The Marriage Feast

This is a compilation of stories or tales by the swede who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1951 who is best know for the story that was made into the movie "Barabbas". The nineteen stories were written over a period of thirty years and published in 1954. All of the tales are 'small' stories and some are half a page and others in the twenties, but each is perfectly plotted and seems to 'glide' as you read them. How do I explain 'glide', you have to read one of the stories to understand, but it's like watching "Tinkerbelle" in "Peter Pan"; it gives you a sense of tranquility that you can't express in words. Two stories especially affected me, "The Basement" and "The Children's Campaign" "The Basement" is about a man who has to drag his useless legs behind him to get to the spot where he begs everyday. A man who sees him almost everyday gets into a conversation with him and ends up following him home. The strength of the story is the conviction of the "cripple" that he has a 'good life' and doesn't see himself as a 'disabled' person. The serenity of the man who has come to 'grips' with his place in life is worth the whole book. "The Children's Campaign" is a anti-war polemic that is truly a masterpiece. In a far off country, children under fourteen make up the armed forces and protect the country. When they are called on to attack a 'neighbor' they go about it with a fanaticism that no adult could. Much of the story is reads like an accusation against the "Old General" who sent youth off to die during WWI without ever having visited the battlefields. (During Vietnam we used to say, "Old soldiers never die; young ones do".) In this story Langerkvist take the idea to the irrational conclusion that the younger the soldier the more likely he/she will follow orders without question. Strangely enough this proves true of the Hitler Youth at the end of WW2 and in many of the current African civil wars. Zeb Kantrowitz

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!