A Literary Cavalcade-VII

Book excerpt: Writer and editor Robert A. Parker has followed up his six-volume A Literary Cavalcade with a seventh volume. This volume of criticism covers mainly the fiction he has read from 2013 to early 2017. His comments are informed by his Jesuit upbringing but also by an independent critical view that balances a moral and literary sensibility. The writers here represent a broad range of writing styles, cultural influences, and moral philosophies. And all are rated on their literary achievement, the effectiveness of plot, character, and setting, plus their recognition of the moral, ethical, and spiritual values of mankind. Here is a unique critical perspective that measures the meaning of literature against the meaning of life.