At Catholic World Report:
Over the past century, most Western countries have produced great Catholic fiction writers. The UK may rightly pride itself on Evelyn Waugh, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the U.S. on Walker Percy and Flannery O’Connor, France on Georges Bernanos and Paul Claudel, Italy on Eugenio Corti, and so forth. Canada appeared until recently to be the unfortunate exception to this rule. But Canadians may perhaps now boast of one Catholic novelist of international repute: Michael O’Brien. At least that is the view of American philosopher Peter Kreeft, whose endorsement of On the Edge of Infinity, the first biography of O’Brien ever published, describes him as “the greatest living Catholic novelist”.
This being said, two things distinguish O’Brien from other Catholic writers. First, he is also a well-known painter, whose works, mainly icons, are found in churches all over North America. Second, his career as a fiction writer was made possible thanks to a relatively small U.S. publisher who, in 1996, readily accepted to publish what became his best-known novel, Father Elijah. The book had previously been rejected by a slew of Canadian publishers for whom his work reflected a worldview of little interest to the reading public. This worldview, of course, was orthodox Catholicism. Readers of Canadian fiction are thus indebted to San Francisco-based Ignatius Press for having put O’Brien on the world literary map. His novels are now available in 12 languages and are better known in the U.S. and various European countries than in his home country. For example, Father Elijah sold more copies in the Czech Republic and in Croatia than in Canada. In Croatia, the novel even became an instant bestseller when it was published in 2002.
Best known for his series of ten apocalyptic novels collectively titled Children of the Last Days, O’Brien has also written several other books and essays, many of which have been published by Justin Press, a relatively young Canadian publishing house focusing on works of Catholic culture and apologetics.
Clemens Cavallin’s biography tells three stories, that of a painter of religious art, that of a Catholic novelist and that of a husband and father of six children constantly trying to make ends meet. But there is a common thread running through these stories, and it is that of a Christian artist seeking to illustrate the beauty and love of God in a world that has largely chosen to reject Him. As Cavallin points out, the creativity of Michael O’Brien is founded on “his intense, mystical relation to God”. His spirituality, family life, art and imagination should not be seen as separate compartments, as they spring and are nourished from the same source – his Catholic faith. From the latter flow his novels, essays, paintings, family life and moral and political views. In a world marked by dissent and discord, O’Brien embodies unity of life.
Over a five-year period, Cavallin spent numerous hours and days interviewing both O’Brien and his wife, and had continuous contact with them through email.
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