
released 3/20/2025
In this lecture from October 2015, Karen Swallow Prior examines the power of great literature to shape people’s lives. Great books embody, or incarnate, the heights and depths of the human condition, leading readers to ask themselves deep questions about life, purpose, and meaning. Prior says that reading excellent literature nourishes the imagination, which is both mimetic and generative and is one way in which we are like our Creator. Through our reading we practice making meaning, imagine new ways of being and responding, cultivate a sense of self and community, and develop a vision of a good life and a good death. Prior discusses these elements with reference to several great works, including Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Karen Swallow Prior is the author of several books, including On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books (Brazos 2018).
This lecture is provided courtesy of Anselm House. A video of the lecture can be found here.
43 minutes
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