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20th & 21st Century Literature

The secularization of culture happened as soon as Adam was thrown from the Garden for eating forbidden fruit. He had sinned, and cut off from direct union with God human civilization became a largely irreligious affair—Christians have been trying ever since to increase their influence in the arts, politics, academics and the popular sphere.

To hear a lot of modern apologists, however, you'd think the shift away from historical Christianity to worldly attitudes was recent. Some look back as far as the Enlightenment, some as little as thirty or forty years ago, showing how political and moral trends evidence the departure. For them, the real bad guys are Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, sometimes even Soren Kierkegaard (one of the really great Christian writers of the last 200 years).

While those outside the Christian tradition could perhaps be forgiven such shortsightedness (intent on tracing Modern Progress as they are), for Christians to share these views is unforgivable. Western civilization can be traced to ancient Greece, and before that to Egypt, two of the most pagan and corrupt cultures of all time. The ideas popular now have their roots in the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Democritus and Thales.

Every modern philosophy has a Classical era corollary, if not its direct match at least the primitive form of the current idea. Anaximander suggested men evolved from animals 2500 years before Charlie Darwin was born; Heraclitus posited rudimentary postmodern philosophy two millennia before the advent of modernism; Diogenes was a nihilist before the nation of Russia existed, and about 300 years before Christ.

The best way to understand 20th century literature is not as a brand-new canon promoting recent anti-Christian thought, but as a body of work manifesting the newest iterations of secular philosophy and Christian responses. Great writers of the past, from Shelley and Robert Louis Stevenson to Rabelais and George Eliot, were fully as secular (even atheistic) as any Hemingway, Camus or Douglas Adams of the last 100 years.

Just as secular—and in many instances, just as brilliant. While there's more bad writing available than ever before as a result of the democratization of publishing, for every Stephanie Meyer there's at least one Faulkner or Annie Dillard. The novel came into its own in the 20th century as writers understood its limitations. Good writers have something universal to say about humanity, avoiding merely regional or too-specific interests.

Not all of it is "fun" reading—some of the best writers like Kafka, Thomas Mann and Solzhenitsyn can be hard to get through, though they can also write riveting passages of elegant prose. Others are a joy to read, like Steinbeck, G.K. Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw, combining a talent for poetic narrative and humor reminiscent of Dickens and Twain.

Like the ideas it embraces, the purpose of 20th century literature remains the same as the literature of any other era: to examine life, to celebrate it, to understand it better, and to connect readers with each other and with new ideas. Of course you'll want to be aware when you're reading secular authors and examine their work closely, but the same is true of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography or Virgil's Aeneid.

Most of all, enjoy these books. The best of them explore deep and important ideas, but the best of them are also great artistic achievements, not mere dissertations but independent organisms alive and dangerous and beautiful. For all the technology and machines of our modern age, good literature is still organic, and the ability to enjoy it comes from an unmapped region of the soul where every Kerouac, Cather and Marquez had to go for their masterpieces.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Hardcover
Adventures of Robin Hood
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Paul Creswick, illustrated by N. C. Wyeth
1991 Edition from Reader's Digest
for 6th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (3 in stock)
Adventures of Sally
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Alexander of Macedon
International Collectors Library
by Harold Lamb
from International Collectors Library
for 4th-8th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Bachelors Anonymous
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Barmy in Wonderland
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Big Money
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Bilbo's Last Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.99
Bill the Conqueror
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Blandings Castle
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Book of Lost Tales 2
by J. R. R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Mythology, Faërie for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Book of Merlyn
by T. H. White
from University of Texas Press
Fantasy for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Bounty Trilogy (School Edition)
by Charles Nordhoff & James Norman Hall
from Globe Book Company
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Boys in the Boat adapted for Young Readers
by Daniel James Brown, adapted by Gregory Mone
from Penguin Putnam
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Bring on the Girls!
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London
from Heritage Press
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jack London
Unknown from Reader's Digest
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Carry On, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.95
Clicking of Cuthbert
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Cocktail Time
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Code of the Woosters
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Coming of Bill
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Company for Henry
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
A Hercule Poirot Mystery #39
by Agatha Christie
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Damsel in Distress
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Do Butlers Burgle Banks?
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Doctor Sally
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Eggs, Beans and Crumpets
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Every Living Thing
by James Herriot
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Far Lands
by James Norman Hall
from Little, Brown & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Few Quick Ones
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
French Leave
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Frozen Assets
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Full Moon
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Galahad at Blandings
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gentleman of Leisure
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gift of the Magi
by O. Henry, illustrated by Kevin King
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gift of the Magi and Other Stories
Books of Wonder
by O. Henry (illustrated by Michael Dooling)
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gift of the Magi and Other Stories
Books of Wonder
by O. Henry, illustrated by Gordon Grant
from Reader's Digest
for 4th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gift of the Magi and Other Stories
by O. Henry, illustrated by P. J. Lynch
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-10th grade
in Christmas & Advent (Location: HOLIDAY)
$17.99
Girl in Blue
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Girl on the Boat
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Gold Bat
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck
from Reader's Digest
Historical Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Good Earth
International Collectors Library
by Pearl S. Buck
from International Collectors Library
Historical Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Green Light
by Lloyd C. Douglas
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Gudrid's Saga
by Constance Irwin
from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Head of Kay's
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Heart of a Goof
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Heavy Weather
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Hobbit
by J. R. R. Tolkien
from Houghton Mifflin
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$19.99
Hot Water
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Ice in the Bedroom
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
If I Were You
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Illuminated Book of Days
by Kay & Marshall Lee (editors), illustrated by Kate Greenaway and Eugene Grasset
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 6th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Indiscretions of Archie
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Inimitable Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jack London Stories of Adventure
by Jack London, compiled by Frank Oppel with an introduction by Russ Kingman
from Castle Books
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jeeves in the Offing
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jill the Reckless
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Joy in the Morning
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Kid Brady & A Man of Means
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Kingdom Far and Clear
Calla Edition
by Mark Helprin
from Dover Publications
for 6th-Adult
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Kon-Tiki
by Thor Heyerdahl, Translated by F. H. Lyon
from Rand McNally
Non-fiction/Adventure for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Laughing Gas
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Lawrenceville Stories
by Owen Johnson
from Simon and Schuster
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Leave it to Psmith
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Little Nugget
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery, translated by Richard Howard
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
$18.00
Little Prince
by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
from Harcourt
Fantasy for 3rd-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Long Rifle
International Collectors Library
by Stewart E. White
from International Collectors Library
for 8th-Adult
in Clearance: Literature (Location: ZCLE-LIT)
Lord Emsworth
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Louder and Funnier
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Love Among the Chickens
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Luck of the Bodkins
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Luck Stone
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Man Upstairs
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Man With Two Left Feet
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mating Season
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Meet Mr. Mulliner
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mike and Psmith
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mike at Wrykyn
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Money for Nothing
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Money for Nothing
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Arrow Books
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Money in the Bank
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mr. Mulliner Speaking
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Much Obliged, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mulliner Nights
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
My Man Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
Mythology for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$29.99
Not George Washington
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Nothing Serious
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Old Reliable
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Once and Future King
by T. H. White
from ACE Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Out of the Silent Planet
Space Trilogy Book 1
by C. S. Lewis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Allegorical Science Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Over Seventy
by P.G. Wodehouse
from Overlook Press
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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