Thursday, August 28, 2014

Helpful Lists

The number of lists on the internet of good movies or novels is, er, numberless. Top 100 films of every kind exist, and many of these are helpful-- depending on what you are looking for. 

For the more specific lists of  good faith and film/literature, one can also find a rich assortment, possibly too rich. And these lists are also hit and miss--depending on what you are looking for. Greatest Catholic novels of all time, films that show pastors/clergy in a fair light, atheists authors who have written books that Christians should read, lists of Christian sci-fi writers . . . too much, too little time.

And then when you hit the jackpot, you unfortunately end up with so much to read or watch that it almost gets disheartening since you'll never have the time to plow through all the goodness. Here are two examples.

This PDF is a list of films and novels put together by, believe it or not, "The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family." The nice thing about this list is that you don't have to be a Roman Catholic to appreciate the selections. As it states at the beginning of the list, the criteria for choosing has to do with a kind of Mere Christianity approach to faith and culture, and it really is a good list, full of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Agnostic, and Other authors and directors. 

Here is another list, this one of Christian poets in the 20th Century. The same big net approach is taken here also. The variety of poets is remarkable. If you are not up on your poetry, you will find some real treasures here.