A Sunday in Hell: Fables and Poems

Title

en_US A Sunday in Hell: Fables and Poems

Description

en_US First edition

en_US Daniel Berrigan

Creator

en_US Berrigan, Daniel See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US MacDonald, Hugh (Afterword)

Date

2016-01-25T20:15:00Z

en_US 2012-06

en_US 2006

Date Available

2016-01-25T20:15:00Z

Date Issued

en_US 2006

Abstract

en_US I was surprised to notice a book promising fables by Fr. Dan Berrigan. What I have read is strong stuff. The Hole in the Ground: A Parable for Peacemakers (2) tells a story of a world turned inside out by greed, subservience, secrecy, and the fear of boredom. My sense is that some of Berrigan's fable-like stories start to stretch out and become like Panchatantra fables, leading to the next episode and the next story . . . . So, it seems to me, is Yes Is Yes and No Is No (24-31). Yes, there is one wisdom only, and no, I have not known it until this moment! It is the wisdom of the hands that serve, of the tongue that forgets speech, of the silence that endures (30). The title-piece, A Sunday in Hell (41-44) is a strong challenge, not least to anyone religious. I may have enjoyed most The Committee and the Camel: or How a Famous Bishops' Letter on Nuclear Weapons Came to Be (89-92). Another well-told tale is A Mouse Named Max (132-38). The tone there may be a bit lighter, but it is terribly heavy finally in Father and Son (161-2). A father returns to find his home destroyed and his son apparently burned in an ugly attack by pirates. He gathers what he thinks are his son's ashes and carries them in a sack on his back. He rebuilds his home and lives there alone. One night he hears a knock and is annoyed. It is your son! The father responds Go away! My son is dead! The two never meet again. Do we prefer to carry the ashes of death, instead of hearing what we indeed hear, a voice at the door . . . ? (162). Berrigan will always ask us questions like that.

Identifier

en_US 9781933480039 (pbk. : acid-free paper)

en_US 8042 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/83290

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Bunim & Bannigan, Ltd

en_US New York

Subject

en_US PS3503.E734 S86 2006 See all items with this value

en_US Daniel Berrigan See all items with this value

en_US Title Page Scanned See all items with this value

Type

en_US Book, Whole