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Loss and Gain
John Henry Newman, one of the greatest religious figures of the nineteenth century, also had a successful career as a gifted novelist. Loss and Gain , his first novel, tells the story of a young man's search for faith in early Victorian Oxford. This edition is the first one to appear in
eighty years.
eighty years.
317 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1848
About the author
John Henry Newman
1,888 books246 followersSaint John Henry Cardinal Newman was an important figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s.
Originally an evangelical Oxford University academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman then became drawn to the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. He became known as a leader of, and an able polemicist for, the Oxford Movement, an influential and controversial grouping of Anglicans who wished to return to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this the movement had some success. However, in 1845 Newman, joined by some but not all of his followers, left the Church of England and his teaching post at Oxford University and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland.
Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. He was then canonised by Pope Francis on 13 October 2019.
Newman was also a literary figure of note: his major writings including the Tracts for the Times (1833–1841), his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66), the Grammar of Assent (1870), and the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865),[6] which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar. He wrote the popular hymns "Lead, Kindly Light" and "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (taken from Gerontius).
Originally an evangelical Oxford University academic and priest in the Church of England, Newman then became drawn to the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. He became known as a leader of, and an able polemicist for, the Oxford Movement, an influential and controversial grouping of Anglicans who wished to return to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this the movement had some success. However, in 1845 Newman, joined by some but not all of his followers, left the Church of England and his teaching post at Oxford University and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland, which evolved into University College Dublin, today the largest university in Ireland.
Newman was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 September 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom. He was then canonised by Pope Francis on 13 October 2019.
Newman was also a literary figure of note: his major writings including the Tracts for the Times (1833–1841), his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua (1865–66), the Grammar of Assent (1870), and the poem The Dream of Gerontius (1865),[6] which was set to music in 1900 by Edward Elgar. He wrote the popular hymns "Lead, Kindly Light" and "Praise to the Holiest in the Height" (taken from Gerontius).
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October 17, 2019 Discovering that St. Newman had written a novel was a delightful surprise, as I remembered his somewhat disparaging views on literature in, The Idea of a University, which I now want to revisit, along with, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, and his other works of non-fiction which I have only failed at, thus far.
This is deep reading as might be expected by even a passing familiarity with the author. Don’t be fooled thinking that because it is fiction, it will be easy. Still, it is wonderful!
I was delighted to discover yesterday in an article in The Catholic Thing by Robert Royal the following reference to, and extract from, this book:
This is deep reading as might be expected by even a passing familiarity with the author. Don’t be fooled thinking that because it is fiction, it will be easy. Still, it is wonderful!
I was delighted to discover yesterday in an article in The Catholic Thing by Robert Royal the following reference to, and extract from, this book:
‘It all reminded me of what a Protestant character in Newman’s novel Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert blurts out, unexpectedly, about the Catholic liturgy:This reference comes at the tail end of an article entitled, Who Needs an Ecological Conversion and a Canonization Note, not really an article concerning Newman, until the very end; there are several much better. Still if you follow link provided, you can read the rest of that and/or others.
We have no life or poetry in the Church of England; the Catholic Church alone is beautiful. You would see what I mean if you went into a foreign cathedral, or even into one of the Catholic churches in our large towns. The celebrant, deacon, and subdeacon, acolytes with lights, the incense, and the chanting-all combine to one end, one act of worship. You feel it is really a worshipping; every sense, eyes, ears, smell, are made to know that worship is going on. The laity on the floor saying their beads, or making their acts; the choir singing out the Kyrie; and the priest and his assistants bowing low, and saying the Confiteor to each other. This is worship, and it is far above reason. ’
November 27, 2022
ENGLISH: A novel about the conversion of a young man (an Oxford student) from a High Church Anglican into a Catholic. Although the book was published just three years after Newman's own conversion, this is not a fictional account of his own experience, which is described in his Apologia Pro Vita Sua, published 16 years later. It is rather his view on how a young man 20 years younger than himself could go through a process of conversion similar to his, of course with many differences, due to their different ages, preparation and renown.
I liked especially the first two parts, where the first steps towards the conversion of the main character are described in the form of sundry theological dialogues that have taught me a lot about the differences between High Church Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism.
It was also interesting to learn that access to the main English universities (such as Oxford) was forbidden for Catholics; that when a student converted during his studies he had to leave the university; and that to get his diploma he had to pledge allegiance to the main tenets of Anglicanism.
ESPAÑOL: Esta novela describe la conversión al catolicismo de un joven estudiante de Oxford miembro de la High Church anglicana. Aunque el libro se publicó solo tres años después de la conversión de Newman, no se trata de un relato ficticio de su propia experiencia, que se describe en su Apologia Pro Vita Sua, publicada 20 años más tarde. Es más bien su opinión sobre cómo sería un proceso de conversión similar al suyo, de un hombre 20 años más joven que él. Por supuesto, habría muchas diferencias con el suyo, debido a sus distintas edades, preparación y renombre.
Me gustaron mucho las dos primeras partes, donde se describen los primeros pasos hacia la conversión del personaje principal en forma de numerosos diálogos teológicos que me han enseñado mucho sobre las diferencias entre el anglicanismo High Church y el catolicismo romano.
También fue interesante enterarme de que el acceso a las principales universidades inglesas (como Oxford) estaba prohibido para los católicos; que cuando un estudiante se convertía durante sus estudios, tenía que abandonar la universidad; y que para obtener su diploma tenía que prestar juramento de fidelidad a los principios fundamentales del anglicanismo.
I liked especially the first two parts, where the first steps towards the conversion of the main character are described in the form of sundry theological dialogues that have taught me a lot about the differences between High Church Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism.
It was also interesting to learn that access to the main English universities (such as Oxford) was forbidden for Catholics; that when a student converted during his studies he had to leave the university; and that to get his diploma he had to pledge allegiance to the main tenets of Anglicanism.
ESPAÑOL: Esta novela describe la conversión al catolicismo de un joven estudiante de Oxford miembro de la High Church anglicana. Aunque el libro se publicó solo tres años después de la conversión de Newman, no se trata de un relato ficticio de su propia experiencia, que se describe en su Apologia Pro Vita Sua, publicada 20 años más tarde. Es más bien su opinión sobre cómo sería un proceso de conversión similar al suyo, de un hombre 20 años más joven que él. Por supuesto, habría muchas diferencias con el suyo, debido a sus distintas edades, preparación y renombre.
Me gustaron mucho las dos primeras partes, donde se describen los primeros pasos hacia la conversión del personaje principal en forma de numerosos diálogos teológicos que me han enseñado mucho sobre las diferencias entre el anglicanismo High Church y el catolicismo romano.
También fue interesante enterarme de que el acceso a las principales universidades inglesas (como Oxford) estaba prohibido para los católicos; que cuando un estudiante se convertía durante sus estudios, tenía que abandonar la universidad; y que para obtener su diploma tenía que prestar juramento de fidelidad a los principios fundamentales del anglicanismo.
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October 15, 2019A fictional account of an Oxford student who converts to Catholicism. There's a reason Newman is not really remembered as a novelist--the characterization is pretty thin--but it's readable, occasionally funny, and as a window into the time, very engaging.
I turned to Wikipedia after finishing it and discovered that not only was it the first thing Newman wrote after his own conversion, it was in response to the novel From Oxford to Rome: And how it fared with some who lately made the journey by Elizabeth Furlong Shipton Harris, who had converted to Catholicism, become disillusioned and returned, and sought to deter other Anglicans from leaving in the first place. So now I think I need to track down a copy and see what it's like.
I turned to Wikipedia after finishing it and discovered that not only was it the first thing Newman wrote after his own conversion, it was in response to the novel From Oxford to Rome: And how it fared with some who lately made the journey by Elizabeth Furlong Shipton Harris, who had converted to Catholicism, become disillusioned and returned, and sought to deter other Anglicans from leaving in the first place. So now I think I need to track down a copy and see what it's like.
December 20, 2022
What I most liked was the evolution of the protagonist and his conversations with friends.
This book shows very well their prejudices against Catholicism, mostly when they are showing their ignorance. They have never been taught the truth, they just follow slogans.
Lo que más me gustó fue la evolución del protagonista y sus conversaciones con sus amigos.
Se ven muy bien los prejuicios anti-católicos de los anglicanos, que usualmente se basan en su ignorancia. No les han enseñado la verdad, sólo repiten eslóganes.
This book shows very well their prejudices against Catholicism, mostly when they are showing their ignorance. They have never been taught the truth, they just follow slogans.
Lo que más me gustó fue la evolución del protagonista y sus conversaciones con sus amigos.
Se ven muy bien los prejuicios anti-católicos de los anglicanos, que usualmente se basan en su ignorancia. No les han enseñado la verdad, sólo repiten eslóganes.
March 14, 2022
Like much of Newman’s work, the writing of his most famous novel came about in response to a particular controversy. The occasion that prompted this work was the publication of ‘From Oxford to Rome: And how it fared with some who lately made the journey’ by Elizabeth Harris, a convert to Catholicism who subsequently reverted back to Anglicanism and wrote a novel expressing her disillusionment with what she claimed to find in the Catholic Church. While novels attacking the Church of Rome were ten-a-penny in Victorian England (many of them thinly disguised pornography), this particular work focused on converts who had found their path to Rome primarily via the Oxford Movement and sought to dissuade others from making a similar journey. Newman dismissed the novel as ‘preposterously fanciful’ and attacked its content as being ‘injurious to those whose motives and actions it professed to represent’. Newman felt that the novel deserved a novel response and the result was ‘Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert’
The novel focusses on Charles Reding, a student at Oxford who begins to be increasingly disillusioned with the Church of England. While naturally inclined to the church of his baptism, his interactions with various characters in Oxford cast doubts on what he has been led to believe about the established church. Amidst the religious confusion and debate that took place in Oxford at the time, Charles is gradually drawn to recognize the Catholic Church as being the true Church.
The character of Charles can be seen as semi-autobiographical of Newman himself. It's hardly a spoiler to say that Charles eventually converts to Catholicism. While this conversion occurs at a much younger age, the intellectual reasoning that leads to his conversion is very much akin to Newman. Indeed, what is striking about the novel is the almost total lack of Catholic characters until the final chapters. A contemporary of Charles, Willis, converts to Catholicism early in the novel and only reappears towards the end to delivers a beautiful and profoundly moving description of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Charles himself does not enter a Catholic church until after his decision to convert. And a chance conversation with a Catholic priest (often understood to be Newman himself) does not occur until Charles has abandoned Anglicanism. The process of his conversion is not based on what he necessarily knows about Catholicism (other than its claim to be the true Church), but what he gradually comes to discover about the Church of England and the logical deductions that must be made from the shortcomings that are found. It is the conversations that he has with other students and academics at Oxford that undermine his original assumptions and begin a process that leads across the Tiber
The characters that Charles encounters are glorious to behold and epitomize the broad spectrum within the Church of England. One fascinating observation about 'Loss and Gain' is that despite it being published in 1848, the Church of England experienced by Newman is actually remarkably similar to the Church of England of today. Any practicing Anglican or former Anglican who knows and has experienced the breadth of the Church of England will instantly recognize the characters from the various theological camps within the church. Every high Church has its flamboyant and spikey liturgical obsessives, epitomized by Bateman. The middle-of-the-road is dominated by the William Sheffields of the church, who refuse to take a doctrinal view on anything other than the importance of not being too doctrinal. And anyone who has been involved with a university Christian Union will no doubt recognize the zealous Freeman and be only too familiar with the hilarious party at which a gathering of young evangelicals cannot agree on anything and anathemize each other over tea and crumpets. Quite honestly, the book could have been written today and, apart from the official anti-Catholic policy of the University of Oxford, very little would have to be changed.
While a knowledge of Anglicanism is undoubtedly useful to appreciate this novel, it is not only those who have crossed from Canterbury to Rome who will enjoy this. The philosophical insight into the nature of the Catholic Church, as well as the hugely entertaining characters, should make this an enjoyable read for many. Newman had a wonderful style of writing. His opinion that, ‘Saints are not literary men… they do not write tales’, is one I must disagree with. As well as being stimulating and amusing, this novel is spiritually enriching. I am glad to have read it.
The novel focusses on Charles Reding, a student at Oxford who begins to be increasingly disillusioned with the Church of England. While naturally inclined to the church of his baptism, his interactions with various characters in Oxford cast doubts on what he has been led to believe about the established church. Amidst the religious confusion and debate that took place in Oxford at the time, Charles is gradually drawn to recognize the Catholic Church as being the true Church.
The character of Charles can be seen as semi-autobiographical of Newman himself. It's hardly a spoiler to say that Charles eventually converts to Catholicism. While this conversion occurs at a much younger age, the intellectual reasoning that leads to his conversion is very much akin to Newman. Indeed, what is striking about the novel is the almost total lack of Catholic characters until the final chapters. A contemporary of Charles, Willis, converts to Catholicism early in the novel and only reappears towards the end to delivers a beautiful and profoundly moving description of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Charles himself does not enter a Catholic church until after his decision to convert. And a chance conversation with a Catholic priest (often understood to be Newman himself) does not occur until Charles has abandoned Anglicanism. The process of his conversion is not based on what he necessarily knows about Catholicism (other than its claim to be the true Church), but what he gradually comes to discover about the Church of England and the logical deductions that must be made from the shortcomings that are found. It is the conversations that he has with other students and academics at Oxford that undermine his original assumptions and begin a process that leads across the Tiber
The characters that Charles encounters are glorious to behold and epitomize the broad spectrum within the Church of England. One fascinating observation about 'Loss and Gain' is that despite it being published in 1848, the Church of England experienced by Newman is actually remarkably similar to the Church of England of today. Any practicing Anglican or former Anglican who knows and has experienced the breadth of the Church of England will instantly recognize the characters from the various theological camps within the church. Every high Church has its flamboyant and spikey liturgical obsessives, epitomized by Bateman. The middle-of-the-road is dominated by the William Sheffields of the church, who refuse to take a doctrinal view on anything other than the importance of not being too doctrinal. And anyone who has been involved with a university Christian Union will no doubt recognize the zealous Freeman and be only too familiar with the hilarious party at which a gathering of young evangelicals cannot agree on anything and anathemize each other over tea and crumpets. Quite honestly, the book could have been written today and, apart from the official anti-Catholic policy of the University of Oxford, very little would have to be changed.
While a knowledge of Anglicanism is undoubtedly useful to appreciate this novel, it is not only those who have crossed from Canterbury to Rome who will enjoy this. The philosophical insight into the nature of the Catholic Church, as well as the hugely entertaining characters, should make this an enjoyable read for many. Newman had a wonderful style of writing. His opinion that, ‘Saints are not literary men… they do not write tales’, is one I must disagree with. As well as being stimulating and amusing, this novel is spiritually enriching. I am glad to have read it.
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November 4, 2019John Henry Newman was a prominent 19th-century Anglican writer and thinker--a celebrity, really--and when he converted to Roman Catholicism, it was a big deal. The public waited to see what he would first write as a Catholic. Surprisingly, it was a novel. Loss and Gain is a fictionalized account of a young Oxford student who, like Newman, eventually turns to Rome. The book isn’t exactly what modern readers expect from fiction. Most of it is composed of long dialogues and debates about religious issues between various characters. There is quite a bit of wit and satire, but not much of we might call “action” or “plot.”
It’s a somewhat difficult read. I could recognize the religious outlook represented by some of the characters, but other references were so specific to the time and place that I must have been missing a great deal. It hadn’t occurred to me, but of course Newman was chronologically closer to Jane Austen than C. S. Lewis. It was interesting, though, and I think it broadened my understanding of the theological scene Newman addresses.
Some thoughts:
- Until reading this book I had not realized how much a nineteenth-century Brit would have sacrificed in order to convert to Catholicism. Newman’s character must give up his career, his friends, and--practically speaking--even his beloved family. EVERYONE around him tries to stage an intervention, just as might happen today if a kid decided to go to fight with guerrilla soldiers abroad. The book describes the joyful participation of a congregation at a Catholic Mass, and perhaps it’s a reminder that mild persecution sometimes blesses Christians with greater gratitude for their church.
- One satirical scene, in which Evangelicals discuss evidence that the pope is actually a Christian, was pretty laugh-out-loud funny.
- The huge driving force for Newman’s character is the quest for authority. This is something I’ve heard from many other converts to Catholicism as well. As a piece of fiction, this isn’t the world’s best novel; but Newman does create a character whose yearning for certainty in his faith is believable and sympathetic. Essentially, the character is told by his professors that he is supposed to declare agreement with Anglican doctrine on the grounds that he understands and agrees with it. He, however, does not feel that he fully understands the mysteries of theology or the intricacies of doctrines that trouble him. To him, not all Anglican positions seem correct or even logical. How can he be wise enough and learned enough to decide all such matters for himself through his own power? He would be willing to submit to the authority of the church on issues that seem difficult, but is told this is too Catholic. He isn’t supposed to submit, but to agree. The Apostolic authority of the Catholic Church is eventually the answer that brings him peace.
- As I understand it (and I am no expert), I think the point above illustrates a difference between Catholics and Lutherans. I believe they see the Bible as less clear (if this is the right wording) than we do. Lutherans have more confidence that at least as far as key doctrines are concerned, Scripture can be understood and applied correctly without requiring an authoritative interpreter to settle matters. "Scripture interprets Scripture," as we say. It would seem that Newman thinks we disprove our own position by having creeds (because those aren't in Scripture), but I think that's a stretch--creeds are a simple summary of what Scripture says rather than something "an authority" had to come up with. Lutherans have set forth our understanding of Scripture in the Book of Concord not because Scripture is an “incomplete” guide that must be interpreted, but in order to explain that our beliefs come from Scripture.
- Growing up outside of Catholic circles, I’ve read plenty of stories about individuals who found problems within Catholicism and converted to something different. It was helpful to read about the perspective of someone who found problems in Protestantism and turned instead to Rome.
-This is a minor point, but it was interesting to see how much it apparently bothered Newman that Anglican priests marry. At least as portrayed in the novel, he seemed to feel that this led them into worldliness because they had to keep their wives happy by setting up fashionable, upper-class homes filled with consumerism. I would have thought the problem lay not so much in having married clergy but in having a church system based on patronage (Austen’s Mr. Collins comes to mind) that fit into and helped perpetuate the British class system. Hmm.
It’s a somewhat difficult read. I could recognize the religious outlook represented by some of the characters, but other references were so specific to the time and place that I must have been missing a great deal. It hadn’t occurred to me, but of course Newman was chronologically closer to Jane Austen than C. S. Lewis. It was interesting, though, and I think it broadened my understanding of the theological scene Newman addresses.
Some thoughts:
- Until reading this book I had not realized how much a nineteenth-century Brit would have sacrificed in order to convert to Catholicism. Newman’s character must give up his career, his friends, and--practically speaking--even his beloved family. EVERYONE around him tries to stage an intervention, just as might happen today if a kid decided to go to fight with guerrilla soldiers abroad. The book describes the joyful participation of a congregation at a Catholic Mass, and perhaps it’s a reminder that mild persecution sometimes blesses Christians with greater gratitude for their church.
- One satirical scene, in which Evangelicals discuss evidence that the pope is actually a Christian, was pretty laugh-out-loud funny.
- The huge driving force for Newman’s character is the quest for authority. This is something I’ve heard from many other converts to Catholicism as well. As a piece of fiction, this isn’t the world’s best novel; but Newman does create a character whose yearning for certainty in his faith is believable and sympathetic. Essentially, the character is told by his professors that he is supposed to declare agreement with Anglican doctrine on the grounds that he understands and agrees with it. He, however, does not feel that he fully understands the mysteries of theology or the intricacies of doctrines that trouble him. To him, not all Anglican positions seem correct or even logical. How can he be wise enough and learned enough to decide all such matters for himself through his own power? He would be willing to submit to the authority of the church on issues that seem difficult, but is told this is too Catholic. He isn’t supposed to submit, but to agree. The Apostolic authority of the Catholic Church is eventually the answer that brings him peace.
- As I understand it (and I am no expert), I think the point above illustrates a difference between Catholics and Lutherans. I believe they see the Bible as less clear (if this is the right wording) than we do. Lutherans have more confidence that at least as far as key doctrines are concerned, Scripture can be understood and applied correctly without requiring an authoritative interpreter to settle matters. "Scripture interprets Scripture," as we say. It would seem that Newman thinks we disprove our own position by having creeds (because those aren't in Scripture), but I think that's a stretch--creeds are a simple summary of what Scripture says rather than something "an authority" had to come up with. Lutherans have set forth our understanding of Scripture in the Book of Concord not because Scripture is an “incomplete” guide that must be interpreted, but in order to explain that our beliefs come from Scripture.
- Growing up outside of Catholic circles, I’ve read plenty of stories about individuals who found problems within Catholicism and converted to something different. It was helpful to read about the perspective of someone who found problems in Protestantism and turned instead to Rome.
-This is a minor point, but it was interesting to see how much it apparently bothered Newman that Anglican priests marry. At least as portrayed in the novel, he seemed to feel that this led them into worldliness because they had to keep their wives happy by setting up fashionable, upper-class homes filled with consumerism. I would have thought the problem lay not so much in having married clergy but in having a church system based on patronage (Austen’s Mr. Collins comes to mind) that fit into and helped perpetuate the British class system. Hmm.
March 8, 2019
Almost everything depends at Oxford, in the matter of acquaintance, on proximity of rooms. You choose your friend, not so much by your tastes, as by your staircase.
I, an atheist in a secular age, found more to enjoy in this novel than in many others which have not been so neglected. (At present the Oxford edition is out of print. Why? And will they publish a new edition now that Newman is to be made a saint?) The writing is quick, often humorous; the dialogue or argument scenes - which are established early on in the book - are relieved by passages of quite tender relationship between Charles Reding and the few friends who try to understand him; and for all his slight tendency to self-pity, he's a sympathetic character. You want things to go well with him.
I included the quotation at the top of this review because it is in part a book about the young men's lives at University. In one of many romantic passages, Newman writes of Reding that "he could not have another Oxford".
I chose to read Loss and Gain because of my study of the aesthetic movement. Part, though by no means all, of the hostility met by those artists and writers was fed by a panic about conversions. Newman takes great pains to refute any accusation that his protagonist is led away by beauty for its own sake. Reding's slow consideration is admirable in itself, but better than that, it gives the reader all the more sympathy with him as his ideas develop.
September 17, 2021
This was a great, and moving book. the spiritual development is portrayed very well. The only negative is that some of the conversations are a bit boring and to me off the point; not very many but a few.
2nd read.
I love this book so much!! True it does drag quite a lot at times, engage a lot on theological debates of the time that aren't very relavent now, but I still love it. There are some moments of such transcendent beauty and joy, such love and glory that raise the whole book up. An interesting thing about this book is that it us almost like an autobiography in novel format. It contains fictional characters, bit shows the experience of John Henry Newman himself, which is why it shows so accurately the process of conversion, the heartbreak and the joy the loss and gain.
I really like Charles but Willis is my favourite. He is such a very silly boy at first, but later on... Ah. Perfect.
It reminds me quite a bit of Robert Hugh Benson's books, which is not surprising considering Benson and Newman were both converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism at around the same time. While Benson's books may be more interesting as a novel, they both share that same beauty and joy.
As a side note, my love of this book is amplified by the fact that I read it from a very old book (which is sadly falling apart) that was published in 1864!!!!
Also I feel profoundly sorry for Charles when all those visitors disturb him, it is also very funny XD
And the ending. Best. Part. Of. The. Whole. Book.
2nd read.
I love this book so much!! True it does drag quite a lot at times, engage a lot on theological debates of the time that aren't very relavent now, but I still love it. There are some moments of such transcendent beauty and joy, such love and glory that raise the whole book up. An interesting thing about this book is that it us almost like an autobiography in novel format. It contains fictional characters, bit shows the experience of John Henry Newman himself, which is why it shows so accurately the process of conversion, the heartbreak and the joy the loss and gain.
I really like Charles but Willis is my favourite. He is such a very silly boy at first, but later on... Ah. Perfect.
It reminds me quite a bit of Robert Hugh Benson's books, which is not surprising considering Benson and Newman were both converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism at around the same time. While Benson's books may be more interesting as a novel, they both share that same beauty and joy.
As a side note, my love of this book is amplified by the fact that I read it from a very old book (which is sadly falling apart) that was published in 1864!!!!
Also I feel profoundly sorry for Charles when all those visitors disturb him, it is also very funny XD
And the ending. Best. Part. Of. The. Whole. Book.
May 27, 2024
anglicans can't recover from this
January 31, 2020
An unusual novel: serious, warm, funny, and true.
December 12, 2022
Dedicated with great affection to Ian Ker https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., whose soul God keeps.
Ladies and gentlemen, this book does not count in my contest, since it is a rereading. In fact, like Hilaire Belloc's "The Servile State" it is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... the December book that was elected, and which is being talked about in The Catholic Book Club https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... in @goodreads . I must praise the wonderful edition that the publisher has made @edicionesencuentro, just for that, and the graphic material deserves one more star. It's not the first time I've read "Loss and Gain." This is the third time I've done it. This book was written by St. John Henry Newman in 1847, to respond to a series of libels attacking Catholicism, and conversions of Oxonians to Catholicism. In this book St. John Henry Newman answers them. This book has several flaws first it is too advanced, and difficult, and more in these times when there is great theological ignorance, and religious, if you find yourself in this case. This book is going to cost you, and if you know nothing about the history of England, nor about the Oxford movement you can also get lost, and reading may seem very dry. Professor Manuel Alfonseca, and I disagree he likes the first two parts of the book (3/4), and I like the last 50 pages what would be the third part where St. John Henry Newman (although his hero is torn by doubts, and his desire for conversion), writes the funniest part of the novel. Another flaw that I see is that unlike what Brandon Sanderson defends https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... to create a powerful story, and then put a message. This book opts instead for a message, and the plot as an excuse. The system is somewhat archaic opting for a platonic novel in which the characters exchange their points of view. However, the novel has very interesting elements presents us with a rejuvenated Newman, who tells in a partially autobiographical way his time at Oxford, and how he was converted to Catholicism through his protagonist Charles Reding (it is curious how the young Saint John Henry Newman looks so physically like Harry Potter https://www.goodreads.com/series/4517... ). Many of the characters are inspired by real characters Willis (the catholicizer could be Hurrell Froude https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), Brownside (it could be Renn Hampton a liberal theologian whom Newman opposed, and whom he tried to block the chair, Newman would show his relationship with Whately, Golighthy, White White https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (the liberal Spanish convert to Protestantism, on the subject of liberalism I recommend my criticism of "Don Álvaro, y la fuerza del sino" https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) among others. Campbell is inspired by a Cambridge University Professor who helped John Keble https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and Pusey https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Many of the characters are allegories Bateman (Anglo-Catholicism, or the High Church), Shefield (would be an incarnation of the one who puts the world above the spiritual. He did not know if he is inspired by any friend of Newman), Freeborn (it would be inspired by evangelism), White (he would embody the apostat, and his evolution seems clearer to me than I thought at first), along with the friend of the Malcolm family (these characters will be the worst off). All religions (some very marginal, but show the division of Protestantism), Methodists, Darbinians, Unitarians, created sects, Irvingnians, Zionists are analyzed. It is the resulting world, and created by Locke https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in which everything but Catholicism, atheism, and Islam is tolerated. An atheist would encounter the same problems as Reding. Items must be accepted, even if you don't believe in them, or don't know why like Bateman. Anyway, Newman subjects us to a lot of discussions, but throughout the story the characters begin to come to life, and talk about other topics which relaxes the plot. That it is not known if it is a novel, or a play. There are touching moments like Reding's relationship, and his family (reminiscent of Newman's relationship with his brothers, here only his three sisters appear, but not his male brothers whom he raised, and raised, but by becoming like Mishkin with Pavlichev in the "Idiot" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... they would end up disowning him). In fact, giving up the family was the hardest sacrifice Reding/Newman will make. I particularly liked Reding's tutors. Vincent (of not committing to any party), or Carlton who defends the compromise. The influence of the Passionists on Newman is also counted. I felt very identified when Reding failed his exam, because I also endured the pressure badly. There are very interesting topics that are discussed, such as Bateman, who argues that the England prior to St. Augustine of Canterbury, and that consecrated Paulinus, Melito as bishops would be an independent Church of Rome. Something, which I insisted on demonstrating in "The Druid" by Steven A. MacKay https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., which was false, like the supposed autonomy of the Celtic monasticism of St. Patrick, for this I recommend the novel "The Travels of Mailoc. The book of the hermit Ronan" by Father Santiago Cantera https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... There's the hilarious conversation that White and Willis have with the Bolton sisters, or the Roman chapels, or Bateman's attempts to get the seemingly repentant Willis on the right track. I also liked the dialogue of the grieving Reding with the priest at the station, and his farewell to Carlton (the final part for its humor has a very Dickensian touch https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...).
Personally, I would have liked him to have put in some character like Cardinal Nicholas Patrick Wiseman https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... with whom St. John Henry Newman argued.
In short, it is a good novel especially the final part, which helps us understand what led Newman to conversion, and that it can help us. At the same time it dismantles the Clichés of that tolerant England that they want to present to us, and that here it is seen that the Proctor, the Bulldogs are a police state. There is no violence, no martyrdoms as in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Gordon's riots were the last martyrdoms of Catholics in England https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...), but discrimination, or mild totalitarianism, and a paranoia against Catholicism. It seems that Protestantism survives only because of a national issue, and because of the negative behavior that Protestants see in some priests, and in some Popes. Also because it is very comfortable to be subject to the civil authorities, and to the State, than to be free. Hence this reciprocity between Protestantism and socialism. Although it takes us to the "Servile State", which Hilaire Belloc already denounced. In the end it is the City of God, against the Earth City. My grade will be (4/5). Finally, St. John Henry Newman would have been the forerunner of Oxonian university-themed novels. Without him "Zuleika Dobson" by Max Beerbohm https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., "Sinister Street" by Compton McKenzie https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., or the novels of Barbara Pym https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., or David Lodge https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... they could not have been written. Although I like more "Calixta fragments of the Third Century" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... (a brief history of St. Cyprian. It is interesting to compare it with "Felix of Lusitania" by Jesús Sánchez Adalid https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), "Fabiola" by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..., let alone "Quo Vadis" by Henryk Sienkiewicz https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... . "Loss and Gain", despite its difficulty improves over time, and I highly recommend it. PD. Some critics consider that the Smith named in this novel could be either Newman himself, or Cardinal Henry Manning https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (Newman's own rival although they eventually reconciled).
Ladies and gentlemen, this book does not count in my contest, since it is a rereading. In fact, like Hilaire Belloc's "The Servile State" it is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... the December book that was elected, and which is being talked about in The Catholic Book Club https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... in @goodreads . I must praise the wonderful edition that the publisher has made @edicionesencuentro, just for that, and the graphic material deserves one more star. It's not the first time I've read "Loss and Gain." This is the third time I've done it. This book was written by St. John Henry Newman in 1847, to respond to a series of libels attacking Catholicism, and conversions of Oxonians to Catholicism. In this book St. John Henry Newman answers them. This book has several flaws first it is too advanced, and difficult, and more in these times when there is great theological ignorance, and religious, if you find yourself in this case. This book is going to cost you, and if you know nothing about the history of England, nor about the Oxford movement you can also get lost, and reading may seem very dry. Professor Manuel Alfonseca, and I disagree he likes the first two parts of the book (3/4), and I like the last 50 pages what would be the third part where St. John Henry Newman (although his hero is torn by doubts, and his desire for conversion), writes the funniest part of the novel. Another flaw that I see is that unlike what Brandon Sanderson defends https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... to create a powerful story, and then put a message. This book opts instead for a message, and the plot as an excuse. The system is somewhat archaic opting for a platonic novel in which the characters exchange their points of view. However, the novel has very interesting elements presents us with a rejuvenated Newman, who tells in a partially autobiographical way his time at Oxford, and how he was converted to Catholicism through his protagonist Charles Reding (it is curious how the young Saint John Henry Newman looks so physically like Harry Potter https://www.goodreads.com/series/4517... ). Many of the characters are inspired by real characters Willis (the catholicizer could be Hurrell Froude https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), Brownside (it could be Renn Hampton a liberal theologian whom Newman opposed, and whom he tried to block the chair, Newman would show his relationship with Whately, Golighthy, White White https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (the liberal Spanish convert to Protestantism, on the subject of liberalism I recommend my criticism of "Don Álvaro, y la fuerza del sino" https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) among others. Campbell is inspired by a Cambridge University Professor who helped John Keble https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., and Pusey https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... Many of the characters are allegories Bateman (Anglo-Catholicism, or the High Church), Shefield (would be an incarnation of the one who puts the world above the spiritual. He did not know if he is inspired by any friend of Newman), Freeborn (it would be inspired by evangelism), White (he would embody the apostat, and his evolution seems clearer to me than I thought at first), along with the friend of the Malcolm family (these characters will be the worst off). All religions (some very marginal, but show the division of Protestantism), Methodists, Darbinians, Unitarians, created sects, Irvingnians, Zionists are analyzed. It is the resulting world, and created by Locke https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... in which everything but Catholicism, atheism, and Islam is tolerated. An atheist would encounter the same problems as Reding. Items must be accepted, even if you don't believe in them, or don't know why like Bateman. Anyway, Newman subjects us to a lot of discussions, but throughout the story the characters begin to come to life, and talk about other topics which relaxes the plot. That it is not known if it is a novel, or a play. There are touching moments like Reding's relationship, and his family (reminiscent of Newman's relationship with his brothers, here only his three sisters appear, but not his male brothers whom he raised, and raised, but by becoming like Mishkin with Pavlichev in the "Idiot" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... they would end up disowning him). In fact, giving up the family was the hardest sacrifice Reding/Newman will make. I particularly liked Reding's tutors. Vincent (of not committing to any party), or Carlton who defends the compromise. The influence of the Passionists on Newman is also counted. I felt very identified when Reding failed his exam, because I also endured the pressure badly. There are very interesting topics that are discussed, such as Bateman, who argues that the England prior to St. Augustine of Canterbury, and that consecrated Paulinus, Melito as bishops would be an independent Church of Rome. Something, which I insisted on demonstrating in "The Druid" by Steven A. MacKay https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., which was false, like the supposed autonomy of the Celtic monasticism of St. Patrick, for this I recommend the novel "The Travels of Mailoc. The book of the hermit Ronan" by Father Santiago Cantera https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show.... There's the hilarious conversation that White and Willis have with the Bolton sisters, or the Roman chapels, or Bateman's attempts to get the seemingly repentant Willis on the right track. I also liked the dialogue of the grieving Reding with the priest at the station, and his farewell to Carlton (the final part for its humor has a very Dickensian touch https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...).
Personally, I would have liked him to have put in some character like Cardinal Nicholas Patrick Wiseman https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... with whom St. John Henry Newman argued.
In short, it is a good novel especially the final part, which helps us understand what led Newman to conversion, and that it can help us. At the same time it dismantles the Clichés of that tolerant England that they want to present to us, and that here it is seen that the Proctor, the Bulldogs are a police state. There is no violence, no martyrdoms as in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries (the Gordon's riots were the last martyrdoms of Catholics in England https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...), but discrimination, or mild totalitarianism, and a paranoia against Catholicism. It seems that Protestantism survives only because of a national issue, and because of the negative behavior that Protestants see in some priests, and in some Popes. Also because it is very comfortable to be subject to the civil authorities, and to the State, than to be free. Hence this reciprocity between Protestantism and socialism. Although it takes us to the "Servile State", which Hilaire Belloc already denounced. In the end it is the City of God, against the Earth City. My grade will be (4/5). Finally, St. John Henry Newman would have been the forerunner of Oxonian university-themed novels. Without him "Zuleika Dobson" by Max Beerbohm https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., "Sinister Street" by Compton McKenzie https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., or the novels of Barbara Pym https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., or David Lodge https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... they could not have been written. Although I like more "Calixta fragments of the Third Century" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... (a brief history of St. Cyprian. It is interesting to compare it with "Felix of Lusitania" by Jesús Sánchez Adalid https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...), "Fabiola" by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..., let alone "Quo Vadis" by Henryk Sienkiewicz https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... . "Loss and Gain", despite its difficulty improves over time, and I highly recommend it. PD. Some critics consider that the Smith named in this novel could be either Newman himself, or Cardinal Henry Manning https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (Newman's own rival although they eventually reconciled).
February 21, 2023
John Henry Newman was one of the intellectual giants of the Victorian era. Born in London in 1801, he led a long life filled with intellectual curiosity and deep concern with matters of faith. Originally an Anglican priest and theologian based in Oxford, he famously converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845, continuing his ministry as a Catholic priest, prominent public theologian and educator. He died in Birmingham in 1890, and was made saint by Pope Francis in 2019.
Nowadays a person’s religious conversion probably wouldn’t cause so much public interest, but in the 1800s England it was a matter of great controversy: Newman’s conversion came at the height of the influential Oxford Movement which sought to reform the Church of England by making it, to put it simply, less Protestant and more traditionally Catholic—a reform agenda that many were extremely opposed to, for a variety of reasons. Newman was very much at the heart of that movement, but eventually he went a step further and actually left Anglicanism altogether.
Loss and Gain is going to feel like a strange kind of novel without this historical and cultural background. Newman first published it in 1848, and it was his first book after the conversion, so it’s hardly surprising that its tone is often polemical. It’s been described as a philosophical novel and a Bildungsroman, but it’s also a theological novel, filled with dialogues on various points of doctrine—Catholic, Protestant, and Reformed.
The book’s main character is Charles Reding, a young man intent on becoming an Anglican priest. However, at Oxford he gets exposed to various church factions and teachings that make him question things, driving him further and further away from the mainstream, latitudinarian, Anglicanism. Eventually, he decides to join the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in him being shunned by the academic establishment and his own family.
Even if you are not terribly interested in Christian theology and religious ideas, the book offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of young men studying at Oxford in the early 1800s. We get to learn a lot about their intellectual preoccupations and interests, but also about the everyday life at this famous university centre. Newman knew the place well, which you can see by numerous little details he provides, including specific references and colloquialisms typical of the time and place.
As I was reading the book, I felt Newman managed to present some of the anguish that can come with religious conversion: there are fears of losing one’s status and access to career opportunities, not to mention the risk of broken family relations and friendships. This is the ‘loss’ part of the book—loss made tolerable only by what is to be gained by responding affirmatively and faithfully to that higher call.
The ‘gain’ part of the book, however, is a lot shorter and more vague. Even though so much of Loss and Gain is about a rational exposition of different and contentious theological points, Charles’ drive to conversion is ultimately inexplicable. At one point he realises he simply must convert, no matter what. One slightly less believable aspect of the narrative is that, prior to his conversion, Charles hadn’t even attended a Catholic mass, or had any meaningful interactions with Catholic clergy (or laity, for that matter). Towards the end, Charles’ actions become more urgent and Newman’s writing more hurried.
What are we to make of this conversion story? Was it the end result of a solely intellectual exercise in theological thinking? Was it an act of subconscious youthful rebellion against the academic establishment and his mainstream Anglican family (Charles’ late father served as an Anglican clergyman in a small village), or does it hint at something providential and supernatural, as it were, working alongside—and sometimes contrary to—human reasoning? Newman would probably have us believe the latter, but to his credit, he leaves the door ajar for other interpretations. Or maybe that’s just me extrapolating.
It’s been claimed that “Loss and Gain” is the very first novel set in a predominantly university milieu, which would make it relevant in the context of the history of literature as one of the first campus novels. If you’re a theology buff (not necessarily Catholic), you’ll love all the discussions and theological speculations it contains. And if you’re more interested in Newman’s non-fiction, and more articulate, account of the events that led to his own conversion, you might want to read his 1864 book Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
P.S. The integral version of the review, with additional resources, is available on my blog.
Nowadays a person’s religious conversion probably wouldn’t cause so much public interest, but in the 1800s England it was a matter of great controversy: Newman’s conversion came at the height of the influential Oxford Movement which sought to reform the Church of England by making it, to put it simply, less Protestant and more traditionally Catholic—a reform agenda that many were extremely opposed to, for a variety of reasons. Newman was very much at the heart of that movement, but eventually he went a step further and actually left Anglicanism altogether.
Loss and Gain is going to feel like a strange kind of novel without this historical and cultural background. Newman first published it in 1848, and it was his first book after the conversion, so it’s hardly surprising that its tone is often polemical. It’s been described as a philosophical novel and a Bildungsroman, but it’s also a theological novel, filled with dialogues on various points of doctrine—Catholic, Protestant, and Reformed.
The book’s main character is Charles Reding, a young man intent on becoming an Anglican priest. However, at Oxford he gets exposed to various church factions and teachings that make him question things, driving him further and further away from the mainstream, latitudinarian, Anglicanism. Eventually, he decides to join the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in him being shunned by the academic establishment and his own family.
Even if you are not terribly interested in Christian theology and religious ideas, the book offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of young men studying at Oxford in the early 1800s. We get to learn a lot about their intellectual preoccupations and interests, but also about the everyday life at this famous university centre. Newman knew the place well, which you can see by numerous little details he provides, including specific references and colloquialisms typical of the time and place.
As I was reading the book, I felt Newman managed to present some of the anguish that can come with religious conversion: there are fears of losing one’s status and access to career opportunities, not to mention the risk of broken family relations and friendships. This is the ‘loss’ part of the book—loss made tolerable only by what is to be gained by responding affirmatively and faithfully to that higher call.
The ‘gain’ part of the book, however, is a lot shorter and more vague. Even though so much of Loss and Gain is about a rational exposition of different and contentious theological points, Charles’ drive to conversion is ultimately inexplicable. At one point he realises he simply must convert, no matter what. One slightly less believable aspect of the narrative is that, prior to his conversion, Charles hadn’t even attended a Catholic mass, or had any meaningful interactions with Catholic clergy (or laity, for that matter). Towards the end, Charles’ actions become more urgent and Newman’s writing more hurried.
What are we to make of this conversion story? Was it the end result of a solely intellectual exercise in theological thinking? Was it an act of subconscious youthful rebellion against the academic establishment and his mainstream Anglican family (Charles’ late father served as an Anglican clergyman in a small village), or does it hint at something providential and supernatural, as it were, working alongside—and sometimes contrary to—human reasoning? Newman would probably have us believe the latter, but to his credit, he leaves the door ajar for other interpretations. Or maybe that’s just me extrapolating.
It’s been claimed that “Loss and Gain” is the very first novel set in a predominantly university milieu, which would make it relevant in the context of the history of literature as one of the first campus novels. If you’re a theology buff (not necessarily Catholic), you’ll love all the discussions and theological speculations it contains. And if you’re more interested in Newman’s non-fiction, and more articulate, account of the events that led to his own conversion, you might want to read his 1864 book Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
P.S. The integral version of the review, with additional resources, is available on my blog.
August 13, 2023
Not a book everyone will love, or even like.
I didn’t rate Rome Sweet Home a 5/5 because I am not a convert. I said I would have otherwise given it a 5/5. After reading this book, I give it 5/5 even though I am not a convert nor was I ever Anglican.
Cardinal Newman managed to write a story about a college boy who grapples with the faith that was given to him, and determines he must give up house and home, family and friend, to follow where God is calling him. You follow the internal turmoil that eats at him day and night. Newman takes the severity of the implications on the life of the boy very seriously, yet acknowledges the strife of others in less fortunate positions. Today it’s very common that when young people have a crisis of faith and decide to go one way or another, older people or even their peers, fail to understand the emotional and spiritual rollercoaster the young person may be on. Our character, dear Charles Redding, is the kind of boy, the kind of man, one would be blessed to know.
As the story is about the conversion of Cardinal Newman himself, while reading the book, I felt as though I would have liked to be great friends with Charles Redding and perhaps subsequently Cardinal Newman. Charles was gentle, thoughtful, and kind but managed to maintain his virtue while denouncing the falsehoods that surrounded him—yet he did so with compassion for the person with which he was vehemently opposing. I’ve seldom read a book where I identified with the character in age, desire, pursuits, sentiments, and temperament (I hope to grow to be as Charles was). I’m by no means anywhere near Charles’ intellectual capabilities, but similar thoughts and internal battles have been fought in my own heart.
The way the friendship of the boys turned men in this work was beautiful. Friends come and go, but the friendships that passed away, passed away beautifully. The friendship that brought tears to my eyes was that of Willis and Charles. The end of the book is so beautiful, one of the greatest goodbyes between two men you’ll find.
The relationship between Charles and his mother was piercingly beautiful. Newman’s description of the mass in this work is astonishingly gorgeous.
Cardinal Newman earned a few tears from me—I’m happy to have shed them. Newman himself said saints couldn’t be novelists, well he disproved that himself.
Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us.
I didn’t rate Rome Sweet Home a 5/5 because I am not a convert. I said I would have otherwise given it a 5/5. After reading this book, I give it 5/5 even though I am not a convert nor was I ever Anglican.
Cardinal Newman managed to write a story about a college boy who grapples with the faith that was given to him, and determines he must give up house and home, family and friend, to follow where God is calling him. You follow the internal turmoil that eats at him day and night. Newman takes the severity of the implications on the life of the boy very seriously, yet acknowledges the strife of others in less fortunate positions. Today it’s very common that when young people have a crisis of faith and decide to go one way or another, older people or even their peers, fail to understand the emotional and spiritual rollercoaster the young person may be on. Our character, dear Charles Redding, is the kind of boy, the kind of man, one would be blessed to know.
As the story is about the conversion of Cardinal Newman himself, while reading the book, I felt as though I would have liked to be great friends with Charles Redding and perhaps subsequently Cardinal Newman. Charles was gentle, thoughtful, and kind but managed to maintain his virtue while denouncing the falsehoods that surrounded him—yet he did so with compassion for the person with which he was vehemently opposing. I’ve seldom read a book where I identified with the character in age, desire, pursuits, sentiments, and temperament (I hope to grow to be as Charles was). I’m by no means anywhere near Charles’ intellectual capabilities, but similar thoughts and internal battles have been fought in my own heart.
The way the friendship of the boys turned men in this work was beautiful. Friends come and go, but the friendships that passed away, passed away beautifully. The friendship that brought tears to my eyes was that of Willis and Charles. The end of the book is so beautiful, one of the greatest goodbyes between two men you’ll find.
The relationship between Charles and his mother was piercingly beautiful. Newman’s description of the mass in this work is astonishingly gorgeous.
Cardinal Newman earned a few tears from me—I’m happy to have shed them. Newman himself said saints couldn’t be novelists, well he disproved that himself.
Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2019
This one's ticked a few boxes on the not-at-all-average reading challenge:
Theological Fiction
Victorian
A saint as an author!
Not being a fan of Bronte / Austen / Dickens and their ilk it took me a while to get used to the prose but this was an enjoyable and gentle way for the author to respond to criticism of him at the time.
The latter chapter where a succession of peculiar characters visit the protagonist to attempt to persuade him to reverse his hard thought decision demonstrates quite amusingly that even in the nineteenth century "you always get your lunatic fringe". (Plass, A).
Theological Fiction
Victorian
A saint as an author!
Not being a fan of Bronte / Austen / Dickens and their ilk it took me a while to get used to the prose but this was an enjoyable and gentle way for the author to respond to criticism of him at the time.
The latter chapter where a succession of peculiar characters visit the protagonist to attempt to persuade him to reverse his hard thought decision demonstrates quite amusingly that even in the nineteenth century "you always get your lunatic fringe". (Plass, A).
October 12, 2019
Our new saint Cardinal Newman.
Charles is a seeker of the truth. His heart is restless. He looks for authority that shows him that truth. A believable tale of conversion.
Very well written.
Charles is a seeker of the truth. His heart is restless. He looks for authority that shows him that truth. A believable tale of conversion.
Very well written.
February 20, 2012
Maybe I'm weird, but I really enjoyed this book. I like Newman a lot and it didn't bother me that the 'plot' was thin. It just made the debate more interesting that it was framed by a story.
July 10, 2023
So this is how those fabled 1 AM dorm talks would have gone in the nineteenth century (except it's late afternoon and you're in a tree-lined avenue)! Most of the appeal here for me came down to these simulations, which, I'm willing to bet on the strength of Newman's background, came minutely close to their originals. So, you'd get a passage like this -
"Well, sir, but think of this," said Charles, "scents are complete in themselves, yet do not consist of parts. Think how very distinct the smell of a rose is from a pink, a pink from a sweet-pea, a sweet-pea from a stock, a stock from lilac, lilac from lavender, lavender from jasmine, jasmine from honeysuckle, honeysuckle from hawthorn, hawthorn from hyacinth, hyacinth"——
"Spare us," interrupted Mr. Malcolm; "you are going through the index of Loudon!"
"And these are only the scents of flowers; how different flowers smell from fruits, fruits from spices, spices from roast-beef or pork-cutlets, and so on. Now, what I was coming to is this—these scents are perfectly distinct from each other, and sui generis; they never can be confused; yet each is communicated to the apprehension in an instant. Sights take up a great space, a tune is a succession of sounds; but scents are at once specific and complete, yet indivisible. Who can halve a scent? they need neither time nor space; thus they are immaterial or spiritual."
- which is so fun! Call me out to that dorm room, I'm there.
There was quite a lot of dialogue in this novel, predictably, and this was perhaps the focal point of the book anyway, its smoky antiquarian attraction aside, insofar as Loss and Gain tracks the progress of religious idea(l)s. I had already read Newman's Apologia, and not only: basically, anything of Newman's I'll read, so long as it doesn't go entirely over my head by dint of complex theology. There were passages in this book I didn't know enough (or care!) to fully appreciate, ones that carried too heavily their mantle of either historical relevance or ecclesiastical meaning. I think it's safe to assume you'll find this book boring without an interest in Newman, Tractarianism, or the representation of religion in Victorian literature. It's a fictionalization of the Apologia, in essence, that doesn't have much going for it in the way of character or plot development, from a literary-aesthetic perspective.
This is not to say that one doesn't feel for Charles Reding, Newman's proxy, acutely at the time of his conversion. It's understating things to say that was a big deal: it was unequivocal how much Reding, qua Newman, sacrificed in the name of faith - the livelihood he had been educated for, a claim to that education, and practically all of his native community, including friends and associates, mentors, and even family. To all intents and purposes, there was a cancel culture around going over to Rome. Take this passage, for instance, eminently poignant:
"... wherever I go, whomever I talk with, I feel him to be another sort of person from what I am. I can't convey it to you; you won't understand me; but the words of the Psalm, 'I am a stranger upon earth,' describe what I always feel. No one thinks or feels like me. I hear sermons, I talk on religious subjects with friends, and every one seems to bear witness against me. ..."
The supreme solitude of Reding’s experience of conversion, moreover, was one part of a greater ordeal of sticking out. In a passage following the one above, where Reding continues to try to explain himself to his sister, he indicts the lifestyle of senior divines in Oxford and abroad as confounding the essence of their preaching. He goes the length of distinguishing, and sparing, individuals from that ever-incorrigible entity, “the system,” but ultimately the critical defect isn’t even a susceptibility to hypocrisy or extravagance cultivated by the Church: it’s that “‘there is a worldly air about everything, as unlike as possible the spirit of the Gospel’.” If we are warranted in taking Reding for Newman, as I think pretty safe, then such a statement not only identifies a want he was able to fill, a failing he could rectify, in adopting the greater orthodoxy of Catholicism – it sets Newman apart from his contemporary peers not only in the Christian context, that is to say, but also in a cultural one, as seeking a depth of spirituality his age did not afford. I’m reading this counterculturalism, of sorts, into Reding’s observation to a degree, marshalling it on the strength of my knowledge of Newman, but that doesn’t compromise its significance in the scheme of this conversion narrative. It seems to me that Reding, like Newman, is a quite fundamentally alienated figure. The result of this, in the latter’s case, was a body of intellectual labor with a profound historical and enduring impact, beyond a “loss and gain” of religious affiliation.
I have abiding esteem for the magnitude of Newman’s feat, for his vigorous fortitude, among other qualities exemplified in his writing. He represents for me a seminal Victorian, a monumental thinker, and by all accounts an incredible person. Perhaps this novel isn’t the first of his works I’d recommend, but it certainly isn’t the last I’ll consult for their intelligence, their wisdom, their penetration, their humanity, and their allowance of comfort, too.
"Well, sir, but think of this," said Charles, "scents are complete in themselves, yet do not consist of parts. Think how very distinct the smell of a rose is from a pink, a pink from a sweet-pea, a sweet-pea from a stock, a stock from lilac, lilac from lavender, lavender from jasmine, jasmine from honeysuckle, honeysuckle from hawthorn, hawthorn from hyacinth, hyacinth"——
"Spare us," interrupted Mr. Malcolm; "you are going through the index of Loudon!"
"And these are only the scents of flowers; how different flowers smell from fruits, fruits from spices, spices from roast-beef or pork-cutlets, and so on. Now, what I was coming to is this—these scents are perfectly distinct from each other, and sui generis; they never can be confused; yet each is communicated to the apprehension in an instant. Sights take up a great space, a tune is a succession of sounds; but scents are at once specific and complete, yet indivisible. Who can halve a scent? they need neither time nor space; thus they are immaterial or spiritual."
- which is so fun! Call me out to that dorm room, I'm there.
There was quite a lot of dialogue in this novel, predictably, and this was perhaps the focal point of the book anyway, its smoky antiquarian attraction aside, insofar as Loss and Gain tracks the progress of religious idea(l)s. I had already read Newman's Apologia, and not only: basically, anything of Newman's I'll read, so long as it doesn't go entirely over my head by dint of complex theology. There were passages in this book I didn't know enough (or care!) to fully appreciate, ones that carried too heavily their mantle of either historical relevance or ecclesiastical meaning. I think it's safe to assume you'll find this book boring without an interest in Newman, Tractarianism, or the representation of religion in Victorian literature. It's a fictionalization of the Apologia, in essence, that doesn't have much going for it in the way of character or plot development, from a literary-aesthetic perspective.
This is not to say that one doesn't feel for Charles Reding, Newman's proxy, acutely at the time of his conversion. It's understating things to say that was a big deal: it was unequivocal how much Reding, qua Newman, sacrificed in the name of faith - the livelihood he had been educated for, a claim to that education, and practically all of his native community, including friends and associates, mentors, and even family. To all intents and purposes, there was a cancel culture around going over to Rome. Take this passage, for instance, eminently poignant:
"... wherever I go, whomever I talk with, I feel him to be another sort of person from what I am. I can't convey it to you; you won't understand me; but the words of the Psalm, 'I am a stranger upon earth,' describe what I always feel. No one thinks or feels like me. I hear sermons, I talk on religious subjects with friends, and every one seems to bear witness against me. ..."
The supreme solitude of Reding’s experience of conversion, moreover, was one part of a greater ordeal of sticking out. In a passage following the one above, where Reding continues to try to explain himself to his sister, he indicts the lifestyle of senior divines in Oxford and abroad as confounding the essence of their preaching. He goes the length of distinguishing, and sparing, individuals from that ever-incorrigible entity, “the system,” but ultimately the critical defect isn’t even a susceptibility to hypocrisy or extravagance cultivated by the Church: it’s that “‘there is a worldly air about everything, as unlike as possible the spirit of the Gospel’.” If we are warranted in taking Reding for Newman, as I think pretty safe, then such a statement not only identifies a want he was able to fill, a failing he could rectify, in adopting the greater orthodoxy of Catholicism – it sets Newman apart from his contemporary peers not only in the Christian context, that is to say, but also in a cultural one, as seeking a depth of spirituality his age did not afford. I’m reading this counterculturalism, of sorts, into Reding’s observation to a degree, marshalling it on the strength of my knowledge of Newman, but that doesn’t compromise its significance in the scheme of this conversion narrative. It seems to me that Reding, like Newman, is a quite fundamentally alienated figure. The result of this, in the latter’s case, was a body of intellectual labor with a profound historical and enduring impact, beyond a “loss and gain” of religious affiliation.
I have abiding esteem for the magnitude of Newman’s feat, for his vigorous fortitude, among other qualities exemplified in his writing. He represents for me a seminal Victorian, a monumental thinker, and by all accounts an incredible person. Perhaps this novel isn’t the first of his works I’d recommend, but it certainly isn’t the last I’ll consult for their intelligence, their wisdom, their penetration, their humanity, and their allowance of comfort, too.
July 24, 2022
An annotated ed. such as the old Oxford Classics or the new Ignatius Press one is recommended, rather than the plain-wrap public domain version listed here. I wish it was an audiobook. While often dismissed as a thinly veiled and obviously autobiographical attempt at fiction, I enjoyed it. Also recommended is Roderick Strange's brief take on John Henry Newman, A Mind Alive (which I reviewed; the audio is splendidly performed by Bob Sinfield.) Now, I want to learn more about this newly sainted mastermind, and perhaps Fr Strange's ed. of his letters may be where next to turn? Any suggestions as to books are welcome, as Newman after all these years remains rather too new to me.
April 12, 2020
Rather laborious reading requiring a lot of context in the beginning, but definitely worth it. Includes great discussions about religion, art, society and social roles, but is not always written in an easy style. You can witness an immensely interesting inner development of the main character and towards the end the book gets even humorous - generally the novel becomes more readable towards the end, but I am unable to say whether this was due to me finally getting to know the autobiographical protagonist, or to a shift in writing style.
July 7, 2021
I have a great amount of respect for Newman as an intellectual, but I found his novel extremely dry, and so slow (with a conclusion so foregone) that I struggled to be attentive. The characters, while occasionally humorous (and I swear I’ve met these people in real life on more than one occasion; they’re so archetypal that they can’t help but feel familiar) are largely bores (like most of us). All in all, I wish Newman had instead written a simple book of apologetics. This novel may have appealed to a certain audience in his day, but it’s hard to find one now.
January 4, 2021
A fictionalised account of Newman's conversion.
Makes me wonder if Mr Reding would have converted in 2021.
The finest passages are the bits of 19th Century intellectual, familiar and social conversation if, that is, they are even slightly genuine. The little glimpses of Catholic worship are worth the read too. Enjoyable.
Makes me wonder if Mr Reding would have converted in 2021.
The finest passages are the bits of 19th Century intellectual, familiar and social conversation if, that is, they are even slightly genuine. The little glimpses of Catholic worship are worth the read too. Enjoyable.
April 26, 2022
El libro narra de manera en gran medida autobiográfica la conversión de Charles, un joven que busca la verdad y la encuentra.
May 10, 2023
One of my favorite books
January 23, 2024
2 stars as a novel, 4 stars if it would have just been an autobiographical essay
September 17, 2016
In his "Inside the Whale," Orwell complains that there are no good Catholic novelists. I racked my brain for Catholic novelists who could refute this claim. Part of my failure to come up with one stems from my own ignorance--I have not read anything by Graham Greene or Evelyn Waugh. Also, the novel is such a particularly English institution that Henry VIII might be to blame for the dearth of Catholic novelists until the 20th Century.
Additionally, there's the fact that the novel is overrated as a form of art. Any writer who sets out to compose anything longer than a poem tells others that he is working on his novel. Why not an epic poem? Why do writers constrain themselves to such a shaggy-dog form? Hawthorne tried to separate himself from this, calling his great works "romances," but unsympathetic readers have consigned him to being a "novelist" nonetheless.
Loss and Gain is a fine work, but a bad novel. It is not a novel, in fact, but a dialogue. It owes far more to Socrates than any fiction writer. Cardinal Newman himself seems to realize that his narrative does not matter, and tells the reader so when he jumps from place to place, from year to year, without feeling the need to justify these jumps. The two-year flash-forward between Books II and II, for example: A novelist would have to fill these two years with some kind of development, either in the narrative or his characters, but Cardinal Newman informs us only that no interesting or important dialogues happened in that two-year span, and therefore we need not worry about it.
As a dialogue, the work is compelling. It stands as a companion to Cardinal Newman's other works justifying his own conversion and the process of gaining cognizance of religious truths in general, and in fact is often more lucid than those works. It is in those nonfiction works that Cardinal Newman's literary powers are best displayed, but Loss and Gain, though less aesthetically pleasing, provides a nice simplified (and partially incomplete) vision of his thought.
Only Book III really feels like a novel. The motley crew of heretics who come to Charles, trying to sway him towards one weird sect or another, provides the one source of comedy in the book--the only time when you feel you could be reading Austen or Dickens rather than an intellectual churchman. The penultimate chapter, describing the beauty of the Latin Mass, is the only time Cardinal Newman commits his senses and feelings to a scene in the way a novelist must in order to create his fictional world. From a dramatic perspective, and given its place in the long dialogue, it works.
The novel is an overly sensual thing. A state of mind which might be well-described by a stanza, the beauty of an evening which might be completely described in one line of poetry, are in a novel given paragraphs and pages. The novel is not a form for the ascetic. Cardinal Newman's final, sensual description of the Mass works well; the reader has the feeling that, as Dante worked his way up the stars towards God, the reader has done the same, and his senses are allowed to flower in the Real Presence.
Cardinal Newman compares the Latin Mass with the Anglican service, where the organist and the preacher are the center of the worship service. In contrast, the priest, facing ad orientam, is nothing compared to the the people at the Catholic Mass. Newman portrays these parishioners as devout, as understanding, as more focused on God than any other Christians. Compare this the justifications used to take Latin from the Mass and turn the priest towards the congregation--that the parishioners were too separated from the rest of the Mass--and you realize how empty those justifications were.
Where was Cardinal Newman at the Vatican II Council? Where was he, to prevent the perversion of the liturgy into a man-centered creation? In the span of a couple paragraphs, Newman swats down every criticism that the deformers made and make about the Extraordinary Form. More than this, the sensuous Chapter X also brings to light what was wrong with the thinking of Vatican II. Nothing theological--there is nothing invalid in the Novus Ordo Missae--but everything sensual, everything intellectual, everything psychological. Only an artist, a man of feeling, can describe the error of Vatican II. As it pertained to theology and God's law, it was inerrant. The paradoxical goal of traditionalist reformers must be to bring emphasis back on man: What was lost were the concerns of the novelist. Place, feeling, story. What we have lost is sensual, concerning nothing but man-centered things. But denying these man-centered things have separated us from God. The most important lack of faith in our era is not atheism, but a lack of faith in our own importance. And this is the first step of theism--believing that our own beliefs warrant any kind of regard. Vatican II was nowhere near a slight against God's law, but was a terrible slight against Man.
But how to reinvigorate faith in a mass that deserves none?
Additionally, there's the fact that the novel is overrated as a form of art. Any writer who sets out to compose anything longer than a poem tells others that he is working on his novel. Why not an epic poem? Why do writers constrain themselves to such a shaggy-dog form? Hawthorne tried to separate himself from this, calling his great works "romances," but unsympathetic readers have consigned him to being a "novelist" nonetheless.
Loss and Gain is a fine work, but a bad novel. It is not a novel, in fact, but a dialogue. It owes far more to Socrates than any fiction writer. Cardinal Newman himself seems to realize that his narrative does not matter, and tells the reader so when he jumps from place to place, from year to year, without feeling the need to justify these jumps. The two-year flash-forward between Books II and II, for example: A novelist would have to fill these two years with some kind of development, either in the narrative or his characters, but Cardinal Newman informs us only that no interesting or important dialogues happened in that two-year span, and therefore we need not worry about it.
As a dialogue, the work is compelling. It stands as a companion to Cardinal Newman's other works justifying his own conversion and the process of gaining cognizance of religious truths in general, and in fact is often more lucid than those works. It is in those nonfiction works that Cardinal Newman's literary powers are best displayed, but Loss and Gain, though less aesthetically pleasing, provides a nice simplified (and partially incomplete) vision of his thought.
Only Book III really feels like a novel. The motley crew of heretics who come to Charles, trying to sway him towards one weird sect or another, provides the one source of comedy in the book--the only time when you feel you could be reading Austen or Dickens rather than an intellectual churchman. The penultimate chapter, describing the beauty of the Latin Mass, is the only time Cardinal Newman commits his senses and feelings to a scene in the way a novelist must in order to create his fictional world. From a dramatic perspective, and given its place in the long dialogue, it works.
The novel is an overly sensual thing. A state of mind which might be well-described by a stanza, the beauty of an evening which might be completely described in one line of poetry, are in a novel given paragraphs and pages. The novel is not a form for the ascetic. Cardinal Newman's final, sensual description of the Mass works well; the reader has the feeling that, as Dante worked his way up the stars towards God, the reader has done the same, and his senses are allowed to flower in the Real Presence.
Cardinal Newman compares the Latin Mass with the Anglican service, where the organist and the preacher are the center of the worship service. In contrast, the priest, facing ad orientam, is nothing compared to the the people at the Catholic Mass. Newman portrays these parishioners as devout, as understanding, as more focused on God than any other Christians. Compare this the justifications used to take Latin from the Mass and turn the priest towards the congregation--that the parishioners were too separated from the rest of the Mass--and you realize how empty those justifications were.
Where was Cardinal Newman at the Vatican II Council? Where was he, to prevent the perversion of the liturgy into a man-centered creation? In the span of a couple paragraphs, Newman swats down every criticism that the deformers made and make about the Extraordinary Form. More than this, the sensuous Chapter X also brings to light what was wrong with the thinking of Vatican II. Nothing theological--there is nothing invalid in the Novus Ordo Missae--but everything sensual, everything intellectual, everything psychological. Only an artist, a man of feeling, can describe the error of Vatican II. As it pertained to theology and God's law, it was inerrant. The paradoxical goal of traditionalist reformers must be to bring emphasis back on man: What was lost were the concerns of the novelist. Place, feeling, story. What we have lost is sensual, concerning nothing but man-centered things. But denying these man-centered things have separated us from God. The most important lack of faith in our era is not atheism, but a lack of faith in our own importance. And this is the first step of theism--believing that our own beliefs warrant any kind of regard. Vatican II was nowhere near a slight against God's law, but was a terrible slight against Man.
But how to reinvigorate faith in a mass that deserves none?
December 9, 2014
Curious I should come across this particular book in the library now that I'm a student in the UK. I first heard of Newman through Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man . When I saw the book I remembered Stephen declared Newman the best prose writer and I could not but read it myself. I confess I do not agree with him for I even prefer Joyce many times over. However thematics wise I could ask for little more. I'm always terribly impressed by the sagacity of this well read and knowledgeable young men and their ease in intelligent and deep intellectual conversations on topics of religion. I believe their epoch, their education and Oxford university are to blame for this and its saddening it is no longer like this. This book made me none the wiser but decidedly strengthened my confidence in my faith with arguments I knew not before.
January 1, 2013
Newman is an excellent controversialist, but there is perhaps a reason he is not primarily remembered for his novels. The book is interesting for its insights into the mind of a convert - something Newman is well qualified to write upon, and as a piece of controversy literature in a narrative setting, the book is excellent. But considered as a novel, it is not.
It may be argued that e.g. Plato's dialogues are hardly great novels either. That is true, but had Newman written this book as more clearly intended as a dialogue, it would have been quite good. In its current form, however, it is not very successful.
It may be argued that e.g. Plato's dialogues are hardly great novels either. That is true, but had Newman written this book as more clearly intended as a dialogue, it would have been quite good. In its current form, however, it is not very successful.
February 27, 2011
Mostly interesting as a historical curiosity. This novel was written by Blessed John Henry Newman following his conversion to the Catholic Faith. Newman was a solid theologian and thinker, but not a very good novelist. The characters do little more than voice a variety of theological opinion, a good many chapters are rather superfluous to the proceedings and any actual dramatic tension that may have fueled the narrative is drowned in interminable debate. Not advised unless one is particularly interested in Victorian religious literature.
September 7, 2014
A Catholic conversion novel, this book isn't something I would've picked up on my own. But, as it was first on the schedule for the Brit Lit required reading, I found myself slogging through more pages than I would've like to find out when and how, exactly, Charles Reding chooses the Catholic faith.
This is no page-turner, more a "novel of ideas," but it contains important, valuable points if you're willing to look for them.
This is no page-turner, more a "novel of ideas," but it contains important, valuable points if you're willing to look for them.
February 20, 2012
No. I'm not actually reading this in Spanish! I've tried to change it two times, but goodreads isn't cooperating! I'm realy liking this book. I wonder why the ratings aren't better?? Maybe people were expecting a plot?! It is more like an apologetics conversation, back and forth. I can see Newman's own inner conversion dialog. I can relate.
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