When I heard that CLP latest After Hours event was going to be about the seven deadly sins, I thought that would be a great idea for a blog post. I decided it would be interesting to make a list of books somehow that correspond to one of each of the deadly sins. I included non-fiction books where someone at some point exhibited one of the deadly sins and fiction books were at least one of the characters displayed one of the deadly sins.
Pride: The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio: The True Story of a Convent in Scandal, By Hubert Wolf. (DB 81229)
Accounting of lurid events at the Convent of Sant’Ambrogio della Massima in Rome during the 1850s. Details the inquisition of the convent leaders and their confessors, following the suspected poisoning of a novitiate who was also a German princess. Translated from the German. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 2015.
Greed: Riding the Rap, By Elmore Leonard. (DB 75230)
Bookie Harry Arno sends bounty hunter Bobby Deo to collect money from Chip Ganz. Instead, Chip convinces Bobby to help him and ex-convict Louis Lewis kidnap Harry. Federal marshal Raylan Givens–now dating Harry’s ex-girlfriend Joyce–reluctantly agrees to find Harry. Companion to “Raylan” (DB 74284). Strong language and some violence. 1995.
Lust: The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago, By Douglas Perry (DB 75638)
Profiles of the women who crowded Chicago’s Murderess’s Row in 1924, including charismatic Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner–both accused of killing their lovers. Explains that newspaper reporter Maurine Watkins was inspired to write the play Chicago after observing that all-male juries of the day tended to acquit beautiful females. 2010.
Envy: The Tragedy of Macbeth, By William Shakespeare (DB 24293) and Macbeth, By Jo Nesbo (DB 90796)
The tragedy of the Scottish thane who becomes obsessed with the desire for power and, spurred on by his wife, murders Duncan, his king, in order to become king himself. A study of the profound guilt and fear which overtake Macbeth and his wife.
1970s. In a run-down industrial town, the police force, under idealistic and visionary Chief Duncan, struggles with an incessant drug problem. One of the two drug lords–master of manipulation Hecate–is steadily, insidiously manipulating Inspector Macbeth, the head of SWAT, who is already susceptible to violent and paranoid tendencies. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Gluttony: A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire Book 1, By George R.R. Martin (DB 45742)
In a bygone world of decades-long seasons, three families struggle for the throne. When honorable Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell is sent south to be the hand of the king, he faces many ambitious and ruthless people. Meanwhile the King contends with wildings and creatures beyond the domain wall. Some descriptions of sex, some strong language, and some violence. Best seller. 1996.
Wrath: The Great Alone, By Kristin Hannah (DB 90090)
1974. Former Vietnam prisoner of war Ernt Allbright moves his family, including wife Cora and thirteen-year-old daughter Leni, north to Alaska. While the weather is temperate, the family survives on the generosity of locals. But when winter descends, Ernt’s mental health fractures. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.
Sloth: A Confederacy of Dunces, By John Kennedy Toole (DB 50482)
Comic novel centers on Ignatius J. Reilly, huge and obese, who lives with his muscatel-drinking mother in a ramshackle house in New Orleans. A fastidious slob, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, and a perverse Thomas Aquinas, Ignatius is in revolt against the modern age. When his mother has a car accident, she insists he get a job and pay for the damages. Strong language. Bestseller. Pulitzer Prize. 1980.