Loss and Gain (Ignatius Critical Editions)

This is a fictional account of the choice of a college student at Oxford to convert to Catholicism, at great personal cost. In those days, only those endorsing the established church, the Anglican Church, could take a degree. Since the degree was a gateway to a career, the cost was quite high. One finds a review of protestant versus catholic views of Christianity, and in a thousand little ways, one is introduced to the times, and to an undergraduate education at Oxford.

Good easy read. Semi autobiographical of Neumann. Just an interesting story.

Unfortunately, as I was reading this book this week, it turns out that pages 109 through and including page 124 are missing. It’s too late to return the book, but be forewarned.

I look forward to reading this classic of Newman. Great service.

Great edition of a timeless classic at a great price.

As expected

I must begin with a brief caveat. While this Ignatius edition sounds excellent (and I'll probably get it later), the edition I'm reading is that in the Oxford World's Classics series, with an introduction by Alan G. Hill, which is also excellent. Prof. Hill notes that Loss and Gain was groundbreaking for a Victorian novel, in quite unexpected ways. If one is expecting some sort of dry intra-church tussle, of interest to, at best, a handful of clerics, dressed up as a tenth rate novel, one would be advised to look for that fiction elsewhere. In his advertisement (disclaimer) to the ninth edition, Newman wrote he was "desirous of dissipating the fog of pomposity and solemn pretence," by showing "that those who were smitten with love of the Catholic Church were nevertheless as able to write common-sense prose as other men."Or perhaps better, as Newman was one of the best writers of his century. As Hill says, "The verve and gusto of the writing reveal an extraordinary grasp of colloquial English idiom" and "A genial, magnanimous tone is evident throughout." "Rich in comic scenes and characters". Who does that sound like? -Dickens, of course. It can also be read as a Victorian period piece, he notes, or for it's university setting. The school story that comes to mind, of course, is Tom Brown's School-Days. But surprise! Newman's novel (1848) predates Thomas Hugh's work, published in 1857.It boggles the mind to imagine the smooth, lilting cadences and effortless prose of "Apologia Pro Vita Sua", Newman's non-fiction, autobiographical work transferred to a novel, but here it is. It is our loss if this novel has been lost to the reading public, but only gain when once again found.

I read this novel in a day or two, and found it a very easy read. Is that a good thing? I think it is. The great scholar and theologian Newman could obviously write a novel which combined human drama, spiritual reflection, and even a few passages of humour. The portrayal of Charles Reding's relationship with his sister and mothers is especially touching. I recommend it.

Newman apparently denied that this is the story of his own conversion, but it is hard to take this at face value. His central character, Charles Reding, like the author, is a gifted scholar who like many others treads the difficult path to Rome in nineteenth century Oxford.There's enough ecclesiological debating to satisfy the keenest polemicist, and the picture off all-male all Anglican (nearly) Oxford at this time is interesting. Charles himself is an attractive and convincing character, and we can sympathise with the great sacrifices he, like many today, has to make in following his conscience.Catholics (like me) will be pleased with the outcome; I wonder what Anglicans will feel.