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Jonah: Poet in Extremis

Jonah: poet in extremis - Kindle Cover

Jonah: Poet in Extremis, first came out in November last year. To mark its long awaited arrival to paperback (available from amazon.co.uk), heres what I said about the book when it was released to Kindle only:

Long term friend of The Sofa, Richard Littledale has a new book out called Jonah: poet in extremis – which as Richard says is “a little book which seeks to rescue Jonah from the Sunday School cupboard, and expose it for the poignant adult story which it truly is.”*

Richard has this to say about the book:

“Any man who can be pressed into service by Reformation preachers, Jewish comedians, Russian painters, children’s book illustrators and others has already been through the ‘interpretative mill’ quite enough.  The purpose of this little book is not to rescue Jonah from his detractors, nor to ask that the ‘real Jonah should please stand up’ – for he is long gone with the passage of the years.  These pages are not the place to tackle discussions about the scientific questions raised by the tale, nor to provide some authoritative conclusion to the theological debates.  Instead the book aims to understand Jonah by immersion (pun fully intended).”

I’ve slowly started reading this, and was impressed that the first chapter takes us on a nostalgia fueled trip to youth groups gone by, finishing with a heart breaking stop at a funeral.  I’m inspired to keep reading to see if this is where the story really ends.

The book Jonah: poet in extremis can be ordered for Kindle at www.amazon.co.uk, you can read more about the book at richardlittledale.me.uk.

*To be honest I think we’ve described Jonah as a Sunday School favorite a few times ourselves.

Its been a while since I last read through this book, but my lasting memory of it  is of Richard looking at different aspects of Jonahs character, looking at Jonah at varies parts of his journey such as in the harbour, being above decks, below decks, in the city, and while watching the city.

Is there more to Jonah then simply being the guy that ran away from God?

Jonah: Poet in Extremis is available from amazon.co.uk

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Jonah: poet in extremis

Jonah: poet in extremis - Kindle CoverLong term friend of The Sofa, Richard Littledale has a new book out called Jonah: poet in extremis – which as Richard says is “a little book which seeks to rescue Jonah from the Sunday School cupboard, and expose it for the poignant adult story which it truly is.”*

Richard has this to say about the book:

“Any man who can be pressed into service by Reformation preachers, Jewish comedians, Russian painters, children’s book illustrators and others has already been through the ‘interpretative mill’ quite enough.  The purpose of this little book is not to rescue Jonah from his detractors, nor to ask that the ‘real Jonah should please stand up’ – for he is long gone with the passage of the years.  These pages are not the place to tackle discussions about the scientific questions raised by the tale, nor to provide some authoritative conclusion to the theological debates.  Instead the book aims to understand Jonah by immersion (pun fully intended).”

I’ve slowly started reading this, and was impressed that the first page takes us on a nostalgia fueled trip to youth groups gone by, finishing with a heart breaking stop at a funeral.  I’m inspired to keep reading to see if this is where the story really ends.

The book Jonah: poet in extremis can be ordered for Kindle at www.amazon.co.uk, you can read more about the book at richardlittledale.me.uk.

*To be honest I think we’ve described Jonah as a Sunday School favorite a few times ourselves.