My Brother Joseph: The Spirit of a Cardinal and the Story of a Friendship

页数:0

价格:48.00

isbn号码:9780312171186

具体描述

The New York Times Book Review， Kenneth L. Woodward Kennedy gives an insider's account of the crises Bernardin endured in public.... In the end， the Cardinal who served the church was sustained by it. My Brother Joseph wants us to know that if Bernardin is ever canonized， it will not be because of the important pastoral letter he wrote for the nation's bishops on war and peace， or because of the "seamless garment" ethic he developed so that capital punishment， abortion and euthanasia could be recognized as a contagion of violence against humankind. It will be because the best of ecclesiastical bureaucrats was also the best of men. From Kirkus Reviews Kennedy (Psychology/Loyola Univ.) evokes the memory of his friend Cardinal Bernardin in a literary portrait that aspires to poetry and sometimes succeeds. Kennedy， who has written 40 books， including a lengthy 1989 biography of the late cardinal， is ideally suited to reflect on the career and inner person of Joseph Bernardin. The two were friends since they first met in 1967 as coworkers on a study of the American priesthood， sponsored by the then newly founded National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB). Bernardin's most intense public experiences--his central part in drafting the NCCB's pastoral letter on nuclear war， published in 1983 as The Challenge of Peace， his appointment as archbishop of Chicago， his response to the false charges against him of sexual abuse--are all remembered from the standpoint of the admiring and devoted friend. The sparer Kennedy's prose， the more Bernardin's spirit shows through it， as at the end of the book， where the simple grace of the words mirrors the cardinal's own graceful acceptance of death. But the excess metaphor in earlier sections makes a gaudy frame for the basic simplicity of goodness Kennedy wants to reveal in his friend. Goodness may， in any case， be more complex for Kennedy than he lets on. Along with Bernardin's gentleness， Kennedy insists repeatedly on the cardinal's manliness. That defensive posture puzzles until， in an offhand reference late in the book to another priest's attributes， gentleness is made out to be a feminine (motherly) quality. Kennedy expresses， but does not acknowledge， a tension that must be especially acute for priests， between sex roles defined by secular culture and codes of moral virtue preached by the Church. Bernardin's saintliness shines through in this memoir， but less brightly than it might have， had the paradoxes in priestliness only intimated here been more directly addressed. (12 illustrations) -- Copyright ©1997， Kirkus Associates， LP. All rights reserved.

用户评价

这本书带给我的触动，是那种深埋心底、久久不能散去的温暖和敬意。它像一盏老旧的煤油灯，在漫长而晦暗的岁月中，用最朴素却最坚定的光芒，照亮了那些关于信仰、责任与人性的深刻命题。我常常在阅读的过程中停下来，不是因为情节的复杂，而是因为作者对人物内心世界的细腻捕捉，那种真挚的情感如同丝线一般，将我牢牢地系在了文字构建的世界里。尤其是在描述主角与他兄弟之间那种超越血缘的深刻联结时，我仿佛能感受到空气中弥漫着一种无声的理解和支持，那是经过时间淘洗、历经风雨磨砺后，沉淀下来的珍贵情谊。书中的叙事节奏把握得极佳，它不急不躁，像一位经验丰富的老者，娓娓道来一段足以影响一生的故事。

这本书的结构处理堪称教科书级别，叙事线索在过去与现在之间自由穿梭，却始终保持着清晰的逻辑脉络。这种非线性的叙事手法，非但没有造成阅读上的障碍，反而极大地增强了故事的张力和悬念感。每一次视角或时间的切换，都像是为我们揭示了关于人物命运的另一块拼图，使得人物形象愈发立体丰满。我能清晰地感受到作者在选择讲述方式时所下的苦心，那种对时间感和记忆重塑的精妙掌控，体现了作者深厚的文学功底。读完一个章节后，我常常需要片刻安静下来，整理脑海中那些交织的情感与信息，这是一种非常充实且令人满足的阅读体验。

翻开这本书，我立刻被卷入了一种庄严而又充满烟火气的生活场景中。作者的文笔犹如一位技艺精湛的雕刻家，对细节的打磨达到了近乎苛求的地步，每一个场景的描绘，每一次对话的转换，都显得那么恰到好处，没有一丝多余的赘述，却又饱含深意。这种克制的美学，反而让情感的爆发更具冲击力。我尤其欣赏作者如何将宏大的历史背景与个体微小的挣扎和追求巧妙地融合在一起，使得人物的成长路径显得如此真实可信。读到某些关键转折点时，我甚至会不由自主地替书中人物捏一把汗，那种强烈的代入感，是许多文学作品难以企及的。它不仅仅是记录了一段往事，更像是一面映照我们自身灵魂的镜子。

坦率地说，这本书的阅读体验是层次丰富的，它远超我阅读同类传记或回忆录的预期。它没有落入那种空洞的赞美辞藻的陷阱，而是非常坦诚地展现了人物性格中的复杂性与光辉面。正是这种真实性，让故事更具力量。我时常在想，一个普通人如何在非凡的境遇中坚守本心，这份坚韧是如何炼成的？书中的论述和反思，引导着我深入思考何为真正的“榜样”的力量。它不是高高在上的教条，而是基于生活实践的智慧结晶。对我而言，这本书提供了一种思考人生意义的全新框架，它告诉我，伟大的精神往往诞生于最平凡的日常坚持之中。

对我来说，这本书最重要的价值在于它提供了一种关于“忠诚”与“奉献”的生动诠释。它不是空洞的口号，而是浸润在无数个细节中的具体行动。从作者细腻的笔触中，我得以窥见一个时代的精神风貌，以及在那个时代背景下，个体所能做出的最艰难却也最崇高的选择。这种对精神遗产的尊重和传承，使得整部作品具有了一种超越时空的意义。它让我开始审视自己的生活：我是否也拥有那种为信仰或所爱之人付出一切的勇气？这本书无疑提供了一份深刻的自我审视的机会，读完后，我感觉自己对这个世界的理解更深了一层，也对人性的美好有了更坚定的信念。