the inculturation of the Gospel means recognizing that human genius and sensitivity are akin to the truth and beauty of the divine mystery. The Church shows profound respect to all artists, irrespective of their religious convictions, since works of art bear an imprint of the invisible, as it were Art, like every other human activity, looks beyond itself for its absolute goal: its nobility comes from being directed to the ultimate goal of the human person.

- Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture, The Pontifical Council for Culture

Reading Plan & Study Guide

This summer’s book club will offer 10 sessions in total. The first 9 will cover the three books and we’ll conclude with a film night.

Dates, times, and location are set: We’ll gather on Thursday nights from 6-8 pm from June 18 – August 13 (along with a Friday Night Film, August 14) at St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall (5313 Flad Ave. Madison, WI 53711).

After each session, anyone can join us for after hours gathering of “Literature on Tap” at Vintage Brewing Company on Whitney Way, just down the road. We’ll just continue the conversation and fellowship over a pint or two together.

Return to this website frequently for updates. You will eventually be able to follow the links in the session plan below to access each session’s study guide and recordings of any sessions you may miss.

Note: Be prepared for the first session by reading The Giver chs. 1-12

The Giver Segment

Session 01, June 18 | Introduction & The Giver, Pt. 1

Introduction: Catholic Imagination & the Meanings of the “End” of the World (orientation for our summer book study)
Introducing our special speakers & their areas of expertise
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: The Giver, chs. 1-12
- To Read for Next Session: The Giver, Pt. 2, Chs. 13-23
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 02, June 25 | The Giver, Pt. 2

Talk-topics from awesome people forthcoming!
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: The Giver, chs. 13-23
- To Read for Next Session: That Hideous Strength, Preface, chs. 1-5
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

That Hideous Strength Segment

Session 03, July 2 | That Hideous Strength, Pt. 1

Introduction: C.S.Lewis, the Ransom Trilogy, and Inklings about the End of the World
C.S. Lewis and “A Theology of the Body”
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: That Hideous Strength, chs. 1-5
- To Read for Next Session: That Hideous Strength, Preface, chs. 6-9
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 04, July 9 | That Hideous Strength, Pt. 2

Mr. Bultitude: Nature & the Unbearable Weight of Enchantment
The N.I.C.E.: The (Ab)uses of Language & the Nature of Reality
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: That Hideous Strength, chs. 6-9
- To Read for Next Session: That Hideous Strength, Preface, chs. 10-13
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 05, July 16 |That Hideous Strength, Pt. 3

Wait, what?! Why’s Merlin in a Modern Dystopia? (Or, on Myth & Modernity)
Another sweet text-topic forthcoming!
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: That Hideous Strength, chs. 10-13
- To Read for Next Session: That Hideous Strength, Preface, chs. 14-17
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 06, July 23 |That Hideous Strength, Pt. 4

Surprised by Love: C.S. Lewis on Marriage and Mysticism
Another sweet text-topic forthcoming!
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: That Hideous Strength, chs. 14-17
- To Read for Next Session: The Road, pp. 1-96
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

The Road Segment

Session 07, July 30 | The Road, Pt. 1

Introduction: Nature, Memory, and Fire in The Road
Another sweet text-topic forthcoming!
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: The Road, pp. 1-96
- To Read for Next Session: The Road, pp. 97-191
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 08, August 6 | The Road, Pt. 2

Sweet text-topics forthcoming!
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: The Road, pp. 97-191
- To Read for Next Session: The Road, pp. 192-287
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 09, August 13 | The Road, Pt. 3

Living “in Between”: Summative Reflections on Utopia, Dystopia, and the “End” of the World
- @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall > Discuss: The Road, Pt. 3
- Next Session: FILM NIGHT, TOMORROW
“Literature on Tap” — Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

Session 10, August 14 | Film Night! @ St. Maria Goretti Parish Hall

The Giver (2014) Trailer
“Literature on Tap” — Further FILM Discussion and Hangout at Vintage Brewing Company, Whitney Way

UPDATE: ALL SESSIONS WILL MEET AT THE ST. MARIA GORETTI PARISH HALL.

FIRST SESSION PREPARATION: COME HAVING READ CHS. 1-12 (THE GIVER IS A SHORT BOOK; AUDIO BOOK CLOCKS IN UNDER 3 HOURS)!