Religion & Spirituality

Paradise Regained by John Milton is an epic narrative poem that was initially published in 1671. A widely-revered essayist, dramatist, and lyric poet, Milton is perhaps best known for Paradise Lost, an epic poem he wrote in 1667. Whereas Paradise Lost depicts Lucifer’s fall from Heaven and Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Paradise Regained centers on the temptation of Christ, drawing on the Gospel of Luke for its inspiration.Milton’s 1671 epic... Read Paradise Regained Summary

Paradiso is the third and concluding part of The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri’s three-part epic narrative poem. It completes the allegorical journey initiated by the first two parts, Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory). Beatrice, who symbolizes Dante’s ideal woman and who had previously accompanied him through the past part of Purgatory, here accompanies him as he journeys through the nine levels or spheres of Heaven, which are represented by various celestial bodies. In each sphere... Read Paradiso Summary

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Geraldine Brooks’s People of the Book (2008) is a historical fiction novel about a book conservator named Dr. Hanna Heath and her intensive research on the history of the famous Sarajevo Haggadah. The book is an imagined history following the real clues found in the manuscript, and the novel jumps back and forth between Hanna’s findings and historical events that brought the book to its current home in the National Museum in Sarajevo, Bosnia.  Brooks... Read People of the Book Summary

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Perelandra is the second installment in author C.S. Lewis's science fiction Space Trilogy series. The 1943 novel is preceded by Out of the Silent Planet (1938) and succeeded by That Hideous Strength (1945). Plot SummaryLewis is summoned by philologist Elwin Ransom to his home in the English country. There, Lewis recounts the events of Ransom’s journey to Malacandra and becomes fearful of this visit. Along the way, he realizes he forgot his bag on the train. As he approaches... Read Perelandra Summary

Petey is middle grade novel written by Ben Mikaelsen and published in 1998. Mikaelsen is the author of 10 novels for young adults and the winner of several awards for his work. Petey is dedicated to and based on the life of Clyde Cothern, a Montana man with cerebral palsy who was misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled and confined to Montana State Hospital in the 1920s. Mikaelsen and Cothern shared a close personal friendship, and while... Read Petey Summary

Pet Sematary is a 1983 novel by Stephen King. It was adapted into a film in 1989 and a second film adaptation is scheduled to be released in April 2019. The book takes place in semi-rural Ludlow, Maine, a small town that Chicago doctor, Louis Creed, has just moved to with his family. Dr. Creed has taken a job at the university and moved his family against the wishes of his wife’s parents, with whom... Read Pet Sematary Summary

One of the founding documents of Western philosophy, Plato’s dialog Phaedo sets forth some of the most important beliefs of Socrates, who shares these ideas with his disciples just before he is executed in ancient Athens. Phaedo is one of Plato’s most widely read works, second only to his Republic and Symposium. It ponders the nature of the human soul and the possibility of an afterlife.A well-known English translation by Benjamin Jowett is widely available... Read Phaedo Summary

Phantastes: a Faerie Romance for Men and Women (1858) by George MacDonald is an extended fairy tale in which Anodos, a youth just coming of age, enters a hauntingly beautiful fairy wood. Ever pursuing his ideal of beauty, he meets many of the inhabitants of the enchanted world, overcoming obstacles as he learns what it means to become not just a man but a good man, eventually achieving union with the divine.George MacDonald (1824-1905) was a... Read Phantastes Summary

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Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard is a personal narrative describing her observations of a creek near her home in Virginia over the course of a year. Dillard, a suburban housewife, uses a first-person narrative voice to describe her walks, paying homage to a tradition of nature writing while posing large questions about the nature of God and wilderness. The author blends research into the natural world, philosophical inquiry, and poetic imagery while engaging... Read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Summary

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The Popol Vuh is a cultural narrative of the Quiché people that blends folklore, mythology, and historical accounts. The contents of the Popol Vuh have been relayed through oral tradition for many years, and its written form has suffered many losses following Spanish colonization of Latin America. Spanish colonizers destroyed nearly all Quiché texts and codices, including the Popol Vuh. Thus, the earliest known version of the Popol Vuh that exists is a Spanish translation... Read Popol Vuh Summary

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Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907) is a philosophical work by the American philosopher and psychologist William James. It consists of eight lectures originally delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston and at Columbia University in New York. James is closely associated with the philosophy of pragmatism, originally formulated by the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and this book is considered the major statement of the ideas and principles of... Read Pragmatism Summary