St. Colum Critique

"Dove: The Life of St. Columba" is well written and the facts match well with other sources on the Internet. While the facts are well researched, that is really all the paper is, a number of important facts strung together. Instead of simply concentrating on St. Columba's life, it would be more interesting to see the effect of his life on the rest of Europe and the Christian world. For example when he established a monastery on Iona, and it was said to be a center for Gaelic Christianity, there is no mention of the effect on the Gaelic world. He was known for establishing monasteries, but only the one in Iona was specifically cited. Also when the author discusses the battle over one of Columba's kinsmen, he never mentions what happens when Columba wins, only that he is exiled from Ireland. Did his clan assume control of the country, or because of Columba's exile were they punished as well? The reader is left hanging in this respect.

Overall the organization was somewhat confusing. The beginning of Columba's life is detailed well, but after that the author jumps around too much to keep the reader's interest. Also the breaking up of each individual section seemed too excessive. It served more as an interruption than as good outline of where the paper was headed. By following a more chronological order it would be easier for the reader to follow the story of Columba's life and keep them interested longer.

There was very little bias in the paper. The lack of bias was due to the heavy emphasis on the facts. The facts themselves showed the paper had been thoroughly researched. While the extensive research kept the paper free from bias it also led the author toward redundancy in a few areas. For example, right at the beginning of the section about the battle he says, "and deaths totaling in the thousands." Then later on in the same section he states over 3000 men were killed. There is little need to state how many me were killed over and over again. It is quite obvious that the loss of life was very high.

Finally some of the explanations of the different episodes of St. Columba's life are more confusing than informative. Particularly when the author says, "to every cow its calf, to every book its copy" was very humiliating for St. Columba. There is never an explanation of why this is so humiliating. With out some clarification the reader loses out on one of the foundation blocks of Columba's life. Had he not been caught coping the psalter, then chances are he never would have went to war against a the rival clan, and would not have been exiled.

Factually the paper is great. All the facts leave little room for bias, but the facts also cloud some of his life. The biggest thing the paper is missing is a bit of analysis or better explanations of the various stories surrounding Columba's life. Historical perspective and a few simple explanations of the events would have made it feel like we were reading a biography of St. Columba, instead of a blurb from the encyclopedia.