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Lord of the World
Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. After many years of questioning and soul-searching he was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1903. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1904 and named a Monsignor in 1911.
This book, written in 1907, is Benson's dystopic vision of a near future world in which religion has, by and large, been rejected or simply fallen by the wayside. The Catholic Church has retreated to Italy and Ireland, while the majority of the rest of the world is either Humanistic or Pantheistic. There is a 'one world' government, and euthanasia is widely available. The plot follows the tale of a priest, Percy Franklin, who becomes Pope Silvester III, and a mysterious man named Julian Felsenburgh, who is identical in looks to the priest and who becomes "Lord of the World".
"The one condition of progress...on the planet that happened to be men's dwelling place, was peace, not the sword which Christ brought or that which Mahomet wielded; but peace that arose from, not passed, understanding; the peace that sprang from a knowledge that man was all and was able to develop himself only by sympathy with his fellows..."
This book, written in 1907, is Benson's dystopic vision of a near future world in which religion has, by and large, been rejected or simply fallen by the wayside. The Catholic Church has retreated to Italy and Ireland, while the majority of the rest of the world is either Humanistic or Pantheistic. There is a 'one world' government, and euthanasia is widely available. The plot follows the tale of a priest, Percy Franklin, who becomes Pope Silvester III, and a mysterious man named Julian Felsenburgh, who is identical in looks to the priest and who becomes "Lord of the World".
"The one condition of progress...on the planet that happened to be men's dwelling place, was peace, not the sword which Christ brought or that which Mahomet wielded; but peace that arose from, not passed, understanding; the peace that sprang from a knowledge that man was all and was able to develop himself only by sympathy with his fellows..."
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1907
About the author
Robert Hugh Benson
276 books160 followersMrsgr. Robert Hugh Benson AFSC KC*SG KGCHS was an English Catholic priest and writer. First an Anglican pastor, he was received into the Catholic Church in 1903 and ordained therein the next year. He was also a prolific writer of fiction, writing the notable dystopian novel Lord of the World, as well as Come Rack! Come Rope!.
His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later.
His output encompassed historical, horror and science fiction, contemporary fiction, children's stories, plays, apologetics, devotional works and articles. He continued his writing career at the same time as he progressed through the hierarchy to become a Chamberlain to Pope Pius X in 1911, and gain the title of Monsignor before his death a few years later.
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August 25, 2017
In the real world of the early 21st century, the Western world, which dominates the rest of the world economically and politically, is similarly dominated internally by a ruling wealthy political and cultural elite. That elite is united behind a worldview that serves them as a de facto state religion, the basic tenets of which are: materialistic atheism that rejects any concept of a transcendent God as not only misguided but evil; idealization (and idolization) of a deified Mankind, while denying any inherent rights or dignity to any individual human; absolute centralization of political and economic power; and "rationalization" of economic and social processes to maximize profit and control. Although large numbers of the subservient population of workers, consumers, taxpayers and nominal "voters" don't share this belief system, the power elite largely dominates all levers of political, economic and judicial decision making, mass education and communication (and therefore also dominates perception and access to information about events) and uses economic coercion, bribery, brainwashing and manipulation of the electoral process to ensure its agenda. Many of us (including, but not only, traditional Christians) view this state of affairs with dissatisfaction and genuine fear. Christian believers especially perceive an agenda on the part of the elites (sometimes avowed openly), and a trend towards, the elimination of even vestigial legal safeguards for religious and other freedoms, and the establishment of open totalitarianism and persecution with the intent to exterminate religious believers.
In 1907, the intellectual currents that would lead to this state of affairs were far less advanced than they are now. But they were there, and already clearly expressed in germinal form in much of the "Utopian" thought of that day. (Obviously, what an adherent of this worldview sees as "Utopia" would pretty much be everybody else's dystopia.) Robert Hugh Benson, former Anglican priest turned Roman Catholic priest, extrapolated from those currents with incredible prescience to create a Christian response to them in fictional form. Set apparently in the early 21st-century (mention is made of the legislation in 1998 establishing legal euthanasia, some years before the characters' present) it describes a world where the materialistic Utopia is largely a reality, save for the galling persistence of a small minority of religious believers. This is social science fiction, subject to the limitations of its time; future technological developments here aren't portrayed exactly as they turned out (though some are pretty close!), and nobody in 1907 (or even 1967) foresaw the Internet. But what we have in the main is a chillingly realistic and plausible portrait of the secular world, that is in its essentials basically not much different than the one we live in, or could reasonably expect to live in very soon.
However, this is more than dystopian SF, because Benson recognized the real issues as spiritual rather than sociological, and the answer to the problem as coming from God's action, not ours. So this is a novel that takes very seriously the reality of Christian eschatology, of a climax of history in which God Himself will act to replace the present world order with an eternal one based on justice and righteousness, as adumbrated in Bible prophecy --and Benson takes some aspects of Bible prophecy more literally than most Catholic expositors have, although without the bizarre distortions of prophecy featured by the dispensationalist writers of, for instance, the Left Behind series. (This isn't a spoiler; it's foreshadowed from the Prologue on, and it's the essential core of Benson's message.)
This is very much a novel of ideas; but it also has a very real, taut plot, focusing mainly on three viewpoint characters who represent very different takes on the events of their world. All three are drawn very realistically, and in such a way that we can truly get inside their heads and understand how they think. (Nonbelievers aren't necessarily treated unsympathetically --Mabel is actually one of the most sympathetic characters in the book.) Events move swiftly, with a mounting degree of menace and suspense. The Edwardian diction features some big words, including Catholic ecclesiastical vocabulary and some lines, especially near the end, in untranslated Latin (which educated readers in 1907, of course, could translate) and complex sentences; and there can be at times more description of physical settings than I'd have preferred. But I didn't have any problem reading this, and finding it to be an extremely powerful and meaningful reading experience.
I've recommended the book to Christian readers. Some nonbelievers might find some food for thought here, but I don't think Benson saw them as his audience. He addressed it to his fellow Catholics, to strengthen them in the face of coming persecution (and both Pope Francis and his predecessor have urged their flock to read it). In keeping with his own early 20th-century milieu of very conservative English Catholicism, the author sees his denomination as largely coextensive with Christianity. In his fictional early 21st-century, Protestantism is largely extinct, distinctive Catholic ideas are often expressed in the text, and Catholic mysticism (which Protestant readers might find somewhat alien) is prominent here. Nevertheless, I think this is worthwhile reading for Protestant readers too, for the same reason as for Catholic ones; what unites us, in the face of a world that rejects God, is more important than what divides us, and we all need the reminder that our salvation comes ultimately from Jesus Christ, not from cultural power or political action.
In 1907, the intellectual currents that would lead to this state of affairs were far less advanced than they are now. But they were there, and already clearly expressed in germinal form in much of the "Utopian" thought of that day. (Obviously, what an adherent of this worldview sees as "Utopia" would pretty much be everybody else's dystopia.) Robert Hugh Benson, former Anglican priest turned Roman Catholic priest, extrapolated from those currents with incredible prescience to create a Christian response to them in fictional form. Set apparently in the early 21st-century (mention is made of the legislation in 1998 establishing legal euthanasia, some years before the characters' present) it describes a world where the materialistic Utopia is largely a reality, save for the galling persistence of a small minority of religious believers. This is social science fiction, subject to the limitations of its time; future technological developments here aren't portrayed exactly as they turned out (though some are pretty close!), and nobody in 1907 (or even 1967) foresaw the Internet. But what we have in the main is a chillingly realistic and plausible portrait of the secular world, that is in its essentials basically not much different than the one we live in, or could reasonably expect to live in very soon.
However, this is more than dystopian SF, because Benson recognized the real issues as spiritual rather than sociological, and the answer to the problem as coming from God's action, not ours. So this is a novel that takes very seriously the reality of Christian eschatology, of a climax of history in which God Himself will act to replace the present world order with an eternal one based on justice and righteousness, as adumbrated in Bible prophecy --and Benson takes some aspects of Bible prophecy more literally than most Catholic expositors have, although without the bizarre distortions of prophecy featured by the dispensationalist writers of, for instance, the Left Behind series. (This isn't a spoiler; it's foreshadowed from the Prologue on, and it's the essential core of Benson's message.)
This is very much a novel of ideas; but it also has a very real, taut plot, focusing mainly on three viewpoint characters who represent very different takes on the events of their world. All three are drawn very realistically, and in such a way that we can truly get inside their heads and understand how they think. (Nonbelievers aren't necessarily treated unsympathetically --Mabel is actually one of the most sympathetic characters in the book.) Events move swiftly, with a mounting degree of menace and suspense. The Edwardian diction features some big words, including Catholic ecclesiastical vocabulary and some lines, especially near the end, in untranslated Latin (which educated readers in 1907, of course, could translate) and complex sentences; and there can be at times more description of physical settings than I'd have preferred. But I didn't have any problem reading this, and finding it to be an extremely powerful and meaningful reading experience.
I've recommended the book to Christian readers. Some nonbelievers might find some food for thought here, but I don't think Benson saw them as his audience. He addressed it to his fellow Catholics, to strengthen them in the face of coming persecution (and both Pope Francis and his predecessor have urged their flock to read it). In keeping with his own early 20th-century milieu of very conservative English Catholicism, the author sees his denomination as largely coextensive with Christianity. In his fictional early 21st-century, Protestantism is largely extinct, distinctive Catholic ideas are often expressed in the text, and Catholic mysticism (which Protestant readers might find somewhat alien) is prominent here. Nevertheless, I think this is worthwhile reading for Protestant readers too, for the same reason as for Catholic ones; what unites us, in the face of a world that rejects God, is more important than what divides us, and we all need the reminder that our salvation comes ultimately from Jesus Christ, not from cultural power or political action.
August 3, 2016
It’s hard to remember this book is over one hundred years old. Technologically speaking it’s out-moded, of course. Robert Hugh Benson’s ‘volors’ (flying machines which sound like Zeppelins) zip along at 150 mph and people rely on typewriters for administrative work, but Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles is far more dated and it’s fifty years newer.
Where Lord of the World stands up to the test of time is in its presentation of ideas. Written in 1907, it accurately predicts a future world which includes legalized euthanasia, one-party states, and weapons of mass destruction. Also prophetically, affluence has led to apathy, atheism and a loss of faith by many Catholics. Set in England with occasional forays to Rome and Jerusalem, Monsignor Benson focuses his attention on Catholic Christians, without looking closely at other Christian denominations. No doubt this was necessary for flow but it also allowed Benson to illustrate the variety of responses among Catholics, who could be seen as representative of all professed believers in Jesus Christ. There were those tried by adversity who immediately fell away; those who like the seed among the rocks and thorns died from lack of root; and finally those who persisted, growing stronger as a result of struggle. The point being, the Grace of God and response to that Grace determine whether or not a soul remain committed. Theological training and denominational affiliation were not at issue. There were a number of apostate priests.
Lord of the World offers one illustration of the Antichrist and end times. It might not be how you envision him and them. I’m still not sure exactly what I think, but Julian Felsenburgh and the scenario were certainly chilling. Depressingly, but unsurprisingly, Felsenburgh was an American. Fortunately he didn’t remind me of anyone, though apparently there were some contemporary British personalities Benson patterned him after: Ramsay McDonald and Evan Roberts.
I can certainly see why Popes Benedict XVI and Francis want us to read it. It's a catalytic book; at the end I felt the need to talk it over with someone. So many interesting issues and unique situations are presented, it would be ideal as a group discussion novel. Any book clubs out there looking for their next ‘good read’?!
Didn’t like this as much as Come Rack! Come Rope!. I’m just not a fan of dystopian literature. So while I was inclined to 4 or 4.5 stars, considering I read Benson’s two books so close together, I figured this one suffered from comparison and gave the extra .5 star.
July 29, 2016: This has been on my to-read list for-EVER! I started it several times but always got bogged down in the Prologue, trying to understand it. It even says it is not essential (and it isn't!) but I'm a stickler for reading things in order, so I doggedly kept trying! This time I gave it up and now I'm zipping through this!
Woohoo!
Where Lord of the World stands up to the test of time is in its presentation of ideas. Written in 1907, it accurately predicts a future world which includes legalized euthanasia, one-party states, and weapons of mass destruction. Also prophetically, affluence has led to apathy, atheism and a loss of faith by many Catholics. Set in England with occasional forays to Rome and Jerusalem, Monsignor Benson focuses his attention on Catholic Christians, without looking closely at other Christian denominations. No doubt this was necessary for flow but it also allowed Benson to illustrate the variety of responses among Catholics, who could be seen as representative of all professed believers in Jesus Christ. There were those tried by adversity who immediately fell away; those who like the seed among the rocks and thorns died from lack of root; and finally those who persisted, growing stronger as a result of struggle. The point being, the Grace of God and response to that Grace determine whether or not a soul remain committed. Theological training and denominational affiliation were not at issue. There were a number of apostate priests.
Lord of the World offers one illustration of the Antichrist and end times. It might not be how you envision him and them. I’m still not sure exactly what I think, but Julian Felsenburgh and the scenario were certainly chilling. Depressingly, but unsurprisingly, Felsenburgh was an American. Fortunately he didn’t remind me of anyone, though apparently there were some contemporary British personalities Benson patterned him after: Ramsay McDonald and Evan Roberts.
I can certainly see why Popes Benedict XVI and Francis want us to read it. It's a catalytic book; at the end I felt the need to talk it over with someone. So many interesting issues and unique situations are presented, it would be ideal as a group discussion novel. Any book clubs out there looking for their next ‘good read’?!
Didn’t like this as much as Come Rack! Come Rope!. I’m just not a fan of dystopian literature. So while I was inclined to 4 or 4.5 stars, considering I read Benson’s two books so close together, I figured this one suffered from comparison and gave the extra .5 star.
July 29, 2016: This has been on my to-read list for-EVER! I started it several times but always got bogged down in the Prologue, trying to understand it. It even says it is not essential (and it isn't!) but I'm a stickler for reading things in order, so I doggedly kept trying! This time I gave it up and now I'm zipping through this!
Woohoo!
February 22, 2018
Not sure what to write as a review.
Loved reading this book. And the dystopia presented in the book is very visible in today's world. This book was written in the begiining of the 20th century (1907). It imagines the future (2000) when Humanity-Religion (Humanitarianism) will overtake the entire world. The oly challenge it will feel will be from the Catholic religion which will by then reduced to a small minority. The whole world will unite under one leadership (Lord of the World) having one 'religion' (humanitarianism) as the uniting force.
The Lord of the World and the last Pope of the Catholic Church are the main characters. The contrasting opinions are interestingly juxtaposed. In Humanity-Religion man is God and God is man. There is no supernatural element to be believed in. Man must believe in the idea of man and life-principle. Of course, he cannot give up his need to worship. So, the worship is introduced in which Human Life is worshipped. The Catholic Church, because it beleives in the supernatural being is considered as an institution of primitive superstition. In the new age when man and man's reason are considred the sacred most, the Catholic Church and its teachings are seen as a blot that is uncomfortable. To establish peace of harmony, it is good to get rid of it by violence. Thus, the Humanity-Religion turns against humanity.
It is sarcastic and hard hitting. It was written by a Catholic convert (later he became a Monsignor). So, the book is heavily Catholic. But he has tried to be objective presenting the positions of the others as well. A must read for all Catholics. No wonder, Pope Francis recently recommended this book to all. I also heard that it was one of the favourite books of Pope Benedict XVI as well.
Loved reading this book. And the dystopia presented in the book is very visible in today's world. This book was written in the begiining of the 20th century (1907). It imagines the future (2000) when Humanity-Religion (Humanitarianism) will overtake the entire world. The oly challenge it will feel will be from the Catholic religion which will by then reduced to a small minority. The whole world will unite under one leadership (Lord of the World) having one 'religion' (humanitarianism) as the uniting force.
The Lord of the World and the last Pope of the Catholic Church are the main characters. The contrasting opinions are interestingly juxtaposed. In Humanity-Religion man is God and God is man. There is no supernatural element to be believed in. Man must believe in the idea of man and life-principle. Of course, he cannot give up his need to worship. So, the worship is introduced in which Human Life is worshipped. The Catholic Church, because it beleives in the supernatural being is considered as an institution of primitive superstition. In the new age when man and man's reason are considred the sacred most, the Catholic Church and its teachings are seen as a blot that is uncomfortable. To establish peace of harmony, it is good to get rid of it by violence. Thus, the Humanity-Religion turns against humanity.
It is sarcastic and hard hitting. It was written by a Catholic convert (later he became a Monsignor). So, the book is heavily Catholic. But he has tried to be objective presenting the positions of the others as well. A must read for all Catholics. No wonder, Pope Francis recently recommended this book to all. I also heard that it was one of the favourite books of Pope Benedict XVI as well.
February 3, 2021
ENGLISH: An apocalyptic novel written in 1907. Personally, I prefer A Canticle for Leibowitz, which seems to me better built and more believable, because the apocalyptic end is caused by man himself, rather than by unexplained acts of God.
There are two kinds of atheism:
1. Optimistic atheism, which replaces faith in God by an overpowering faith in Man. God, in this view, is the result of evolution, not its cause. The last question, a short story by Asimov, could be considered the most concise representative of this ideology in the field of SF.
2. Pessimistic atheism, which reduces man to just an animal, an epiphenomenon, something of no importance, about whose future Nature (or the universe) cares nothing, something that in the long range can have no impact. This would be (I believe) the line followed by the new atheists, such as Richard Dawkins.
Lord of the World shows where optimistic atheism could lead us to. When the book was written, this form of atheism looked like the most probable consequence of the foreseeable progress of Mankind. In a sudden change that started just a few years later, the two world wars and the subsequent half-a-century cold war, when the self-destruction of man seemed to be the most probable future, have vaccinated us, making us lose most of our trust in Man and the unlimited progress of science. Today we are witnessing an increasing attack of militant pessimistic atheism against religion, but this form of the ideology may be somewhat less damaging than the other, as the novel shows.
As to science-fiction forecasts, the novel has few. I’d mention high-speed-trains, nuclear weapons (represented by Benninschein explosives, by which the author fails to foresee that mass destruction weapons would be created by team work, not by individual personalities), and advanced methods for euthanasia. On the other hand, the scientific world depicted at the beginning of the 21st century is quite similar to the status of science and technology at the beginning of the 20th century: (radio-)telegraph as the main way of communication, telephone restricted to government uses, zeppelins for air travel, and little else.
I have always believed that the Antichrist will be an ideology, not a man. I find a little ludicrous the idea of a mass of atheists worshipping as God a man just like themselves. Orwell’s creation of Big Brother as a mysterious, impersonal chief to be worshipped was better.
In spite of these criticisms, the novel is very good. In fact, at times it is overwhelming.
ESPAÑOL: Novela apocalíptica escrita en 1907. Personalmente, prefiero Cántico a San Leibowitz, que me parece mejor construido y más creíble, pues el final apocalíptico lo causa el hombre mismo, en lugar de actos de Dios inexplicables.
Hay dos tipos de ateísmo:
1. El ateísmo optimista, que reemplaza la fe en Dios por una fe abrumadora en el hombre. Dios, según este punto de vista, es el resultado de la evolución, no su causa. La pregunta definitiva, cuento de Asimov, podría considerarse el representante más conciso de esta ideología en el campo de la ciencia-ficción.
2. El ateísmo pesimista, que reduce el hombre a sólo un animal, a epifenómeno, algo sin importancia, de cuyo futuro la Naturaleza (o el universo) no se preocupa en absoluto, que a largo plazo no puede causar impacto. Esta sería (creo) la línea seguida por los nuevos ateos, como Richard Dawkins.
El Señor del Mundo muestra a dónde nos puede llevar el ateísmo optimista. Cuando se escribió el libro, esta forma de ateísmo parecía la consecuencia más probable del progreso previsible de la humanidad. En un cambio repentino que comenzó pocos años después, las dos guerras mundiales y la posterior guerra fría de medio siglo, cuando la autodestrucción del hombre parecía ser el futuro más probable, nos han vacunado, haciéndonos perder la mayor parte de nuestra confianza en el hombre y en el progreso ilimitado de la ciencia. Hoy asistimos a un ataque cada vez mayor del ateísmo pesimista militante contra la religión, pero esta forma de ideología quizá sea algo menos dañina que la otra, como muestra la novela.
La novela tiene pocos pronósticos de ciencia-ficción. Mencionaré los trenes de alta velocidad, las armas nucleares (a las que llama "explosivos de Benninschein", pues el autor no llegó a prever que las armas de destrucción masiva se crearían mediante trabajo en equipo, y no por personalidades individuales) y métodos avanzados para la eutanasia. Por otra parte, el mundo científico que describe para principios del siglo XXI es bastante similar al estado de la ciencia y la tecnología a principios del siglo XX: (Radio-)telégrafo como principal método de comunicación, el teléfono restringido para uso del gobierno, zepelines para los viajes aéreos, y poco más.
Siempre he creído que el Anticristo será una ideología, no una persona. Encuentro un poco ridícula la idea de que una masa de ateos adore como Dios a un hombre como ellos. El Gran Hermano de Orwell, un jefe misterioso e impersonal al que se adora, fue mejor.
A pesar de estas críticas, la novela es muy buena. De hecho, a veces resulta abrumadora.
There are two kinds of atheism:
1. Optimistic atheism, which replaces faith in God by an overpowering faith in Man. God, in this view, is the result of evolution, not its cause. The last question, a short story by Asimov, could be considered the most concise representative of this ideology in the field of SF.
2. Pessimistic atheism, which reduces man to just an animal, an epiphenomenon, something of no importance, about whose future Nature (or the universe) cares nothing, something that in the long range can have no impact. This would be (I believe) the line followed by the new atheists, such as Richard Dawkins.
Lord of the World shows where optimistic atheism could lead us to. When the book was written, this form of atheism looked like the most probable consequence of the foreseeable progress of Mankind. In a sudden change that started just a few years later, the two world wars and the subsequent half-a-century cold war, when the self-destruction of man seemed to be the most probable future, have vaccinated us, making us lose most of our trust in Man and the unlimited progress of science. Today we are witnessing an increasing attack of militant pessimistic atheism against religion, but this form of the ideology may be somewhat less damaging than the other, as the novel shows.
As to science-fiction forecasts, the novel has few. I’d mention high-speed-trains, nuclear weapons (represented by Benninschein explosives, by which the author fails to foresee that mass destruction weapons would be created by team work, not by individual personalities), and advanced methods for euthanasia. On the other hand, the scientific world depicted at the beginning of the 21st century is quite similar to the status of science and technology at the beginning of the 20th century: (radio-)telegraph as the main way of communication, telephone restricted to government uses, zeppelins for air travel, and little else.
I have always believed that the Antichrist will be an ideology, not a man. I find a little ludicrous the idea of a mass of atheists worshipping as God a man just like themselves. Orwell’s creation of Big Brother as a mysterious, impersonal chief to be worshipped was better.
In spite of these criticisms, the novel is very good. In fact, at times it is overwhelming.
ESPAÑOL: Novela apocalíptica escrita en 1907. Personalmente, prefiero Cántico a San Leibowitz, que me parece mejor construido y más creíble, pues el final apocalíptico lo causa el hombre mismo, en lugar de actos de Dios inexplicables.
Hay dos tipos de ateísmo:
1. El ateísmo optimista, que reemplaza la fe en Dios por una fe abrumadora en el hombre. Dios, según este punto de vista, es el resultado de la evolución, no su causa. La pregunta definitiva, cuento de Asimov, podría considerarse el representante más conciso de esta ideología en el campo de la ciencia-ficción.
2. El ateísmo pesimista, que reduce el hombre a sólo un animal, a epifenómeno, algo sin importancia, de cuyo futuro la Naturaleza (o el universo) no se preocupa en absoluto, que a largo plazo no puede causar impacto. Esta sería (creo) la línea seguida por los nuevos ateos, como Richard Dawkins.
El Señor del Mundo muestra a dónde nos puede llevar el ateísmo optimista. Cuando se escribió el libro, esta forma de ateísmo parecía la consecuencia más probable del progreso previsible de la humanidad. En un cambio repentino que comenzó pocos años después, las dos guerras mundiales y la posterior guerra fría de medio siglo, cuando la autodestrucción del hombre parecía ser el futuro más probable, nos han vacunado, haciéndonos perder la mayor parte de nuestra confianza en el hombre y en el progreso ilimitado de la ciencia. Hoy asistimos a un ataque cada vez mayor del ateísmo pesimista militante contra la religión, pero esta forma de ideología quizá sea algo menos dañina que la otra, como muestra la novela.
La novela tiene pocos pronósticos de ciencia-ficción. Mencionaré los trenes de alta velocidad, las armas nucleares (a las que llama "explosivos de Benninschein", pues el autor no llegó a prever que las armas de destrucción masiva se crearían mediante trabajo en equipo, y no por personalidades individuales) y métodos avanzados para la eutanasia. Por otra parte, el mundo científico que describe para principios del siglo XXI es bastante similar al estado de la ciencia y la tecnología a principios del siglo XX: (Radio-)telégrafo como principal método de comunicación, el teléfono restringido para uso del gobierno, zepelines para los viajes aéreos, y poco más.
Siempre he creído que el Anticristo será una ideología, no una persona. Encuentro un poco ridícula la idea de que una masa de ateos adore como Dios a un hombre como ellos. El Gran Hermano de Orwell, un jefe misterioso e impersonal al que se adora, fue mejor.
A pesar de estas críticas, la novela es muy buena. De hecho, a veces resulta abrumadora.
September 25, 2015
At the turn of the 21st century, war between the states of Europe and the East threatens; at the midnight hour, however, comes an obscure American politician, a senator of no fame, whose cosmopolitan charm allows him to calm the troubled diplomatic waters and prevent a century of peace and prosperity from being overturned by strife. Hailed as a savior, the rising star becomes a pivotal figure in world affairs – but the epitome of modernity, this senator has a far darker role to play in cosmic history. He is the Antichrist, and his triumph means the end of the world is at hand.
Published in 1908, Lord of the World is a piece of Catholic fiction driven by conflict between Christian tradition and modernity. The prevailing drives of the 19th century seem to have achieved fruition in Lord of the World; democracy has triumphed over monarchy, social programs and psychology over religion, and -- in general – the material over the spiritual. Europeans across the board are irreligious, with the exception of what is left of the Catholic church, concentrated in Ireland and the City of Rome. There is a religious sentiment alive in the Europeans, a worship of the human soul, a sense of human beings as divine; this ‘humanitarian’ religion achieves deliberate expression when the American becomes President of Europe and institutes, French-revolution like, a Cult of the Supreme Being – a Cult of the Human. Initially harmless, it quickly becomes the state religion, mandatory and supreme. Catholic resistance is answered by the obliteration of Rome, and a new pope-in-exile flees to Judea, there to await the end.
Although the depiction of an Antichrist figure and the ‘Endtimes’ may bring to mind thoughts of the Left Behind series. Lord of the World is far better done. Each viewpoint character struggles with self-doubt; even the man who ends as Pope begins questioning his own faith. The spirit of Antichrist is patently seductive; this 'dystopia' is a progressive dream-world,almost like Star Trek's Earth but without warp drive. But whereas Star Trek's humans have a 'more evolved sensibility'*, Lord of the World's humans are just like us; imperfect. When a few disturbed individuals mount another failed Guy Fawkes plot against the center of the new cult, Westminister Abbey, the new European president' response, and that of his followers, is far from humane. Violence fills the streets, and a vicious persecution of all remaining Christians ensues. Simply 'believing in themselves' did nothing to better the people of Earth; it is in fact their perfect faith in themselves that makes them so vicious. Utterly convinced that their cause is righteous, those who oppose the dream count for nothing, and no action against them is beyond the pale. Even as the world at large becomes increasingly awestruck by the dear leader's accomplishments, the most idealistic of the viewpoint characters find their faith in him shaken by his cold-blooded savagery.
A century after its publication, Lord of the World seems in part prophetic. Christianity has waned fast in Europe, and rampant consumerism abounds worldwide.. Moderns chase material hopes instead of spiritual succor, ignoring practical philosophy and religion alike for the distracting allure of stuff. From Benson's point of view, however, the west today is not as in as dangerous a position as the west of his book; we are in no danger of being fulfilled. Every commercial and every election reveal our constant frustration and dissatisfaction; Benson's dread was a drowsy contentedness with the way things are that masks spiritual hunger, something definitely not present in our own lives. The meat of Lord is not hackneyed attempts to force current events into the poetic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures, or action movie thriller antics like the Left Behind novels, but soul-searching. While Benson's Antichrist allows everyone to reassure themselves of man's moral perfectibility, his Christian characters understand human nature as frail. When an English priest arrives in the City of Rome, where many of the trappings of modernity are kept outside the city walls to preserve the interior, he breaths a sigh of relief at the messiness of it:
"Yet Percy, even in the glimpses he had had in the streets, as he drove from the volor station outside the People's Gate, of the old peasant dresses, the blue and red-fringed wine carts, the cabbage-strewn gutters, the wet clothes flapping on strings, the mules and horses -- strange though these were, he had found them a refreshment. It had seemed to remind him that man was human, and not divine as the rest of the world proclaimed -- human, and therefore careless and individualistic; human, and therefore occupied with interests other than those of speed, cleanliness, and precision."
Rome's Christianity assures the priest that while he is not perfect, he does not need to be. Human redemption does not stem from machine-perfect order. Just as The Iron Heel put forth numerous arguments for a democratic-socialist state in the context of a revolution against corporate rule, Lord's searching sets two different perspectives about human nature against one another; one, optimistic but unyielding; the other, pessimistic but forgiving. The moral discussion is the heart of the book, though there are minor points of interest for those interested in comparing 'futurist' or alternate histories. Aspects of it are very dated, like the heavy use of zeppelins and telegraphs, and Benson's belief that total command economies would triumph is not dissimilar to H.G. Wells and Jack London's futurecasting, though he's more skeptical about its merits. One peculiarity of this being Catholic fiction is the fusion of the church's foes -- Freemasonry and Marxism have merged here, and Mason lodges have taken over most churches. I don't know if anyone takes the freemasons as seriously as the Catholic church does, with the exception of the freemasons themselves.
Lord of the World is an altogether different 'endtimes' story, more theologically driven than driven on action. It is far more humane than 1984 or Brave New World -- whereas those and other dystopias invent worlds where the human spirit has been utterly crushed by systems, in Lord things are more promising. Man is far from God, yes, but not abandoned; unlike those thrillers, where man is left alone to fight against a machine beyond his fathoming, the persecuted Christian remnant awaiting salvation in Nazareth have the hope of resurrection; God is with them throughout the struggle; as St. Paul noted, even if they die it will be to their gain; even if the world perishes, it will be reborn anew.
For me, Lord is provoking, torn as I am between the invigorating faith in creative progress and the more humble Christian understanding that we are imperfect and in need of grace.
Published in 1908, Lord of the World is a piece of Catholic fiction driven by conflict between Christian tradition and modernity. The prevailing drives of the 19th century seem to have achieved fruition in Lord of the World; democracy has triumphed over monarchy, social programs and psychology over religion, and -- in general – the material over the spiritual. Europeans across the board are irreligious, with the exception of what is left of the Catholic church, concentrated in Ireland and the City of Rome. There is a religious sentiment alive in the Europeans, a worship of the human soul, a sense of human beings as divine; this ‘humanitarian’ religion achieves deliberate expression when the American becomes President of Europe and institutes, French-revolution like, a Cult of the Supreme Being – a Cult of the Human. Initially harmless, it quickly becomes the state religion, mandatory and supreme. Catholic resistance is answered by the obliteration of Rome, and a new pope-in-exile flees to Judea, there to await the end.
Although the depiction of an Antichrist figure and the ‘Endtimes’ may bring to mind thoughts of the Left Behind series. Lord of the World is far better done. Each viewpoint character struggles with self-doubt; even the man who ends as Pope begins questioning his own faith. The spirit of Antichrist is patently seductive; this 'dystopia' is a progressive dream-world,almost like Star Trek's Earth but without warp drive. But whereas Star Trek's humans have a 'more evolved sensibility'*, Lord of the World's humans are just like us; imperfect. When a few disturbed individuals mount another failed Guy Fawkes plot against the center of the new cult, Westminister Abbey, the new European president' response, and that of his followers, is far from humane. Violence fills the streets, and a vicious persecution of all remaining Christians ensues. Simply 'believing in themselves' did nothing to better the people of Earth; it is in fact their perfect faith in themselves that makes them so vicious. Utterly convinced that their cause is righteous, those who oppose the dream count for nothing, and no action against them is beyond the pale. Even as the world at large becomes increasingly awestruck by the dear leader's accomplishments, the most idealistic of the viewpoint characters find their faith in him shaken by his cold-blooded savagery.
A century after its publication, Lord of the World seems in part prophetic. Christianity has waned fast in Europe, and rampant consumerism abounds worldwide.. Moderns chase material hopes instead of spiritual succor, ignoring practical philosophy and religion alike for the distracting allure of stuff. From Benson's point of view, however, the west today is not as in as dangerous a position as the west of his book; we are in no danger of being fulfilled. Every commercial and every election reveal our constant frustration and dissatisfaction; Benson's dread was a drowsy contentedness with the way things are that masks spiritual hunger, something definitely not present in our own lives. The meat of Lord is not hackneyed attempts to force current events into the poetic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures, or action movie thriller antics like the Left Behind novels, but soul-searching. While Benson's Antichrist allows everyone to reassure themselves of man's moral perfectibility, his Christian characters understand human nature as frail. When an English priest arrives in the City of Rome, where many of the trappings of modernity are kept outside the city walls to preserve the interior, he breaths a sigh of relief at the messiness of it:
"Yet Percy, even in the glimpses he had had in the streets, as he drove from the volor station outside the People's Gate, of the old peasant dresses, the blue and red-fringed wine carts, the cabbage-strewn gutters, the wet clothes flapping on strings, the mules and horses -- strange though these were, he had found them a refreshment. It had seemed to remind him that man was human, and not divine as the rest of the world proclaimed -- human, and therefore careless and individualistic; human, and therefore occupied with interests other than those of speed, cleanliness, and precision."
Rome's Christianity assures the priest that while he is not perfect, he does not need to be. Human redemption does not stem from machine-perfect order. Just as The Iron Heel put forth numerous arguments for a democratic-socialist state in the context of a revolution against corporate rule, Lord's searching sets two different perspectives about human nature against one another; one, optimistic but unyielding; the other, pessimistic but forgiving. The moral discussion is the heart of the book, though there are minor points of interest for those interested in comparing 'futurist' or alternate histories. Aspects of it are very dated, like the heavy use of zeppelins and telegraphs, and Benson's belief that total command economies would triumph is not dissimilar to H.G. Wells and Jack London's futurecasting, though he's more skeptical about its merits. One peculiarity of this being Catholic fiction is the fusion of the church's foes -- Freemasonry and Marxism have merged here, and Mason lodges have taken over most churches. I don't know if anyone takes the freemasons as seriously as the Catholic church does, with the exception of the freemasons themselves.
Lord of the World is an altogether different 'endtimes' story, more theologically driven than driven on action. It is far more humane than 1984 or Brave New World -- whereas those and other dystopias invent worlds where the human spirit has been utterly crushed by systems, in Lord things are more promising. Man is far from God, yes, but not abandoned; unlike those thrillers, where man is left alone to fight against a machine beyond his fathoming, the persecuted Christian remnant awaiting salvation in Nazareth have the hope of resurrection; God is with them throughout the struggle; as St. Paul noted, even if they die it will be to their gain; even if the world perishes, it will be reborn anew.
For me, Lord is provoking, torn as I am between the invigorating faith in creative progress and the more humble Christian understanding that we are imperfect and in need of grace.
July 12, 2020
A more precise rating is four and a half stars since it is not a perfect work, but I erred on the higher side because I thought this a beautifully written and prophetic novel of ideas. As you can read from its description, it’s a dystopian novel of a future where secular humanism has come to dominate the world and seeks the final eradication of religion, especially Christianity. The one religion that remains is Roman Catholicism, but any Christian denomination would have sufficed. The author is a Roman Catholic priest, so he is writing from what he knows. The novel was written in 1907 and is set a hundred years into its future, which would make it now. In that future, secular humanism has come to dominate society and seeks the eradication of all religion, especially Christianity since it proposes a metaphysical world of a transcendent God who’s values go beyond the human ego. The totalitarianism of Orwell has come and gone, but the secular stranglehold of Benson’s dystopian vision is very much with us. And what does Benson see as the source of the secularist’s power? Humanitarianism, as seen through the ego and not of Christ, and cold logic at the expense of human values. The Lord of the world has been replaced by a lord over human beings, all of which will bring the narrative to an apocalyptic ending.
Not only is this a novel of ideas but one of extraordinary lyricism. Robert Hugh Benson is a gifted writer. There are scenes delineated in the best tradition of fine Victorian prose. Here is an example of a moment when Fr. Percy Franklin, the novel’s central figure, enters a chapel to pray.
Such a simple moment, and yet Benson makes it come alive. And here also is the dramatic entrance into the novel of its chief antithesis, the newly elected secular President of the world, dubbed Lord of the World, Julian Felsenburgh. Here he enters on some sort of hovering craft over a cheering crowd.
There are many such startling scenes that this novel would make a superb movie. Why hasn’t this been made into a movie? The final climatic scene where the religious have just finished Mass and are in procession with the Blessed Sacrament chanting Latin hymns while the onslaught of the destroying bombers make their way is brilliant. This is a novel that should have a much wider audience, and should be required reading across universities if universities had the incentive to be balanced. But they are not. So it behooves you to read the novel for yourself.
Not only is this a novel of ideas but one of extraordinary lyricism. Robert Hugh Benson is a gifted writer. There are scenes delineated in the best tradition of fine Victorian prose. Here is an example of a moment when Fr. Percy Franklin, the novel’s central figure, enters a chapel to pray.
It was drawing on towards sunset, and the huge dark place was lighted here and there by patches of ruddy London light that lay on the gorgeous marble and gildings finished at last by a wealthy convert. In front of him rose up the choir, with a line of white surpliced and furred canons on either side, and the vast baldachino in the midst, beneath which burned the six lights as they had burned day by day for more than a century; behind that again lay the high line of the apse-choir with the dim, window-pierced vault above where Christ reigned in majesty. He let his eyes wander round for a few moments before beginning his deliberate prayer, drinking in the glory of the place, listening to the thunderous chorus, the peal of the organ, and the thin mellow voice of the priest. There on the left shone the refracted glow of the lamps that burned before the Lord in the Sacrament, on the right a dozen candles winked here and there at the foot of the gaunt images, high overhead hung the gigantic cross with that lean, emaciated Poor Man Who called all who looked on Him to the embraces of a God.
Such a simple moment, and yet Benson makes it come alive. And here also is the dramatic entrance into the novel of its chief antithesis, the newly elected secular President of the world, dubbed Lord of the World, Julian Felsenburgh. Here he enters on some sort of hovering craft over a cheering crowd.
High on the central deck there stood a chair, draped, too, in white, with some insignia visible above its back; and in the chair sat the figure of a man, motionless and lonely. He made no sign as he came; his dark dress showed vividedly against the whiteness; his head was raised, and he turned it gently now and again from side to side.
It came nearer still, in the profound stillness; the head turned, and for an instant the face was plainly visible in the soft, radiant light.
It was a pale face, strongly marked, as of a young man, with arched, black eyebrows, thin lips, and white hair.
Then the face turned once more, the steersman shifted his head, and the beautiful shape, wheeling a little, passed the corner, and moved up towards the palace.
There was an hysterical yelp somewhere, a cry, and again the tempestuous groan broke out.
There are many such startling scenes that this novel would make a superb movie. Why hasn’t this been made into a movie? The final climatic scene where the religious have just finished Mass and are in procession with the Blessed Sacrament chanting Latin hymns while the onslaught of the destroying bombers make their way is brilliant. This is a novel that should have a much wider audience, and should be required reading across universities if universities had the incentive to be balanced. But they are not. So it behooves you to read the novel for yourself.
September 26, 2012
I was ready to give this book 5 stars right up until the last page, maybe even the last line. The writing is lush, complex, with the sort of Victorian-era delight in rich and beautiful language that one seldom encounters these days and it was a joy to read. Here's an example:
Isn't that glorious? Who writes like that these days?
As to plot, since I'm a fan of post-apocalypse (although this is more pre- and during-) it was a great fit. Lord of the World presents a world in which secular humanism has carried the day and religion has been reduced to a mildly embarrassing and socially inappropriate habit, like chewing with one's mouth open. The Catholic Church is the lone holdout, and even they have been reduced to only two countries (Rome and Ireland) with a few scattered believers here and there in the remainder. Now, the author was an Anglican priest and son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, so you know which side is going to win in the eventual Apocalypse, but it isn't at all obvious at the beginning. Initially, Benson does an excellent job presenting this triumph of rationality as a positive development for mankind but gradually... skillfully... slowly... there grows in the reader a sort of creeping nameless horror. The fate of Mabel Brand is perhaps the saddest and most heart-wrenching of all. (Curiously, in many ways Mabel reminded me strongly of Cherryl Brooks Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: they both discover a lie at the heart of their lives and want to face the truth, no matter what; when they do -- well, no more for fear of spoilers!)
Those looking for battles and car chases and excitement and the Rapture will be bored. Those who enjoy a more subtle, philosophical approach to Armageddon will be entranced (though you may want to keep a Latin dictionary handy).
So what happened? Why five stars right up until the last page? Well, it's not that I object to what happens on the last page, but rather the fact that it IS the last page. The ending is exceedingly abrupt, as though the author expended all his energy getting the reader to that point and then collapsed. Not that I can imagine where the story could have gone (it's a pretty comprehensive last page), but we've been trained to expect buildup, climax, denouement. Well, you get a climax for sure but no denouement whatsoever. It's quite the crash.
Still, I highly recommend it. Just be prepared to be let down ungently at the end.
It was a very upright old man that [Father Franklin] saw in the chair before him, of medium height and girth, with hands clasping the bosses of his chair-arms, and an appearance of great and deliberate dignity. But it was at the face chiefly that he looked, dropping his gaze three or four times, as the Pope's blue eyes turned on him. They were extraordinary eyes, reminding him of what historians said of Pius X.; the lids drew straight lines across them, giving him the look of a hawk, but the rest of the face contradicted them. There was no sharpness in that. It was neither thin nor fat, but beautifully modelled in an oval outline: the lips were clean-cut, with a look of passion in their curves; the nose came down in an aquiline sweep, ending in chiselled nostrils; the chin was firm and cloven, and the poise of the whole head was strangely youthful. It was a face of great generosity and sweetness, set at an angle between defiance and humility, but ecclesiastical from ear to ear and brow to chin; the forehead was slightly compressed at the temples, and beneath the white cap lay white hair. It had been the subject of laughter at the music-halls nine years before, when the composite face of well-known priests had been thrown on a screen, side by side with the new Pope's, for the two were almost indistinguishable.
Isn't that glorious? Who writes like that these days?
As to plot, since I'm a fan of post-apocalypse (although this is more pre- and during-) it was a great fit. Lord of the World presents a world in which secular humanism has carried the day and religion has been reduced to a mildly embarrassing and socially inappropriate habit, like chewing with one's mouth open. The Catholic Church is the lone holdout, and even they have been reduced to only two countries (Rome and Ireland) with a few scattered believers here and there in the remainder. Now, the author was an Anglican priest and son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, so you know which side is going to win in the eventual Apocalypse, but it isn't at all obvious at the beginning. Initially, Benson does an excellent job presenting this triumph of rationality as a positive development for mankind but gradually... skillfully... slowly... there grows in the reader a sort of creeping nameless horror. The fate of Mabel Brand is perhaps the saddest and most heart-wrenching of all. (Curiously, in many ways Mabel reminded me strongly of Cherryl Brooks Taggart in Atlas Shrugged: they both discover a lie at the heart of their lives and want to face the truth, no matter what; when they do -- well, no more for fear of spoilers!)
Those looking for battles and car chases and excitement and the Rapture will be bored. Those who enjoy a more subtle, philosophical approach to Armageddon will be entranced (though you may want to keep a Latin dictionary handy).
So what happened? Why five stars right up until the last page? Well, it's not that I object to what happens on the last page, but rather the fact that it IS the last page. The ending is exceedingly abrupt, as though the author expended all his energy getting the reader to that point and then collapsed. Not that I can imagine where the story could have gone (it's a pretty comprehensive last page), but we've been trained to expect buildup, climax, denouement. Well, you get a climax for sure but no denouement whatsoever. It's quite the crash.
Still, I highly recommend it. Just be prepared to be let down ungently at the end.
February 11, 2012
In this book a practically unknown one-term United States senator with a charismatic personality and a magnetic speaking voice comes to power in 2008 and turns out to be the Antichrist. Honest.
Yes, this is basically the same plot as a book I was handed by a wild-eyed fellow outside Redfern station a decade ago. You may have been handed the same book. However, in this case: (1) it is the Protestants who cave immediately to join the Antichrist while the Catholics are the persecuted minority fighting him, and (2) the writing is really very good.
You should read this book for its prefigurements of the great 20th century dystopias. Before Our Ford’s T-Model, here is a London with the same Brave New World aesthetic, the euthanasia centres, the selfless meritocrats keeping the proles happy with bread and circuses. Before Mussolini’s march on Rome, here is Big Brother’s Cult of Personality, the Nuremburg-style crowds, the world eerily divided into three great blocs. In 1907, here is a dysfunctional European parliament, a thoroughly Godless Europe about to be overwhelmed by barbarism from the East, a London convulsed by mob violence. The book is like a chrysalis containing the whole terrible century that was to come. Of course science fiction is not about prediction: but this book, which doesn't claim to be science fiction, comes closer to predicting the real 2008 than anything else I've read from a similar distance in time.
Unless you are fond of the sort of things Charles Williams used to write, there is no real reason to read all the way to the end: after all, you know how it will turn out. I would suggest stopping after the passage of the Alps, except to flip ahead and look for the bits with Mabel in them. These are rather good, and also contain the basis for my assertion that the novel takes place in 2008. Oh, and the novel is full of Catholic jargon in a Morris West-like fashion, only more so. Those are my only caveats.
The book contains nothing to reassure Edwardian middle-class Protestants raised on tales of Catholic perfidy. The main characters are almost - almost - fanatical enough to be seen from the opposite direction as the bad guys in a Sheri S. Tepper novel. While the official position of the Church and of the heroes - who are all priests - is one of extreme in-your-face pacifism in response to persecution, there are other Catholics who do try to blow up Westminster Abbey, assassinate government officials, etc.: and the main characters never really condemn them, just worry about the possible blowback effects. Which are admittedly pretty bad.
Yes, this is basically the same plot as a book I was handed by a wild-eyed fellow outside Redfern station a decade ago. You may have been handed the same book. However, in this case: (1) it is the Protestants who cave immediately to join the Antichrist while the Catholics are the persecuted minority fighting him, and (2) the writing is really very good.
You should read this book for its prefigurements of the great 20th century dystopias. Before Our Ford’s T-Model, here is a London with the same Brave New World aesthetic, the euthanasia centres, the selfless meritocrats keeping the proles happy with bread and circuses. Before Mussolini’s march on Rome, here is Big Brother’s Cult of Personality, the Nuremburg-style crowds, the world eerily divided into three great blocs. In 1907, here is a dysfunctional European parliament, a thoroughly Godless Europe about to be overwhelmed by barbarism from the East, a London convulsed by mob violence. The book is like a chrysalis containing the whole terrible century that was to come. Of course science fiction is not about prediction: but this book, which doesn't claim to be science fiction, comes closer to predicting the real 2008 than anything else I've read from a similar distance in time.
Unless you are fond of the sort of things Charles Williams used to write, there is no real reason to read all the way to the end: after all, you know how it will turn out. I would suggest stopping after the passage of the Alps, except to flip ahead and look for the bits with Mabel in them. These are rather good, and also contain the basis for my assertion that the novel takes place in 2008. Oh, and the novel is full of Catholic jargon in a Morris West-like fashion, only more so. Those are my only caveats.
The book contains nothing to reassure Edwardian middle-class Protestants raised on tales of Catholic perfidy. The main characters are almost - almost - fanatical enough to be seen from the opposite direction as the bad guys in a Sheri S. Tepper novel. While the official position of the Church and of the heroes - who are all priests - is one of extreme in-your-face pacifism in response to persecution, there are other Catholics who do try to blow up Westminster Abbey, assassinate government officials, etc.: and the main characters never really condemn them, just worry about the possible blowback effects. Which are admittedly pretty bad.
February 21, 2015
Our Pope Francis is full of surprises. This book is on his list of favorites! It is in the public domain so is available for free in the kindle store and is available free in audio on librivox. I read it both ways. The author was a Catholic priest, so there is definitely a Catholic perspective, but I think that anyone would find the book a page-turner. Fr. Robert Hugh Benson wrote it in 1907 and it is shocking how prophetic it is. Honestly, I think it would be a very interesting read especially for people who have no faith or a weak faith. Humans have a need for worship in their lives. If we don't worship God, what do we choose? Particular world views can sound good, but without a foundation of faith in God, they can lead to places we don't want to go. Once there, we can never come back. This is an end times book. I don't think I'll ever be able to hear "O Salutaris Hostia" again without getting chills. No matter how you read this book, I recommend that you listen to the final chapter on librivox. The reader sings the song in such a haunting voice that you will never forget it.
I recommend this book to everyone.
I recommend this book to everyone.
March 28, 2021
should have read this sooner. must-read for every Catholic. dystopian but i felt more hopeful after reading it. :) #Catholicism
http://aleteia.org/2016/04/08/why-are...
http://aleteia.org/2016/04/08/why-are...
April 7, 2023
Este es uno de esos libros que me cuesta calificar porque me gustaría seguir la corriente de los demás lectores y darle unas merecidas cuatro o cinco estrellas, pero por otro lado es una lectura de esas que me hacen sufrir. Y no lo digo en sentido figurado, sino que literalmente he sufrido como una sesión se body pump extra.
Reconozco que me elegro de haber leído este libro, pero no que lo haya disfrutado. Es eso del mal menor y el bien mayor, ahora sé un poquito más del mundo que antes, pero a costa de un gran esfuerzo.
El libro se hace lento y pesado y en ocasiones la narrativa es muy... como describirlo... "espesa". Hay párrafos que he tenido que releer varias veces para entenderlos.
En cuanto a la trama, pues se lo considera como una de las novelas que dio origen al género distópico. Es curioso ver en qué "predicciones" acierta, en cuáles falla y en cuáles se acerca y cómo éstas parten de las "nuevas" tecnologías de su época. Estamos hablando de una novela escrita en 1907 donde el transporte y las comunicaciones estaban en pleno desarrollo.
Quizás el detalle más significativo de esta novela distópica es que se trata de "lectura religiosa" escrita por un religioso, por lo que el enfoque es un tanto peculiar para los que no estamos acostumbrados a este tipo de lecturas. Digamos que es una distopía dentro del enfoque cristiano, un fin del mundo de la religiosidad...
De todo el libro me quedo con una parte muy reflexiva sobre la naturaleza humana, y aquí aviso de que voy a entrar en spoiler ⚠️⚠️⚠️: .
Esto me recuerda a esa frase de "si tu mano te hace pecar, córtala". También me recuerda al exterminio nazi, creo que es una situación bastante similar donde se busca eliminar a una minoría que no encaja en el sistema impuesto, argumentando que su presencia es dañina para el conjunto, "la unidad impersonal".
Siempre me he preguntado cómo los dictadores como Hitler consiguen adeptos a sus inhumanas propuestas. He encontrado una respuesta en este libro, donde se nos dice "Éstas, pues, eran las razones principales aderezadas para ese sector del pueblo que todavía se encabritaba ante la meditada proposición de Felsenburgh; y su efecto había sido notable. Por supuesto que su lógica, en sí misma indisputable, había sido revestida de variedad de ropajes teñidos con retórica, encendidos con afectos, ordenados en dialéctica; y había hecho operación en forma tal que, al comenzar el verano, Felsenburgh había anunciado en privado su resolución de proponer un decreto que llevara a su lógica conclusión la política que había anunciado."... Mucho aderezo retórico y un público susceptible a creer que una diferencia de opinión es una "célula" enferma que hay que eliminar.
Resumiendo, no es un libro que vaya a releer ni que recomiende con fervor, pero es una lectura curiosa e interesante que ha gustado a otros muchos lectores.
Reconozco que me elegro de haber leído este libro, pero no que lo haya disfrutado. Es eso del mal menor y el bien mayor, ahora sé un poquito más del mundo que antes, pero a costa de un gran esfuerzo.
El libro se hace lento y pesado y en ocasiones la narrativa es muy... como describirlo... "espesa". Hay párrafos que he tenido que releer varias veces para entenderlos.
En cuanto a la trama, pues se lo considera como una de las novelas que dio origen al género distópico. Es curioso ver en qué "predicciones" acierta, en cuáles falla y en cuáles se acerca y cómo éstas parten de las "nuevas" tecnologías de su época. Estamos hablando de una novela escrita en 1907 donde el transporte y las comunicaciones estaban en pleno desarrollo.
Quizás el detalle más significativo de esta novela distópica es que se trata de "lectura religiosa" escrita por un religioso, por lo que el enfoque es un tanto peculiar para los que no estamos acostumbrados a este tipo de lecturas. Digamos que es una distopía dentro del enfoque cristiano, un fin del mundo de la religiosidad...
De todo el libro me quedo con una parte muy reflexiva sobre la naturaleza humana, y aquí aviso de que voy a entrar en spoiler ⚠️⚠️⚠️: .
Esto me recuerda a esa frase de "si tu mano te hace pecar, córtala". También me recuerda al exterminio nazi, creo que es una situación bastante similar donde se busca eliminar a una minoría que no encaja en el sistema impuesto, argumentando que su presencia es dañina para el conjunto, "la unidad impersonal".
Siempre me he preguntado cómo los dictadores como Hitler consiguen adeptos a sus inhumanas propuestas. He encontrado una respuesta en este libro, donde se nos dice "Éstas, pues, eran las razones principales aderezadas para ese sector del pueblo que todavía se encabritaba ante la meditada proposición de Felsenburgh; y su efecto había sido notable. Por supuesto que su lógica, en sí misma indisputable, había sido revestida de variedad de ropajes teñidos con retórica, encendidos con afectos, ordenados en dialéctica; y había hecho operación en forma tal que, al comenzar el verano, Felsenburgh había anunciado en privado su resolución de proponer un decreto que llevara a su lógica conclusión la política que había anunciado."... Mucho aderezo retórico y un público susceptible a creer que una diferencia de opinión es una "célula" enferma que hay que eliminar.
Resumiendo, no es un libro que vaya a releer ni que recomiende con fervor, pero es una lectura curiosa e interesante que ha gustado a otros muchos lectores.
February 28, 2017
Oh boy, what is there to say about this book? It's fantastic, heart wrenching, conflicting, and beautiful. At it's heart it's a story about man's pursuit of higher ideals, but in practice it's an apocalyptic vision of the so-called progress of modern man.
The book follows three main characters, a young priest - who represents the "outmoded" Catholic worldview-, a politician in the new world government - representing rigid idealism and utilitarianism-, and the politician's wife - representing the conflicted idealist-. Through these three characters we see a world striving for transcendence, but rejecting the transcendent. The book reads as a sweeping cautionary tale against humanism; and a very successful one to my eyes. Without spoiling the trajectory in the story, it becomes quickly obvious who is applying consistent but inhuman logic in the appropriate way and who is not.
From a literary perspective the book is really excellent. It's language is beautiful, and the interactions between characters (if a bit stylized) are very human. There's a lot of embellishment and flowery language, but I chalk that up to the writing of the time much more than to a particular method that the author was using to convey a point. There are some missed-marks as far as future-telling goes, but no worse than books written significantly later than this one; which was written in 1907. He prophetically accurately predicts a future world which includes legalized euthanasia, one-party states, and weapons of mass destruction. Also prophetically, affluence has led to apathy, atheism and a loss of faith by many Catholics.
I highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone of any faith persuasion. It's a classic work that I think is overlooked in classrooms in favor of "softer" and more "secular" works like "Farenheit 451", "1984", and "Brave New World". I love those books dearly, but this one packs more punch.
I subtracted a star because there are times when the book moves more slowly than I'd like, a hallmark of early 20th century literature. This is personal taste, and can't be accounted for, but it diminished my enthusiasm for the book as a whole. That being said, once the book gets going, it's very hard to put down.
The book follows three main characters, a young priest - who represents the "outmoded" Catholic worldview-, a politician in the new world government - representing rigid idealism and utilitarianism-, and the politician's wife - representing the conflicted idealist-. Through these three characters we see a world striving for transcendence, but rejecting the transcendent. The book reads as a sweeping cautionary tale against humanism; and a very successful one to my eyes. Without spoiling the trajectory in the story, it becomes quickly obvious who is applying consistent but inhuman logic in the appropriate way and who is not.
From a literary perspective the book is really excellent. It's language is beautiful, and the interactions between characters (if a bit stylized) are very human. There's a lot of embellishment and flowery language, but I chalk that up to the writing of the time much more than to a particular method that the author was using to convey a point. There are some missed-marks as far as future-telling goes, but no worse than books written significantly later than this one; which was written in 1907. He prophetically accurately predicts a future world which includes legalized euthanasia, one-party states, and weapons of mass destruction. Also prophetically, affluence has led to apathy, atheism and a loss of faith by many Catholics.
I highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone of any faith persuasion. It's a classic work that I think is overlooked in classrooms in favor of "softer" and more "secular" works like "Farenheit 451", "1984", and "Brave New World". I love those books dearly, but this one packs more punch.
I subtracted a star because there are times when the book moves more slowly than I'd like, a hallmark of early 20th century literature. This is personal taste, and can't be accounted for, but it diminished my enthusiasm for the book as a whole. That being said, once the book gets going, it's very hard to put down.
October 14, 2022
I love Robert Hugh Benson's writing!
Points I loved about this:
-Percy. I like Percy. (Also when he says that there are things he doesn't understand about the Catholic Faith, like how Hell can be a product of love, but that it isn't about understanding it is about trusting. I can sympathize so much:-)
-How he does antagonists. The villains, they actually feel like people- not demons! (now demonic villains are great, but it is nice to have human villains every once in a while) especially Oliver. I dislike Oliver very much, but he feels real all the same.
-The ending. I love the ending. It is so beautiful!
-The writing itself.
-Everything about it
-How horrible Oliver is.
-How much I despise Father Francis. (I also feel a tiny bit sorry for him. only a tiny.)
-The name of the book
-The plot
I'll admit the technology was a bit confused but the author lived like eighty years ago. What do you expect!
Points I loved about this:
-Percy. I like Percy. (Also when he says that there are things he doesn't understand about the Catholic Faith, like how Hell can be a product of love, but that it isn't about understanding it is about trusting. I can sympathize so much:-)
-How he does antagonists. The villains, they actually feel like people- not demons! (now demonic villains are great, but it is nice to have human villains every once in a while) especially Oliver. I dislike Oliver very much, but he feels real all the same.
-The ending. I love the ending. It is so beautiful!
-The writing itself.
-Everything about it
-How horrible Oliver is.
-How much I despise Father Francis. (I also feel a tiny bit sorry for him. only a tiny.)
-The name of the book
-The plot
I'll admit the technology was a bit confused but the author lived like eighty years ago. What do you expect!
Read
July 13, 2010Although this book of fiction was written over 100 years ago the author accurately predicted the radical changes that have not only taken place in the 20th century but may occur especially in relation to the emergence of air travel,constant berating & actual warfare against the Catholic Church, ready acceptance of euthanasia as a form of so-called medical treatment & most important of all the election by the world's population of the new Messiah who comes forth as a gentle,peace loving & all caring individual who will save the world from its woes...Conclusion, beware of such leaders for they will require that all followers give up their autonomy & serve the greater good ie the state.And also which books they may read!!
January 16, 2024
Wow. This book is crazy good. The premise in short: it tells a version of the end-times where the anti-Christ arises as a political leader to unite the world against those who stand in the way of Humanity’s growth, i.e. Catholics.
Because the author himself was a priest during his life, the faith is handled with wonderful care throughout. Moments of trust and determination are wonderfully inspiring, moments of doubt and crisis are presented honestly, and there were many times that I was awed and nearly brought to tears by the beauty and grandeur with which he speaks of our Lord. The perspectives of characters from the other side are also given, and their false-worship is unnerving enough to make your skin crawl. Occasionally the wording is a little difficult to parse through. It was written in the early 1900s, so it sometimes shows its age with the phrasing.
Overall, this book is phenomenal, and it’s likely one that’ll work its way into your prayer life. Highly recommend it.
Because the author himself was a priest during his life, the faith is handled with wonderful care throughout. Moments of trust and determination are wonderfully inspiring, moments of doubt and crisis are presented honestly, and there were many times that I was awed and nearly brought to tears by the beauty and grandeur with which he speaks of our Lord. The perspectives of characters from the other side are also given, and their false-worship is unnerving enough to make your skin crawl. Occasionally the wording is a little difficult to parse through. It was written in the early 1900s, so it sometimes shows its age with the phrasing.
Overall, this book is phenomenal, and it’s likely one that’ll work its way into your prayer life. Highly recommend it.
April 25, 2024
Raramente ho letto un romanzo così brutto. La trama avrebbe potuto essere una splendida occasione di spunti di riflessione su questioni non banali: l’opposizione tra laicità e fede (è necessario essere credenti per avere etica e morale?); la necessità politica di un “padrone del mondo” (l’uomo senza Dio ha necessità di avere un “uomo forte” al potere?). Ma nulla di tutto questo è stato sviluppato. Pur non essendo credente, una Christian-fiction non mi avrebbe disturbato se solo fosse stata una bella storia. Purtroppo questo libro è semplicemente noioso, anzi noiosissimo.
Lo stile è, certo, la sua maggiore carenza: pomposo e forzatamente lirico, pieno di noiose descrizioni e con un fortissimo intento didascalico. L’ho trovato così monotono che, durante la lettura, mi distraevo, pensando ad altro. E più di una volta ho dovuto rileggere.
I due personaggi principali sono così scarsamente caratterizzati da diventare quasi asettici, forse perché avrebbero dovuto rappresentare degli archetipi: Julian Felsenburgh, il “padrone del mondo”, l’uomo forte al potere che riesce ad imporsi sul nuovo ordine mondiale, oggetto di un vero e proprio culto della personalità, che giungerà ad essere considerato come un Dio; Percy Franklin, il nuovo Papa, che tenta di salvare la Chiesa cattolica. Sono sviluppati così poco e male che non ho provato alcuna emozione verso di loro: solo totale indifferenza. Tra i personaggi secondari, solo Mabel ha suscitato in me qualche sentimento. I pochi altri sono così monolitici da sperare solo che si sgretolino al vento. Non esistendo una voce fuori dal coro - il dissenso è bandito dalla società - non c’è molto da narrare su di loro.
Forse l’errore è stato mio: il libro è presentato come una distopia, e una distopia mi aspettavo. Mi sarebbe piaciuto scoprire come si vive in quel tipo di società, come interagiscono gli esseri umani, come soddisfano i bisogni, cosa succede nella quotidianità. A parte pochi riferimenti - l’eutanasia è pratica diffusa, l’edilizia si sviluppa sotto-terra e la lingua internazionale è l’esperanto - la narrazione è concentrata, quasi esclusivamente, sulle elucubrazioni dei due potenti e sulle loro strategie politiche.
Forse avrei dovuto leggerlo come un romanzo sulla eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male. Peccato che, anche in questo caso, la banalità avrebbe regnato sovrana, con un manicheismo insopportabile: Umanitaristi versus Cattolici. Confesso che non mi sarebbe piaciuto vivere in nessuna delle due società.
Il finale, poi, è totalmente incomprensibile: fu vera Apocalisse?
Fortemente sconsigliato... a chiunque.
Lo stile è, certo, la sua maggiore carenza: pomposo e forzatamente lirico, pieno di noiose descrizioni e con un fortissimo intento didascalico. L’ho trovato così monotono che, durante la lettura, mi distraevo, pensando ad altro. E più di una volta ho dovuto rileggere.
I due personaggi principali sono così scarsamente caratterizzati da diventare quasi asettici, forse perché avrebbero dovuto rappresentare degli archetipi: Julian Felsenburgh, il “padrone del mondo”, l’uomo forte al potere che riesce ad imporsi sul nuovo ordine mondiale, oggetto di un vero e proprio culto della personalità, che giungerà ad essere considerato come un Dio; Percy Franklin, il nuovo Papa, che tenta di salvare la Chiesa cattolica. Sono sviluppati così poco e male che non ho provato alcuna emozione verso di loro: solo totale indifferenza. Tra i personaggi secondari, solo Mabel ha suscitato in me qualche sentimento. I pochi altri sono così monolitici da sperare solo che si sgretolino al vento. Non esistendo una voce fuori dal coro - il dissenso è bandito dalla società - non c’è molto da narrare su di loro.
Forse l’errore è stato mio: il libro è presentato come una distopia, e una distopia mi aspettavo. Mi sarebbe piaciuto scoprire come si vive in quel tipo di società, come interagiscono gli esseri umani, come soddisfano i bisogni, cosa succede nella quotidianità. A parte pochi riferimenti - l’eutanasia è pratica diffusa, l’edilizia si sviluppa sotto-terra e la lingua internazionale è l’esperanto - la narrazione è concentrata, quasi esclusivamente, sulle elucubrazioni dei due potenti e sulle loro strategie politiche.
Forse avrei dovuto leggerlo come un romanzo sulla eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male. Peccato che, anche in questo caso, la banalità avrebbe regnato sovrana, con un manicheismo insopportabile: Umanitaristi versus Cattolici. Confesso che non mi sarebbe piaciuto vivere in nessuna delle due società.
Il finale, poi, è totalmente incomprensibile: fu vera Apocalisse?
Fortemente sconsigliato... a chiunque.
July 11, 2016
I enjoyed Fr Benson's work for its subtle accuracy, as much as for its prophetic drama.
This is no mere "catholic take" on the near future drama in the vain of A Brave New World, 1984, or Things to Come by Huxley, Orwell and HG Wells, respectively. It cleverly presents the ascendency of the modern belief in Man as the center of all things and governmental atheism as a religious creed.
I doubt many will convert to Catholicism reading this work (though, ironically, the author did, despite his being an Ordained Anglican minister AND son of the Archbishop of Cantebury.) But you won't see the "antichrist" the same way after this book, nor will you look at some politicians without seeing some striking parallels to Julian Felsenburgh.
Fast read, and thoughtful. Worth adding to your summer reading list!
This is no mere "catholic take" on the near future drama in the vain of A Brave New World, 1984, or Things to Come by Huxley, Orwell and HG Wells, respectively. It cleverly presents the ascendency of the modern belief in Man as the center of all things and governmental atheism as a religious creed.
I doubt many will convert to Catholicism reading this work (though, ironically, the author did, despite his being an Ordained Anglican minister AND son of the Archbishop of Cantebury.) But you won't see the "antichrist" the same way after this book, nor will you look at some politicians without seeing some striking parallels to Julian Felsenburgh.
Fast read, and thoughtful. Worth adding to your summer reading list!
March 20, 2018
Visionario, apocalittico, inquietante... Fa pensare. Il problema di fondo che attanaglia Benson e che viene trattato nel romanzo, è la crisi del sacro, o meglio, la possibile estinzione della fede in Cristo rimpiazzata da una generica religione dell'Umanità che metta tutti d'accordo e in buona pace con la coscienza.
Benson scrive nel 1907, quando i principali pericoli per la fede cristiana (e cattolica, Benson era un anglicano convertitosi al cattolicesimo) erano lo scientismo positivistico, il materialismo (più o meno dialettico), teosofia ed esoterismo, teismo, etc. grosso modo quelle tendenze del "mondo moderno" denunciate nel Sillabo da Pio IX nel 1864.
Forse, guardando soprattutto ai risvolti attuali, ciò che ha soppiantato e soppianta la fede in Gesù Cristo, è forse (ancora!?!) però più il nichilismo. Cosa dice Benson di Nietzsche? Boh? Non mi ricordo se ne parla.
Benson scrive nel 1907, quando i principali pericoli per la fede cristiana (e cattolica, Benson era un anglicano convertitosi al cattolicesimo) erano lo scientismo positivistico, il materialismo (più o meno dialettico), teosofia ed esoterismo, teismo, etc. grosso modo quelle tendenze del "mondo moderno" denunciate nel Sillabo da Pio IX nel 1864.
Forse, guardando soprattutto ai risvolti attuali, ciò che ha soppiantato e soppianta la fede in Gesù Cristo, è forse (ancora!?!) però più il nichilismo. Cosa dice Benson di Nietzsche? Boh? Non mi ricordo se ne parla.
January 1, 2010
Freakishly prophetic to today's world "theology" of secular humanism and all that encompasses- even though this book was written in 1907. I read this book in a few days it was so hard to put down and a flowing read. The major point I remember from it is the recognition of how important it will be to be fully in the state of grace in the time of "the" Anti-Christ because of how easily the masses will be fooled and believe in him.
August 10, 2015
Lord Of The World is a highbrow, Catholic version of Left Behind, written by a priest, Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson, in 1907. It is an apocalypse and theologically directed at Catholics, rather than at Protestants of the a premillennial dispensationalism bent. What makes it fascinating is that Pope Francis has repeatedly recommended it, no common thing in an apocalypse and not what you’d expect from a Pope reputed to be a theological liberal, and its predictive views, in 1907, of politics and technology.
The book is built around II Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God..” Father Benson’s book pictures that falling away and that man of sin, the Antichrist, and the reaction of the people of the time (late 20th Century).
Other reviewers have pointed out Msgr. Benson’s prescient descriptions of 20th Century technology. H.G. Wells is normally held up as an amazing predictor of future technology, but he wrote most of his predictions later. Msgr. Benson posits what are in effect nuclear weapons; commercial powered intercontinental air travel and instantaneous communications. He also predicts other modern non-technological happenings—not just a falling-away from religion, but other depravities, such as the mainstreaming of euthanasia (a common thread in morally-centered dystopias, back to Miller’s A Canticle For Leibowitz).
Even more interesting to the modern reader is that Msgr. Benson posits that the entire West has adopted Communism and is rich and happy, with a high degree of political freedom (at least until the Antichrist shows up and is made dictator by acclamation). Nowadays we see this as bizarre, because we correctly associate Communism, in every incarnation, with mass killing, totalitarianism, and grinding poverty for all but the ruling classes. But in 1907 it was possible to think, and most of the educated classes did think, that Communism might be the future. Live and learn.
Of course, there are plenty of predictions that don’t hold up. We don’t all speak Esperanto (or Latin, if churchmen). London hasn’t moved primarily underground. Nonetheless, none of these predictions are central to the story or detract from the flow of the story.
As Richard Posner said, “It is in the nature of apocalypses that each is falsified—except the last.” The Antichrist does not seem around the corner, and the reception by humanity of the Antichrist character in Lord Of The World, where essentially all humans simply defer to him for no real reason and nobody shrieks “The Emperor has no clothes!”, seems odd to us. But perhaps it always would seem odd, until it didn’t. Certainly some parts of this book resonate with the 21st Century, particularly the persecutions of Christians in the Middle East and the growing marginalization of actual Christian belief in the West, where anyone with actual Christian beliefs is increasingly openly and deliberately excluded from the cultural elite and the centers of business, law, science and medicine. Maybe the Antichrist is not around the corner. But maybe he is. We will find out, or our descendants will.
The book is built around II Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God..” Father Benson’s book pictures that falling away and that man of sin, the Antichrist, and the reaction of the people of the time (late 20th Century).
Other reviewers have pointed out Msgr. Benson’s prescient descriptions of 20th Century technology. H.G. Wells is normally held up as an amazing predictor of future technology, but he wrote most of his predictions later. Msgr. Benson posits what are in effect nuclear weapons; commercial powered intercontinental air travel and instantaneous communications. He also predicts other modern non-technological happenings—not just a falling-away from religion, but other depravities, such as the mainstreaming of euthanasia (a common thread in morally-centered dystopias, back to Miller’s A Canticle For Leibowitz).
Even more interesting to the modern reader is that Msgr. Benson posits that the entire West has adopted Communism and is rich and happy, with a high degree of political freedom (at least until the Antichrist shows up and is made dictator by acclamation). Nowadays we see this as bizarre, because we correctly associate Communism, in every incarnation, with mass killing, totalitarianism, and grinding poverty for all but the ruling classes. But in 1907 it was possible to think, and most of the educated classes did think, that Communism might be the future. Live and learn.
Of course, there are plenty of predictions that don’t hold up. We don’t all speak Esperanto (or Latin, if churchmen). London hasn’t moved primarily underground. Nonetheless, none of these predictions are central to the story or detract from the flow of the story.
As Richard Posner said, “It is in the nature of apocalypses that each is falsified—except the last.” The Antichrist does not seem around the corner, and the reception by humanity of the Antichrist character in Lord Of The World, where essentially all humans simply defer to him for no real reason and nobody shrieks “The Emperor has no clothes!”, seems odd to us. But perhaps it always would seem odd, until it didn’t. Certainly some parts of this book resonate with the 21st Century, particularly the persecutions of Christians in the Middle East and the growing marginalization of actual Christian belief in the West, where anyone with actual Christian beliefs is increasingly openly and deliberately excluded from the cultural elite and the centers of business, law, science and medicine. Maybe the Antichrist is not around the corner. But maybe he is. We will find out, or our descendants will.
May 12, 2021
Review to follow.
March 21, 2023
La primera distopía oficiosa es, más allá de su contenido político y social, un artefacto que desarrolla la preocupación de la iglesia católica por que el desarrollo de la humanidad conduzca a la desaparición de lo religioso. Se anticipa a movimientos y tecnología, conecta especialmente con nuestro presente y asienta muchas de las bases del subgénero distópico. Sin embargo, por encima de la etiqueta se impone el fondo de la historia, la narración de la venida del Anticristo para acabar con los representantes en la Tierra de su gran enemigo. Es este un libro que ha de leerse intentando acercar el punto de vista al del escritor, pues de lo contrario, de leerlo desde la irreligiosidad, se plantean obvias contradicciones de fondo en la lectura. Bajo el cambio de perspectiva y anclando la obra a su tiempo, la narración, que cuenta con bastantes tramos plúmbeos, resulta sin embargo interesante.
Breve ampliación aquí:
http://literaturaenlostalones.blogspo...
Breve ampliación aquí:
http://literaturaenlostalones.blogspo...
September 18, 2017
Il libro è stato scritto nel 1907 da un prete anglicano R.H. Benson, convertitosi al Cattolicesimo qualche anno prima e, di recente, ne è stata consigliata la lettura da Papa Francesco facendolo diventare di moda in alcuni ambienti cattolici.
Dico subito che io non ho apprezzato questo libro: l’ho trovato in buona parte noioso, con i personaggi privi di spessore e con una trama poco convincente anche se alcuni aspetti, per così dire, premonitori del futuro possono colpire il lettore.
Uno stile ampolloso, un finale… apocalittico, qualche descrizione apprezzabile e poco più mi hanno portato ad una valutazione tra 1 e 2 stelle.
Strana, ma non troppo, la somiglianza fisica tra i due protagonisti Felsemburgh (di nome Giuliano, come l’Apostata) e Percy Franklin: è come se l’Anticristo ed il rappresentante di Cristo siano due facce della stessa medaglia.
Dico subito che io non ho apprezzato questo libro: l’ho trovato in buona parte noioso, con i personaggi privi di spessore e con una trama poco convincente anche se alcuni aspetti, per così dire, premonitori del futuro possono colpire il lettore.
Uno stile ampolloso, un finale… apocalittico, qualche descrizione apprezzabile e poco più mi hanno portato ad una valutazione tra 1 e 2 stelle.
Strana, ma non troppo, la somiglianza fisica tra i due protagonisti Felsemburgh (di nome Giuliano, come l’Apostata) e Percy Franklin: è come se l’Anticristo ed il rappresentante di Cristo siano due facce della stessa medaglia.
February 15, 2017
Se trata de una novela distópica ambientada en lo que la Biblia se conoce como el Apocalipsis. En la novela se ve cómo la figura del Anticristo aparece como un líder político que convence a los ciudadanos, nada que ver con figuras sobrenaturales y espectaculares. Robert Benson describe con genialidad los sutiles métodos de atracción y la lenta pero imparable destrucción de la Iglesia Católica, como único reducto rebelde contra el Nuevo Orden Mundial. Sorprende saber que este libro fue escrito en 1907, pues el debate social que se presenta en él resulta de rabiosa actualidad. Muy recomendable para comprender la sociedad. También cuenta con fuertes dosis de intriga.
April 2, 2020
A difficult book to begin reading in March 2020 a time of a world-wide epidemic.
The atmosphere grows more intense. Is it the Second Coming or “mere anarchy is loosed upon the world?” (Yeats, “The Second Coming.”)
Yes, the author is heavy on descriptions, and the plot is hard to follow especially in the middle section. I liked however the last scene with Mabel. The ending is predictable of course and could only be as it is and I appreciated Benson’s inventions. The first great lie of the Evil one reminded me of Dante’s “Inferno” where he gives wrong directions to Dante and Virgil reminds Dante that he forgot that the devil is the great liar.
The atmosphere grows more intense. Is it the Second Coming or “mere anarchy is loosed upon the world?” (Yeats, “The Second Coming.”)
Yes, the author is heavy on descriptions, and the plot is hard to follow especially in the middle section. I liked however the last scene with Mabel. The ending is predictable of course and could only be as it is and I appreciated Benson’s inventions. The first great lie of the Evil one reminded me of Dante’s “Inferno” where he gives wrong directions to Dante and Virgil reminds Dante that he forgot that the devil is the great liar.
Read
February 28, 2014I found it a bit tough to get through. I found him spending too much time on the descriptions of a persons interior movement and redescribing it over and over. I was impatient with them and skimmed a bunch getting to the action. It could have been cut down to a more bone and quicker story in some ways.
May 30, 2023
A classic dystopian novel dealing with a technologically advanced but spiritually empty Marxist society that willfully brings about its own soul destruction by embracing the Antichrist. Endorsed by Fulton J. Sheen, Evelyn Waugh AND the Pope!
August 15, 2021
Split
Verbum, 2016.
Prijevod: Aleksandra Marija Chwalowsky
Distopija napisana 1907. čija je radnja smještena u 2008. godini.
Na svemrežju ćete pronaći da je radnja smještena 2007. (što bi bilo stotinu ljeta nakon prvog izdanja knjige) međutim nedvojbeno i nedvosmisleno se u samom djelu govori da se radnja događa deset godina nakon što je u fiktivnom svijetu romana legalizirana eutanazija.
Jezično govoreći tekst je dosta jednostavan, težište je na dijalozima i osnovnim opisima.
Nailazi se u konstrukciji romana na unutarnje monologe, no oni su daleko od modernističke furke pisanja.
Pred kraj samog romana opisi prirode i unutrašnjeg stanja likova postaju uistinu atmosferični pridonoseći funky aktualizaciji, očuđenju jezika i stvarnosti samog romana.
Sadržajno se radnja odvija u 2008. godini u kojoj postoje samo tri države na cijelom svijetu te svijetom vlada zapadnjačka tehnokratsko-ateistička autoritarna vlast (Zvuči poznato?).
Roman prati više likova.
Ideološka pozadina romana je katolička kritika suvremenog, danas već postindustrijskog svijeta, u kojem je zavladao nihilizam, ideja da su sve religije jednakovrijedne, da su svi načini života jednakovrijedni te zapravo licemjerno slavljenje ateizma i scijentizma kao superiornih oblika društvenog bivanja.
Društvo koje je prikazano u romanu je društvo eutanazije, društvo u kojem se diskriminiraju katolici, u kojem je oduzeta imovina Katoličkoj Crkvi, u kojem velike letjelice povezuju cijeli svijet.
Kako je roman napisan 1907. te velike letjelice su dosta julesvernovske, no s druge strane već su ljudi poletjeli 1903. prvi puta.
U romanu nailazimo na lika koji predstavlja antikrista te se i na samom kraju romana nedvosmisleno i izravno takvim prikazuje.
Lika koji se proglašava predsjednikom cijelog svijeta, koji uspostavlja svjetsku vladu.
Kada jedan svećenik u romanu čita fiktivnu biografiju u vezi tog Antikrista nailazimo na zanimljivu rečenicu koju promovira antikrist iz romana: Snažan čovjek nije na raspolaganju nikome, ali zato svi stoje na raspolaganju njemu.."
Ova misao je izrazito newageovska, baca paralele sa suvremenom praktičnom psihologijom (self-help literaturom).
Samo na temelju self-help pokreta vidimo koliko je u stvarnosti suvremeno društvo palo i dekadentno.
Velika grješka u samom romanu je to što se uopće ne spominje Afrika, niti afrički katolici.
Afrički kontinent je jedini veći bastion koji se protivi ateističkoj-kolonijalističkoj ekspanziji.
O tome svjedoči ovaj sjajan videozapis:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4O5....
Afrički tamnoputi katolici su budućnost Katoličke Crkve te će Afrika općenito odigrati veoma pozitivnu ulogu u ovom stoljeću u kontekstu borbe protiv nihilizma i egalitarizma.
Zdrava patrijahalna i religiozna kultura Afrike i dovodi do toga da je Europa sve više afrička, što je dobro, uostalom afričke žene su najljepše na svijetu i vrijeme je da one dožive standard kakav imaju europske žene, koje često i ne zaslužuju ovo što imaju u Europi.
Osobno se nadam da će uskoro Katolička Crkva izabrati crnca za papu, jer Afrika je budućnost cijelog svijeta.
Benson kao Englez se očito ne može otarasiti svog polurasizma, sjetimo se da je KKK, i cijela protestantska desnica, izrazito rasistička i antikatolička.
Ku Klux Klan je napadao i ubijao bijele katolike, oni su tipična sotonistička sekta.
Baš kao i srpska krivoslavna crkotina.
U tom vidu mi je zanimljiv amalgam metafizičke i metapolitičke koncepcije u ovom romanu.
Antikrist sa svjetskom vladom bombardira Rim (koji je jedini fizički prostor nad kojim Crkva ima vlast u ovom romanu) te ubija papu.
Baš kao što su žohari srpske krivoslavne crkotine obeščastili tisuće katoličkih crkva diljem Hrvatske.
Sjetimo se engleske i srpske kolonijalne prošlosti i jasno nam je kako su oni koji su napustili Katoličku Crkvu animalni i iskompleksirani.
Život je borba, borba za Istinu, za Ljepotu, za Hijerarhiju, za Ljubav.
Suvremeni nihilistički svijet nudi samo epigonstvo, sužanjstvo i idiotizam.
Posebice je zanimljivo u ovom romanu što se prikazuje svijet u kojem je broj katolika jako malen (između tri i deset milijuna).
Što svjedoči kolika će se većina prokleti paklom.
Na samom kraju romana se događa konačni sukob Dobra i Zla.
Izuzetno, izuzetno zanimljiv roman.
Spekulativna fikcija iz katoličkog rakursa.
Još jedan zanimljiv detalj iz ovog romana napisanog 1908. je to kako je klima u svijetu romana izuzetno toplija nego inače, događaju se česti uragani i potresi.
Sve bi bilo tipičan topos endizma, no uz ovu komponentu visokih temperatura vidimo sličnost s novobujajućim totalitarizmom održivog razvoja.
Kada kritiziram održiv razvoj kritiziram tu radiklanu prometejštinu, taj koncept obogotvorenja čovjeka, taj ateistički pogled na čovjeka kao na biće koje bi uopće moglo mijenjati klimu Zemlje.
Takav uskogrudni pogled je Dostojevski sjajno raščlanio još u 19. stoljeću.
Ne treba se bojati.
To je konačna poruka romana.
Ne treba se bojati niti treba strahovati od ikoga, svatko inteligentan treba priznavati samo Božji sud, nikakav ovozemaljski sud u duhu 1789.
Benson nam ovim romanom želi pokazati ono što sam ja već prije izrazio time da je 1789. tamnica Bastille izgrađena, Bastillea nije pala 1789., ona je te 1789. izgrađena.
No što mogu sve masonske lože svijeta i sve hereze svijeta prema Istini, prema Petrovoj Stijeni?
Jaki su kao pile kad kaki.
Svim uskogrudnim ateistima i libtardima poručujem da počnu misliti svojom glavom.
Ateizam i agnosticizam su odraz ili male inteligencije ili odraz nekritičkog razmišljanja i poltronstva.
Svim heretičarima poručujem da se njihove prodavaonice magle održavaju samo uz pomoć antikrista.
Antikrist dolazi u krdu, u mnoštvu, antikrist je mob mentality.
Antikrist nije ni muško ni žensko, već je hermafrodit.
On dolazi stvoriti pomutnju, negirati dva jedina roda.
Konačna razina borbe je ona metafizička.
Je li možete čuti ovu pjesmu, odzvanja kao poziv na borbu, na borbu koja nikada ne prestaje.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mxCi...
¡Hasta luego mis murcielagos!
¡Nos vemos con los pinguinos!
¡Viva Cristo Rey!
DEUS VULT!
Verbum, 2016.
Prijevod: Aleksandra Marija Chwalowsky
Distopija napisana 1907. čija je radnja smještena u 2008. godini.
Na svemrežju ćete pronaći da je radnja smještena 2007. (što bi bilo stotinu ljeta nakon prvog izdanja knjige) međutim nedvojbeno i nedvosmisleno se u samom djelu govori da se radnja događa deset godina nakon što je u fiktivnom svijetu romana legalizirana eutanazija.
Jezično govoreći tekst je dosta jednostavan, težište je na dijalozima i osnovnim opisima.
Nailazi se u konstrukciji romana na unutarnje monologe, no oni su daleko od modernističke furke pisanja.
Pred kraj samog romana opisi prirode i unutrašnjeg stanja likova postaju uistinu atmosferični pridonoseći funky aktualizaciji, očuđenju jezika i stvarnosti samog romana.
Sadržajno se radnja odvija u 2008. godini u kojoj postoje samo tri države na cijelom svijetu te svijetom vlada zapadnjačka tehnokratsko-ateistička autoritarna vlast (Zvuči poznato?).
Roman prati više likova.
Ideološka pozadina romana je katolička kritika suvremenog, danas već postindustrijskog svijeta, u kojem je zavladao nihilizam, ideja da su sve religije jednakovrijedne, da su svi načini života jednakovrijedni te zapravo licemjerno slavljenje ateizma i scijentizma kao superiornih oblika društvenog bivanja.
Društvo koje je prikazano u romanu je društvo eutanazije, društvo u kojem se diskriminiraju katolici, u kojem je oduzeta imovina Katoličkoj Crkvi, u kojem velike letjelice povezuju cijeli svijet.
Kako je roman napisan 1907. te velike letjelice su dosta julesvernovske, no s druge strane već su ljudi poletjeli 1903. prvi puta.
U romanu nailazimo na lika koji predstavlja antikrista te se i na samom kraju romana nedvosmisleno i izravno takvim prikazuje.
Lika koji se proglašava predsjednikom cijelog svijeta, koji uspostavlja svjetsku vladu.
Kada jedan svećenik u romanu čita fiktivnu biografiju u vezi tog Antikrista nailazimo na zanimljivu rečenicu koju promovira antikrist iz romana: Snažan čovjek nije na raspolaganju nikome, ali zato svi stoje na raspolaganju njemu.."
Ova misao je izrazito newageovska, baca paralele sa suvremenom praktičnom psihologijom (self-help literaturom).
Samo na temelju self-help pokreta vidimo koliko je u stvarnosti suvremeno društvo palo i dekadentno.
Velika grješka u samom romanu je to što se uopće ne spominje Afrika, niti afrički katolici.
Afrički kontinent je jedini veći bastion koji se protivi ateističkoj-kolonijalističkoj ekspanziji.
O tome svjedoči ovaj sjajan videozapis:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q4O5....
Afrički tamnoputi katolici su budućnost Katoličke Crkve te će Afrika općenito odigrati veoma pozitivnu ulogu u ovom stoljeću u kontekstu borbe protiv nihilizma i egalitarizma.
Zdrava patrijahalna i religiozna kultura Afrike i dovodi do toga da je Europa sve više afrička, što je dobro, uostalom afričke žene su najljepše na svijetu i vrijeme je da one dožive standard kakav imaju europske žene, koje često i ne zaslužuju ovo što imaju u Europi.
Osobno se nadam da će uskoro Katolička Crkva izabrati crnca za papu, jer Afrika je budućnost cijelog svijeta.
Benson kao Englez se očito ne može otarasiti svog polurasizma, sjetimo se da je KKK, i cijela protestantska desnica, izrazito rasistička i antikatolička.
Ku Klux Klan je napadao i ubijao bijele katolike, oni su tipična sotonistička sekta.
Baš kao i srpska krivoslavna crkotina.
U tom vidu mi je zanimljiv amalgam metafizičke i metapolitičke koncepcije u ovom romanu.
Antikrist sa svjetskom vladom bombardira Rim (koji je jedini fizički prostor nad kojim Crkva ima vlast u ovom romanu) te ubija papu.
Baš kao što su žohari srpske krivoslavne crkotine obeščastili tisuće katoličkih crkva diljem Hrvatske.
Sjetimo se engleske i srpske kolonijalne prošlosti i jasno nam je kako su oni koji su napustili Katoličku Crkvu animalni i iskompleksirani.
Život je borba, borba za Istinu, za Ljepotu, za Hijerarhiju, za Ljubav.
Suvremeni nihilistički svijet nudi samo epigonstvo, sužanjstvo i idiotizam.
Posebice je zanimljivo u ovom romanu što se prikazuje svijet u kojem je broj katolika jako malen (između tri i deset milijuna).
Što svjedoči kolika će se većina prokleti paklom.
Na samom kraju romana se događa konačni sukob Dobra i Zla.
Izuzetno, izuzetno zanimljiv roman.
Spekulativna fikcija iz katoličkog rakursa.
Još jedan zanimljiv detalj iz ovog romana napisanog 1908. je to kako je klima u svijetu romana izuzetno toplija nego inače, događaju se česti uragani i potresi.
Sve bi bilo tipičan topos endizma, no uz ovu komponentu visokih temperatura vidimo sličnost s novobujajućim totalitarizmom održivog razvoja.
Kada kritiziram održiv razvoj kritiziram tu radiklanu prometejštinu, taj koncept obogotvorenja čovjeka, taj ateistički pogled na čovjeka kao na biće koje bi uopće moglo mijenjati klimu Zemlje.
Takav uskogrudni pogled je Dostojevski sjajno raščlanio još u 19. stoljeću.
Ne treba se bojati.
To je konačna poruka romana.
Ne treba se bojati niti treba strahovati od ikoga, svatko inteligentan treba priznavati samo Božji sud, nikakav ovozemaljski sud u duhu 1789.
Benson nam ovim romanom želi pokazati ono što sam ja već prije izrazio time da je 1789. tamnica Bastille izgrađena, Bastillea nije pala 1789., ona je te 1789. izgrađena.
No što mogu sve masonske lože svijeta i sve hereze svijeta prema Istini, prema Petrovoj Stijeni?
Jaki su kao pile kad kaki.
Svim uskogrudnim ateistima i libtardima poručujem da počnu misliti svojom glavom.
Ateizam i agnosticizam su odraz ili male inteligencije ili odraz nekritičkog razmišljanja i poltronstva.
Svim heretičarima poručujem da se njihove prodavaonice magle održavaju samo uz pomoć antikrista.
Antikrist dolazi u krdu, u mnoštvu, antikrist je mob mentality.
Antikrist nije ni muško ni žensko, već je hermafrodit.
On dolazi stvoriti pomutnju, negirati dva jedina roda.
Konačna razina borbe je ona metafizička.
Je li možete čuti ovu pjesmu, odzvanja kao poziv na borbu, na borbu koja nikada ne prestaje.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mxCi...
¡Hasta luego mis murcielagos!
¡Nos vemos con los pinguinos!
¡Viva Cristo Rey!
DEUS VULT!
June 25, 2020
Published in 1907, the author of this novel projects the narrative a century into the future, a future that he finds very troubling. Precisely because human ingenuity has brought comfort, prosperity and the end of international conflicts, humans have begun to put their faith in collective humanity rather than in God. The Catholic Church is the only religious group in the West that remains, and many of the faithful have fled to Rome where the world resembles a medieval city with its squalor and its religious pageantry, its exiled European monarchs and its peasants. Soon the veneer of peace and good will is peeled away to reveal a world where life is readily cut short by euthanasia, where the murder of Christians is a necessary sacrifice, where a charismatic dictator can acquire absolute power. Although the plight of believing Catholics steadily worsens, their faith intensifies and that faith is not disappointed. Although many devout readers will find Benson’s predictions sadly prophetic, I saw far more dissimilarity between the early 21st century I know and the one he imagined. I also do not share his longing to return to the 13th century. Although the writing is good, I did not enjoy his literary vision.
June 17, 2020
This was a book that seems very relevant in 2020 in the United States of America. This futuristic story of the powers of the world, the “Humanistic Religion,” and its effects on the adherents to faith in God are powerful. As the society in general has become more comfortable and sees less and less overtly our dependence on God, the less tolerance there becomes for those who follow God.
Very rich storytelling that includes both inspiring passages and very challenging passages for those who aspire to follow Jesus Christ and profess faith in God.
Highly recommended!
Very rich storytelling that includes both inspiring passages and very challenging passages for those who aspire to follow Jesus Christ and profess faith in God.
Highly recommended!
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