Hans Urs von Balthasar

#2

1998

"This volume for the first time brings together three extraordinary works of fiction by Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), generally recognized as the mother of the feminist movement, and her daughter, Mary Shelley (1797-1851), author of Frankenstein. Wollstonecraft's first novel, Mary (1788), an exploration of an alienated intellectual woman and her struggle against the constraints of a claustrophobic feminine world, was followed by her Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). The posthumously published Maria moves from Wollstonecraft's own experiences to examine the miseries of women of all classes." "Matilda (1819), Shelley's second novel, remained unpublished during her lifetime (1797-1851). Its theme of a father's incestuous desire for his daughter was considered provocative and scandalous. Her father, William Godwin, refused to publish it and it remained suppressed for over a century. Janet Todd's introduction links the novels of mother and daughter by their double exploration of self-representation, sexuality, and personal conflict."--BOOK JACKET.

#3

1992

Death and dying are inseparably linked with life. They are self-evident and at the same time cannot be grasped by reason alone - they are ordinary, and yet so incredible. In these meditations, the acclaimed theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar investigates this great mystery. He asks about the contradiction, inherent in all men, of wishing to achieve something "imperishable in transitoriness" and gives an answer culled from the Scriptures and from the Church Fathers. In looking at this contradiction that appears to be irreconcilable from a purely human perspective, Balthasar tries to find something in the human existence that the Christian solution can take up, for if there was nothing, one would not see how Christianity could connect to our existence at all. This starting-point becomes fully visible and effective only when the Christian interpretation itself becomes evident, otherwise it remains open to dangerous misinterpretations. The emphasis lies in the word "mystery". The reader must meditate on these profound ideas which are demanding both in language and contents - then the reading will inspire him with insights and prospects that will, while not resolving the paradox "that everything earthly is inscribed on the sand of transitoriness", will anchor it in the Christian faith, which claims that man is eternal and that God himself became man in the person of Jesus Christ to help us attain to that eternal life--publisher description.