Book Description
This collection of stories written over a period of more than thirty shows the deep seriousness and astonishing versatility of Par Lagerkvist's imagination. From the commonplace charm of the title story, to the searing futuristic satire of "The Children's Campaign, " to the disquieting fantasy of "The Lift That Went Down to Hell, " we see that Lagerkvist admits no settled boundaries between fact and fable. In this he is a poet for whom fantasy permeates the actual and "reality" can take on the dimensions of the fabulous. Life is, to him, a system of dark paradoxes; but there is also the good -- "a quiet, everyday radiance that mankind always had difficulty noticing and setting a value on." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

More "traditional" stories...
The Marriage Feast is a compilation of stories that appeared in the 1954 book titled The Eternal Smile, and Other Stories. The Marriage Feast omits "The Eternal Smile," "The Hangman," and "The Guest of Reality." So, if you can pick up a copy of the Eternal Smile compilation you will have more wonderful stories!
The Marriage Feast, though, does not suffer from the omissions! Those readers who first approached Lagerkvist through Barabbas and/or The Sibyl will relish many of the same themes and symbolism; yet, the style of many of these stories is vastly different from Lagerkvist's parables, more "traditional" in form and structure.

My favorite line comes from "The Masquerade of Souls." It reads: "And what more can we know? What else have we to go by than the fullness of our heart when we look back."

These stories will fill your heart! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Another view of King Herod
Par Lagerkvist deserves to be better known to American readers - his works do not stop at Barabbas and The Dwarf. The strength of this particular volume lies in his ability to delineate personality so clearly that the actions/interactions are so clearly natural that his prose needs no explanation of behvaior.It allows him to write in a crisp, precise style that is nothing but a pleasure to read.

The dust cover suggests that Mariamne's ordeal is a foreshadowing of that of Jesus Christ.This is certainly true, but it is not necessary to step beyond the bounds of the book to find meaning and insight.

A story about the value of love
Par Lagerkvist wrote several short novels that have often been compared to parables. In 1951 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. "Herod and Mariamne" is one of his short novels, and it is basedon the life of King Herod of Judea. Herod is best known for brutallyordering the slaughter of male infants and children in Bethlehem during thetime of the birth of Jesus. There was another side to Herod that is notwell known: Herod was responsible for building the Second Temple inJerusalem. The temple, made mainly of white marble and gold, was one of themost beautiful buildings in all of history. How could such beauty have comefrom the brutal heart of Herod? The love of Herod's life was Mariamne. Sheis described as being totally different than Herod. One day she came to thepalace, seeking mercy for a condemned prisoner. Herod listened to her pleafor compassion, and something about her touched his heart. He freed manyprisoners that were facing certain death. Mariamne came to the palaceseveral times, always asking mercy for others. After one visit, Herod askedMariamne to become his wife. She agreed to marry him, hoping that she mightchange him and help everyone. But after a time, Herod began to fall backinto his old ways of suspicion and fear. He became suspicious of Mariamne.He reached the point where he began to think about ordering Mariamne'sdeath. It was hard for Herod to understand that if he destroyed Mariamne;he would also be destroying the best of himself. The beauty of themagnificent temple would be as nothing; if he lost the love of Mariamne.There is a sense of timeless truth to this story that was written manyyears ago. It is a story that will echo in your heart. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Wandering Pilgrim
I have read about 4 or 5 other books by Par Lagerkvist and "The Death of Ahasuerus falls into the general pattern of a short novel with a brief story and a rather obscure comment on a moral or theological issue.In "the Death of Ahasuerus" I found a more significant message than in some of his other works.Although the name Ahasuerus only appeared in the title and not the book, I noticed that it was spelled out in the dust jacket notes that Ahasuerus was the name of the Wandering Jew.This was a person who mythically taunted Jesus on his way to Golgotha and was condemned to wander the earth.The title spells out what happens to him but not before he questions why he was condemned for his words to one man and not judged instead by how he treated everyone else.It's a sort of theological plea along the lines of the "Jesus Christ Superstar" title song lyrics, "Jesus Christ who are you what have you sacrificed?".Indeed, we Christians acknowledge the suffering that Jesus Christ willingly underwent on our behalf without giving much thought to the torture and suffering that countless Christians have undergone in the years since.In the end, Ahasuerus gets his answer and finds his peace.So did I.

I liked the message so why the 3 stars?I just felt that Lagerkvist did his own wandering too much to give the first 80% of the book enough relevance to the final 20%.I noted a reference to a collection of short stories by Lagerkvist.That has to be some sort of literary oxymoron; his novels are short stories!Still, there's usually a worthwile message for the brief time spent reading his works.Oh well. take an hour and judge for yourself; that is, if you're a slow reader like me. ... Read more