The Journey with Jonah

by Madeleine L'Engle, Leonard Everett Fisher (Illustrator)

A dramatization of the Biblical story of Jonah, unwilling prophet to Nineveh, who spent three days in the belly of a whale and learned a lesson of compassion from a withering vine

Genres: Plays, Christian, Drama, Childrens, Young Adult

Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young adult fiction, including A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels: A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time. Her works reflect both her Christian faith and her strong interest in modern science.

Reviews

[Megan Brumley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful light hearted play. Hopefully, I can get it performed with my co op soon

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect... and this was definitely not it but this was perfect. Funny, witty, smart, true to the narrative and still with a weighty prophetic voice. I laughed out loud several times and also felt that gut punch from God. I highly recommend, it was sooo good and a quick and easy read.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A one-act play on Jonah, cast with Jonah as the only human -- he interacts with rats on shipboard, the whale and a fish it also swallowed, birds on land before and after, a turtle, and of course, the worm at the end. Amusing dialog with some interesting allusions peppered in.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting little play based on the story of Jonah in the Bible. The themes of the book are explored by using talking animals, who converse with Jonah about his attitude towards Nineveh.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read, written in 1967 and yet very timely - I'd like to see it performed! The switch between verse and prose was interesting. And that Jonah is the only human we see/hear, otherwise it's only animals. My favorite two sections:

Jonah is in the larger fish (Whale, who speaks in verse), and Little Fish (who speaks in prose), acting as though s/he's his advocate and clearly NOT a fan of Whale snarks: "[pertly, to Whale] Sometimes I think you think you are God (...) Who are you to think you can speak like God?" and Whale replies "How else should God speak / Except through his own creation?"

&

Jonah is resting in the shade and griping to Turtle about God having shown mercy/pity on the peoples of Nineveh (who, upon being warned if their impending doom if they didn't repent, are repenting, much to the chagrin of the bloodthirsty Jonah). Jonah: "(...) The trouble is that he's a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. It is unreliable to have so soft a heart." To which Turtle replies: "Do you think that it is easier to forgive than to destroy? (...) It is easier, prophet, to destroy the entire universe than to prepare this vine in whose shade we now relax. / Can you create with all your anger a single leaf? / And yet it was easier to create all the stars in the sky than to prepare me. / You think he would find it difficult to destroy Nineveh, that great city? / A thunderbolt could lay waste to it in three seconds, but compassion takes eternity. / Pity, Jonah, son of Amittai, is the most violent of all judgments. / It is easy to destroy one's enemy without suffering, but to love him is the most terrible of all pain. / And you are afraid of pain. (...)" <-- THESE last two lines! So very much this.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this not really knowing what to expect, and it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It's largely a comedy aimed at kids, about Jonah talking to a bunch of animals; the target audience might appreciate the weak jokes more than I did, but I do wonder if some of the lessons are passed over too quickly for them to really get. That said, there are some good insights and lessons scattered throughout, even if they're hidden by fluff or other, overly simplistic morals. For the most part I thought it was a slog, even at only about 60 pages, but I'll be generous and round up to 3 stars for the good bits.

[David Campton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable take on the story of Jonah in the form of a play for schoolchildren. But unlike many others that have gone before it there is no prop "fish/whale" but rather it is "peopled" by a menagerie of birds, rats, a turtle and worm helping tell the story of this angry and prejudiced prophet. Whilst it was written in the 1960s there is much in this short play that is pertinent for the US/UK today with the rise of xenophobic nationalism.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The woodcut/linocut illustrations were sumptuous. The storyline of this dramatic play was clever and witty. The only human is Jonah of Gath-hepher in Galilee and he's angry. Fowls and fish, rats, a tortoise and a worm all have a comment to make to Jonah, or about him, or surround-sounding him. Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh. The birds and beasts of Jonah's world all try to help him see reason in their various feathered and finned ways.

[Erishia Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the analogy of being asked to do something and not following commands. If your Christian it makes sense from a Godly thought process. If your not then from a wordly stance your boss could ask you to do something and its for a reason not to just boss you around. I liked that it made it as a play that all ages could enjoy.

[Janet Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to go through some of the Madeleine L'Engle books again.
I love her work.
This book is actually a play.

[Jacquie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun play. I would love to see it performed. I can just imagine children in the roles.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book for a while, but hadn't read it. I really like the "pity" parallel with the worm and the people.

[Marci · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's a play about Jonah with animals doing the majority of speaking.

It was meh.

[Ben Yosua-davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little play that, although it has an occasionally interesting use of verse, has not aged particularly well.