Lord, Teach Us to Pray

Lord, Teach Us to Pray by Paul Claudel, translated by Ruth Bethell, 95 pages

This is a collection of six meditations, each centered to a greater or lesser extent on a painting, whether by Titian, Rembrandt, Delacroix, or the author's daughter.  The painting serves either as an impetus to start the train of thought contained in the essay, or as an example of an insight the author wishes to convey.  Though often rambling, the insights are genuine and striking.  The lack of organization - there are 25 pages (in a 95 page book) of appendices containing additional material he did not have the opportunity to integrate into the main text - tends to conceal the gems, but the gems are valuable enough to be well worth digging for.