Christians and Literature – 10 Questions for Michael Plato

Here are 10 questions I posed to Michael Plato about literature.

1. Can you give a brief summary of where you live, your educational background, what you do for a living, what church you attend, and the religious tradition you stand in?

I live in downtown Toronto (Little Italy), I have a BA in Literary Studies and Philosophy and an MA in Popular Culture, I am a professor of English and Popular Culture at Seneca College, and I attend New City Baptist (Reformed Baptist).

2. How has your early upbringing shaped your view and use of literature now?

Was surrounded by people who read and collected old and rare books. Learned that older books were often the better books.

3. Are there any people who, in your adult life, have encouraged you to encounter literature in a deeper or more passionate way. If so, who? (they can people you know personally or not)

Northrop Frye, Harold Bloom, Robertson Davies, my High School Chemistry teacher!

4. What authors/works would you re-read if you had a month-long sabbatical to dedicate to reading?

Don Quixote, Middlemarch, Remembrance of Things Past (Proust), Portrait of a Lady, the works of Milton

5. Who are your favorite authors or characters portrayed in literature? (if any of them have substantially changed you, list how briefly)

Fav authors: Cervantes, Milton, Evelyn Waugh, Robertson Davies, the Brontes, Charles Dickens, Thomas Mann, G.K. Chesterton, Henry James.

Fav Characters: Don Quixote, Odysseus, Hans Castorp (Magic Mountain).

6. Should Christians read more literature? What are the benefits to that? What are some cautions you would share?

Yes, but don’t like the term “benefits” when describing literature. You might as well ask: what are the benefits of having family or friends?  I see this in the same category (though humans obviously matter more than books). Cautions? Don’t read bad books. A good indicator that a book is bad is if it appeared on the Oprah Book Club.

7. To what degree is reading communal for you? (ie. Are you more solitary? Do you share in any way with your friends? Are you in reading groups?)

Completely solitary. Have never been part of a reading group, unless literature classes are counted as such.

8. What are some methods or principles you use to decide what you will and won’t read?

Pure whimsy. Sometimes recommendations, more often the result of perusing bookshops and libraries.

9. What literary works or authors could be of the greatest value to the church if they were read more? Why?

Brideshead Revisited – it is the cleverest Christian apologetic ever written.

John Donne and John Milton – for their nuanced reflection on the spiritual and superb imagination

Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre – to be aware of thoughtful and truly honest atheists

10. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Books should always be ready at hand in the home, especially if there are children. One does not have to enforce reading if it is already a part of the environment.