The Pocket Canons II: Psalms / Isaiah / Ruth / Jonah / Hebrews / Romans / Acts / Wisdom / Samuel (9 Volume Set) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0862419638 ISBN 13: 9780862419639

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

In 1999, Canongate produced a range of slim editions of various books from the King James Bible. Introduced by a diverse range of authors, musicians and celebrities, these formerly foreboding classics of the Judaeo-Christian tradition began to appeal to a wide audience. This boxed set, which brings together another nine books, continues with this formula. This time around, one can read U2 frontman Bono on the Psalms, crime author P.D. James on the acts of the Apostles, and Joanna Trollope on the books of Ruth and Esther.

About this title

Review

There is no denying that Canongate hit on a smart idea with their first collection of Pocket Canons: to publish the books of the bible individually, in a stylish palm-sized format guaranteed not to have fellow commuters edging nervously away. With short and often highly personal introductions by writers usually better known for their secular subjects what better way could there be for the curious but time-pressed to acquaint themselves with the most influential texts of our culture?

Packaged in an attractive presentation box, the terse titles which shine out from the black spines of this second collection seem at first sight an eclectic mix: Paul's epistle to the Romans alongside the book of Psalms, the Wisdom of Solomon beside the Acts of the apostles. It is fascinating to see how the acutely contemporary introductions draw out coherent themes, threaded through work composed over almost a millennium by numerous different hands.

Novelist Piers Paul Read finds in Wisdom, "a critique of the kind of sceptical, hedonistic society that we find in the developed world today" whilst Karen Armstrong, the ex-nun and author of A History of God, addresses our spiritual flailings by proposing that we draw from Paul's epistle to the Hebrews a sense that "We can use our imaginations to create a symbol that will speak to us more eloquently and directly of the sacred."

Sincere and deeply felt introductions are also offered by, amongst others, Joanna Trollope, Peter Ackroyd, PD James and Alasdair Gray. ­-Alex Butterworth

Edition details

• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0862419638
• ISBN 13: 9780862419639
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1