<![CDATA[The Torch: Kindled Critique]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/s/kindled-critiquehttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qfXY!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9b79134-a9c0-4666-8ac2-c7321c60ce5d_500x500.pngThe Torch: Kindled Critiquehttps://johnchancock.substack.com/s/kindled-critiqueSubstackTue, 05 May 2026 15:21:35 GMT<![CDATA[A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans (Part 3)]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americans-437https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americans-437Tue, 25 Nov 2025 03:59:09 GMTThis is a follow up post to “A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans: A Basic Introduction to Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment,” and “A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans (Pa…

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]]><![CDATA[A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans (Part 2)]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americans-52bhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americans-52bSun, 23 Nov 2025 04:33:51 GMT

This is a follow up post to “A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans: A Basic Introduction to Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment.”

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]]><![CDATA[A Literary Mirror for Modern Americans]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americanshttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-literary-mirror-for-modern-americansSun, 23 Nov 2025 04:16:03 GMT

I just finished reading (for the second time) a book that my friend Carl E. Scott appropriately calls “the best philosophic book of the last several years, particularly among those aimed at an interm…

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]]><![CDATA[Come, Lord Jesus]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/come-lord-jesushttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/come-lord-jesusFri, 21 Nov 2025 05:27:16 GMT

You may have noticed recently that there has been an exponential increase in the numbers of internet personalities who have begun to panic and to warn their audiences about the mark of the beast and …

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]]><![CDATA[Christ's Life Is the Meaning]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/christs-life-is-the-meaninghttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/christs-life-is-the-meaningTue, 14 Oct 2025 05:24:31 GMTMost good and great books have been written by authors who lived and died long ago. It is rare to find such goodness and greatness among contemporary authors. However, following a recommendation from…

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]]><![CDATA[A Bolder Note than This Might Swell ]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-bolder-note-than-this-might-swellhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-bolder-note-than-this-might-swellThu, 09 Oct 2025 04:20:18 GMTIn the Provo Great Books Club (see here, here, and here) - perhaps in preparation for Halloween (a holiday that I celebrate ever less eagerly as the years progress) - we have recently been reading sh…

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]]><![CDATA[As in the Days when Nimrod Built a Tower]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/as-in-the-days-when-nimrod-builthttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/as-in-the-days-when-nimrod-builtTue, 23 Sep 2025 03:52:10 GMT

In a previous post I recorded several of my favorite passages from, and my commentary on, the first book in C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, and in a following post I recorded a …

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]]><![CDATA[A Higher Life that Streams from a Mighty Spirit]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-higher-life-that-streams-from-ahttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-higher-life-that-streams-from-aWed, 17 Sep 2025 02:25:46 GMT

In a previous post I sketched some thoughts about our recent reading and discussion of Part Two of Goethe’s Faust (in the fantastic David Luke English translation, here and here) in the Provo Great B…

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]]><![CDATA[A Bruised Heel and a Crushed Head]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-bruised-heel-and-a-crushed-headhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/a-bruised-heel-and-a-crushed-headFri, 25 Jul 2025 18:13:47 GMTIn a previous post I recorded several of my favorite passages from, and my commentary on, the first book in C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet. Because I just finished reading the s…

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]]><![CDATA[Thought that Floats on a Different Blood]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/thought-that-floats-on-a-differenthttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/thought-that-floats-on-a-differentTue, 15 Jul 2025 05:30:56 GMT

It has probably been a couple of decades since I last read C.S. Lewis’ The Space Trilogy. I recently finished reading the first book in the series: Out of the Silent Planet.

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]]><![CDATA[Goethe is Now a "Mormon"]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/goethe-is-now-a-mormonhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/goethe-is-now-a-mormonThu, 03 Jul 2025 00:37:23 GMTI created the “Kindled Critique” category of The Torch for book reviews and film reviews. What follows also fits into my categories “Athen’s Flame” and “The Hidden Flame.”

Most recently in the Provo G…

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]]><![CDATA[You Can View My Body on the Rails of Yasenki]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/you-can-view-my-body-on-the-railshttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/you-can-view-my-body-on-the-railsFri, 28 Mar 2025 02:27:07 GMTYesterday in the Provo Great Books Club we finished reading and discussing Book Eight and concluded our study of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina. (see here for my previous notes on Anna Karen…

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]]><![CDATA[The Dear Christ Enters In]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-dear-christ-enters-inhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-dear-christ-enters-inMon, 24 Mar 2025 23:16:11 GMTBecause I so thoroughly enjoyed Richard Dutcher’s classic Mormon movie God’s Army, I decided to watch God’s Army II: States of Grace (see also here and here) this weekend. Because the first movie was…

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]]><![CDATA[She Had Truth]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/she-had-truthhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/she-had-truthThu, 20 Mar 2025 04:53:26 GMTIn the Provo Great Books Club we just finished reading and discussing the penultimate book, Book 7, of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina.

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

I watched the 2012 movie re…

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]]><![CDATA[Levin's Character]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/levins-characterhttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/levins-characterSat, 15 Mar 2025 03:05:45 GMT
Anna Karenina

Last Wednesday in the Provo Great Books Club we finished reading and discussing Part 6 of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina. (You can find my previous notes and reflections on this…

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]]><![CDATA[The Russian Polis]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-russian-polishttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-russian-polisWed, 12 Mar 2025 02:38:54 GMTLast week in the Provo Great Books Club (see here, here, and here) we finished reading and discussing Part 5 of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina. (For my notes and commentary on Parts 1 to 4, …

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]]><![CDATA[Relaunching Mormon Cinema]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/relaunching-mormon-cinemahttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/relaunching-mormon-cinemaTue, 04 Mar 2025 07:45:52 GMT
Mormon Cinema: Origins to 1952

Mormon cinema is an obscure niche even for most Mormons.

The definition of what constitutes Mormon cinema is itself disputed.

Nevertheless, as a member of the Church of J…

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]]><![CDATA[The Common Weal and Forgiveness]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-common-weal-and-forgivenesshttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/the-common-weal-and-forgivenessSat, 01 Mar 2025 05:56:42 GMTI just finished reading and discussing (with the Provo Great Books Club) parts 3 and 4 of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. (For my commentary on Parts 1 and 2, see here, here, here, and here.)

I would lik…

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]]><![CDATA[Jack Flack Always Escapes]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/jack-flack-always-escapeshttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/jack-flack-always-escapesSun, 16 Feb 2025 09:22:49 GMTWho remembers the 1984 spy adventure film Cloak and Dagger?

Cloak and Dagger was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. It probably ranked in my top ten favorite movies, right up there with:

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]]><![CDATA[What Is Varenka's Secret?]]>https://johnchancock.substack.com/p/what-is-varenkas-secrethttps://johnchancock.substack.com/p/what-is-varenkas-secretThu, 13 Feb 2025 05:28:35 GMTWe just finished reading and discussing the second half of Book Two of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.

At the end of our conversation, my friend Carl E. Scott reminded me that at the end of Part 1: Rous…

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