The Night Is Far Spent by Thomas HowardMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thomas Howard is a treasure. A wordsmith like few others. His books were some of my early favorites, when I started reading again in my college days. He expanded my vocabulary like no other author and gave me wonderful insights into the likes of classic writers like C.S. Lewis & Charles Williams. His classic books--that all should read: Christ the Tiger; Chance or the Dance; Hallowed be This House; The Achievement of C.S. Lewis; The Novels of Charles Williams. Soak those up one of these days; you won't regret it. Howard used to teach at Gordon College--where a number of my family attended. I remember with righteous jealousy hearing from my mother that she was in a course taught by the illimitable & illuminable Tom Howard--and was getting his insights & lessons into C.S. Lewis' works on a weekly basis. If only I could have joined her, but alas, I was in college at the same time and only home on school breaks--when she was also out of class. After becoming a Roman Catholic--which I still don't completely understand and don't agree with--Howard left Gordon College and taught for many years at St. John's Seminary.
My parents did know his sister--the wonderful Elisabeth Elliot--and got to housesit for her one time, up along the beautiful North Shore of Boston. Alas, I wasn't around in those days to also enjoy that adventure. I would love to drop in on Thomas Howard one day; does he live on the North Shore as well? I recently have enjoyed some interviews that Eric Metaxas--also a huge Howard fan--did with Tom Howard (in his home!--which looked, from the short glimpses of it, like a classic New England structure) on his Socrates in the City program. Well worth watching.
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