Written shortly after the end of World War II, The End of the Modern World is a bracing, sometimes bleak jeremiad against the dehumanizing dangers of what we now call postmodernism. Guardini is not a pessimist, but he is vitally concerned about the potential loss of human dignity and individual responsibility in a world culture dominated by technological utilitarianism.

Occasionally Guardini is off target (e.g., about all future wars being world wars), but mostly he is penetrating and prophetic in his analysis of contemporary society. After a brief review of the major epochs in Western history, he focuses on power as the defining problem of our age, and proposes that virtues such as humility, self-control, and faith are more crucial than ever.

After more than 50 years, this thought-provoking book still serves as one of the best introductions to the fundamental ethical and theological issues of our times.

Guardini has written, in a small space, what amounts to one of the most incisive, blistering critiques of the modern world that I've ever read. Beautifully abstract yet precise, this masterwork will leave you nearly breathless with its forceful prose and unwavering criticism. After reading this book, one may wonder how one has remained asleep for all this time. Wake up, world, Guardini is calling you! A fierce read that's about the most painfully honest thing a human being can read these days. Save your propaganda, your agenda, and your polemics for another time. Guardini will work on your last nerve until you are driven to action. Again, WAKE UP, WORLD!

The End of The Modern World will change the way you look at the world. Since first reading it twenty years ago, the daily events of the world constantly bring me back to Guardini's prophetic words. Beyond changing you view, it may also change your life.

Romano Guardini's books never disappoint, but I was a bit reluctant to start this one. Virtues, in my mind, were manly things, the word "virtue" being derived from the Latin word "vir", the genered male. Guardini's list of virtues -- patience, acceptance, disinterestedness, kindness, courtesy, unselfishness -- seemed too tame, too domesticated.

I was wrong. One comes to appreciate that Guardini's virtues are absolutely essential in this world that tries to distort human nature. These "quiet" virtues orient us toward our essence and allow us to appreciate the singularity of everyone else and everything in God's creation. They are an antidote to the noisiness, the emphasis of grand gestures, the resentments of modern living. They all point to ways to "take possession" of oneself under the umbrella of humility before the Divine.

A book to be read chapter at a time, followed by reflection.

When I went to college 25 years ago I read the original book "The Virtues" as a required reading. After all this time I still remember the impact this book has had on me! It is the only textbook that I have remembered & cherished.I have bought copies to give to friends as gifts,and now that my children are teenagers,I will be giving them their own copies to keep.Guardini has a unique way of presenting the virtues.It is the best book on this subject !

This book, formerly titled The Virtues, is one of Guardini's best books. It is a list of his chosen virtues, with a chapter devoted to each. On looking at the virtues he chooses, one sees the essence of his writing. Some of them are: truthfulness, patience, justice, reverence, asceticism, courage, kindness, courtesy, silence, justice before God - they are the virtues of the interior man, the virtues drawn out of contemplation and knowledge of the true nature of the human being. They are also a statement on the times in which we live, where truthfulness, justice, reverence, courage, kindness, courtesy, and, most especially, silence are hard to come by. Guardini's gift is that he can penetrate the indoctrination, distractions and ultimately, the lying of our age and pierce through to the bedrock of our spirtuality, the nature of man, and man in relationship to God. His writings bring man back to what is essential, and strengthen him in trying to live by these precepts. One of Guardini's purposes in all that he did was to shore up the faith in an age that attacks it mercilessly, and in an age that tries to falsify the nature of man (in advertising, media, manipulation, etc.) This is a wonderful book. It is the holy stratosphere surrounding the throne of God. Highly recommended.

Like most Catholic school kids, we prayed the Rosary occasionally at school, but it was just a bunch of Hail Mary's and Our Father's and I have to say I didn't get much out of the Rosary at that time.

Guardini's book made the Rosary much more real for me. It's a short book and won't take you long to read, but you will read it again and again. There's so much in the few pages that you will be amazed at what you rediscover every time you read this book.

Guardini's small book on the Rosary is a splendid meditation which can offer benefit both to those unfamiliar to the Rosary as a devotion and to those who presently pray the Rosary. The brief length of the book belies the wealth of wisdom and faith that can be found inside. The short passages demand only one reading to have lasting impact on its reader, yet Guardini's words will draw the reader back for repeated readings, only to discover a deeper sense of mystery and beauty each time. Do not be surprised if something in this book moves you to tears! Guardini does not need flowerly prose to engage his readers. Rather, he speaks simply and plainly so to convey concisely the very core of the eternal Christian mystery as seen through the example of Mary. This book is all the more powerful for this fact and its simple (yet not simplistic) and direct tone makes it a prefect, timeless tool for comtemporary Christians who hunger for a deepened sense of meaning and mystery in their faith life but get fustrated by "superfluousness" and "trendiness" of other spiritual guides. Recommended for both those beginning a Rosary devotion or those wishing to deepen an ongoing one.

The Rosary of Our Lady, by Romano Guardini, is a meditation on the rosary and the meaning of the rosary. It is, in itself, like a visit to a haven - or garden - of contemplation. It is restful, beautiful, deep and illuminating. It is a very sweet, holy little book, and discusses the form of the rosary, the person of Mary, Christ, and our faith. It is, like all of Guardini's books, highly recommended and well worth reading. Romano Guardini's books are, in my opinion, the most important spiritual books of this century - he was a great great author.

Perhaps this is one of the best books on prayer ever written. Romano Guardini discusses various kinds of prayer--praise, intercession, adoration, requests--and speaks about why each one is necessary. He describes the attitude of heart one should have when approaching God. I found especially illuminating his discussion of the fact that God has created us with dignity; thus, we should approach Him with honor and dignity. Included also are expositions on contemplative prayer, prayer to the saints, and difficulties with prayer. The best part of the book is its grounding in reality and in orthodox theology. This is no promotion of a vague kind of spirituality designed simply to make a person feel good. Prayer as Guardini speaks of it is to be always centered on Christ and his work of salvation for us. This is a compassionate book. Guardini warns that prayer is almost always difficult, that we have an innate tendency to resist it, and that we should simply persevere. However, he also speaks with sympathy regarding times of darkness and depression, and he urges honesty before God. At all times, the focus of the book is about how prayer draws us closer to Christ and better fits us to dwell with Him eternally; it is not a "how-to" book on demanding wealth, fame and riches from a God whom we conceive to be a great Santa Claus. One of the most helpful and practical books on the Christian life I've ever read.

The Art of Praying, formerly Prayer in Practice, is one of Guardini's best books. It is a primer on prayer, and covers all types of prayer, from liturgy, to oral, to contemplative, to all varieties. It is a book to strengthen one in the necessity and possibility of building one's life around prayer (or at the very least including it in daily actions) and, like all of Father Guardini's books, profoundly touches on all aspects of the spiritual life in the world - how to seek guidance, the proper deportment in spiritual matters, how to discern God's voice, the ebbs and flows of our spiritual life, the nature of man, God, and the right relationship of man to God. It is a book of comfort, acceptance, and the dignity of man. In an age that runs roughshod over the slow, the delicate and the organic, it celebrates the natural rhythms of our lives, and of God's dealings with us. It is a book that is an experience in prayer itself to read. This is what marked all of Guardini's actions - to be in his presence OR to hear him speak OR to read one of his books was to come to an experience of the living presence of God, in itself, such was the power of this man. This is not a book of details about technique - Guardini was not a technician - it is a book of spirituality and philosophy that, by its own holiness, takes one into the presence of God and elucidates timeless, God-given principles on the nature of prayer. Highly recommended.

Fr. Guardini, even in his early writings such as this collection of letters, never spoke with anything less than compassion, courage and clarity. In these reflections, he opens himself up to both the authentic good and the undeniable evil which accompanies modern technological progress, and critiques this progress unyieldingly by the measure of humankind's genuine needs and desires--needs and desires that have a driving force in culture for all of human history, and not the mistakened pseudo-needs of an disillusioned modern humankind. As with many of his writings, Guardini faces intimidating and dreadful challenges to all humanity with honesty and humility. And as many a great individual of faith, from this honesty and humility he finds the inspiring courage to speak the truth beautifully and forthrightly.

These letters address similiar concerns expressed by many of his comtemporaries, such as the philosopher Martin Heidegger. This book is highly recommended not just to the Christian, but to anyone seeking prespective on the existential challenge of technology and modernity.

This edition also includes a wonderful introduction by Louis Dupre which should not be overlooked.

Letters from Lake Como is a short book containing musings by Romano Guardini on technology, the evolution from a pre-technological world to our modern age, and, ultimately, the impact, or spirituality, in all of this. Guardini, a product of pre-technological Italy and post-technological Germany, and a thinker who could draw together science, art, philosophy, and theology (with great ease) shows the reader the profound difference between "organic" living (living before the machine) and a world centered around the machine, both in environmental and human terms. It is a poignant, thought-provoking look at what many people have (a) taken for granted and (b) not questioned, which is the direction current trends are taking us, and the impact this has on us as beings created in the image of God. It is at once a reminiscence, a warning, a critique, and a prophecy both taking to task technology, and enumerating its good points. That it was written so clearly and brilliantly in the early 1920s only highlights Guardini's gift as a spokesman and prophet for this century - he had truly inspiring insight and foresight on these matters. Highly recommended.

For those who have yet to discover Romano Guardini, I have only envy, because discovering him was one of the turning points of my life. The Essential Guardini is excerpts from his writings, grouped by subject, and selected by one of his former pupils, Heinz Kuehn. Father Romano Guardini lived through the Holocaust, was born at the end of the 19th century, and died in 1968, so his life spanned the years before technology and the major two World Wars to after technology and after these wars. With a foot in both a pre-technological and post-technological world, with brilliance, depth and profound vision, with insight and foresight, and with the holiness God conferred on him, he was able to diagnose accurately the problems of our age, pierce the angst of modern man to discuss our spiritual foundation and essence, and prophesy about the direction social/political and religious events were taking. I, personally, think he stands head and shoulders above ANY thinker on these issues in our current day. Because of the nature of his writing, it is easy to pick up excerpts from different sources and read them - a paragraph from Sacred Signs, or a page from Prayer in Practice, or even a line from The Virtues is sufficient for nourishment, guidance, and edification, which makes this book both a good introduction to his thought, and a primer for some of its high points. Heinz Kuehn was one of his pupils, and one of the few living people today who actually knew and was influenced by Guardini. He, himself, is in a very good position to put forth this anthology, because he is a massive Christian model and figure. I highly recommend this book as both an introduction to Guardini's thought, a starting point for further explorations, and a summary, put together by Kuehn, of some of his major views. The reader will find the writing brilliant but simple, profound but clear, powerful but holy, and of such weight that one person said (I paraphrase) that the strength of Guardini's writing knocks one to one's knees. Kuehn also writes an introduction that is very helpful in situating the times out of which Guardini's writing came, and the force of his personality and influence. Highly recommended

Guardini cuts through the saturnine sentamentalism that surrounds the figure of Jesus and gives a serious examination of His life, deeds, and personality. Each chapter is a meditation on a certain aspect of Jesus that contains great insight into His inner life and highlights particular things that are often missed by those who read the Gospels. The reader will catch a new glimpse at this mysterious figure as Guardini looks at Him from many angles in an attempt to grasp what this unique man was all about. Read this book and you will realize how deep is Christ's love for the world, how Christ won victory through failure, why he healed only some of the sick, and why children and the ill flocked to Him. A great introduction to the life and personality of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Living God is a short book by Romano Guardini which is a treatise on God as a living, active force in our lives, not just a concept of theology to be studied on paper. He starts with the face of God (what God looks like), divine providence (God's care for our lives), then what God sees and wills (God's control of everything) and goes into other facets of our relationship with God, always writing with clarity, holiness, and profundity and always taking us back to the very simple truths about the nature of God and man. It is a beautiful beautiful book. The part describing God's face is one of the most beautiful I have come across in religious writing. Guardini is very very deep, but not at all frightening. I highly recommend this book. He is an excellent guide into the mysteries of faith.

Living the Drama of Faith, formerly The Life of Faith, is a short book by Romano Guardini on the nature of faith, its stages, its evolution, and its importance in our lives. Guardini chose his topics to impact the times in which we live. Knowing faith was what most needed strengthening in a century of two world wars, the Holocaust, the bomb, technology, mass communications and all, he chose this subject to do just that. It is a beautiful little book, certainly amongst his best, and sketches out man (in the world) in proper relationship to God (creator of the world) and his evolution towards this God. So it is man in RIGHT relationship with God, and moving in the RIGHT direction in his life. Highly recommended.

Guardini takes on the worthy goal of writing a life of Christ. Projects, such as The Lord, which seek to encapsulate the life of Christ and, in so doing, synthesize the Gospels can often lead to tedious reading.

In most cases, I'm convinced that it is simply better to let the Gospels speak for themselves and forego the project to wrap them all into one whole. However, Guardini has done a masterful job in this work. Some of his chapters simply read like excellent homilies on Christ and his love for man.

In preaching the Gospel through this book, however, Guardini does not lose sight of the primary goal of laying out the life of Christ in one compact (though lengthy) work of literature. The facts are there and are presented in a straightforward and understandable manner.

I believe there is only one true way to judge a book such as this. The simple standard is whether the book leads you to contemplate the life of Jesus and then reflect on what that means to you. It is certainly a subjective standard, but I believe it is the one standard that a person who is contemplating this book would use.

As for me, I've been blessed to read this book a couple of times now. This book, and Guardini himself, is well respected by protestant and Catholic alike. I can fathom no person who would not be encouraged and enlightened by this work of literature.

I cherish this book of Guardini. I remember reading it as a seminarian in college in 1957 and it was passed around with eager anticipation. What makes this book truly a classic is that, like classics, it never loses it touch. Guardini (remember this is before Vatican II) has a way of delving into the heart and mind of Jesus with deep reverence. It's not a psychology of Jesus which he says no can write anyways. But he reverently explores the life and words of Jesus in the gospels and with a clarity that is startling lays out the deep meaning of Jesus words. Sometimes, what he says is so rich in meaning, I have to catch my breath and sit back and try to let his words sink in. As I said it was written before Vat II but it fits in right now in the pastVatII era. The reason I'm sure is that Jesus is neither pre or post....He's Jesus for all time. Marvelous. This is the 3rd time reading for me and it won't be the last.

I stumbled upon Romano Guardini's "The End of the Modern World" in my readings concerning technology (Jacques Ellul) and culture (Walker Percy). "The Lord" provides a humble insight that deeply challenges the reader to reconsider their understanding of Christ (S. Kierkegaard's "Practice in Christianity" may have been an inspiration for Guardini). A powerful section of the book deals with Christ arriving in Jerusalem and the events leading to his death. Guardini draws on the humility of Christ and challenges the reader with the gravity of imitating Christ. Perhaps what I enjoy about Guardini is that he is readable by all Christians -- his theology does not adopt a dictated theological system. No, the reader experiences a man struggling to understand Christ as if Christ were contemporary with him.