Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Strangeness of Mercy

You cannot conceive, nor can I, the appalling strangeness of the mercy of God.
—Graham Greene, Brighton Rock

3 comments:

book-end said...

I was introduced to "Brighton Rock" the novel before I met the stick candy for sale along the waterfront in the decadent ocean resort. It was one of several titles studied in a course called "Modern Novels in Film" at Wroxton College in Oxfordshire. Half-way through the course, I asked my British professor if he had chosen the books because they were Classics or because they were Christian. His answer? "Yes. A Classic tells the truth about the human condition as does Christianity." It was refreshing to be challenged in an academic situation not bound by political correctedness.

Gregory Wilbur said...

Thanks for the comment. I'm curious, what were the other titles you studied?

Thanks!
Greg

book-end said...

Taught by a wonderful British professor, we studied:
Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited"
Lynn Reid Banks' "The L-shaped Room"
William Golding's "Lord of the Flies"

I loved the course and developed a similar course "From Page to Image" with novels from 4 centuries:
FIelding's "Tom Jones", Austen's "Persuasion", Bronte's "Jane Eyre" and Goldings "Lord of the Flies."