Sheldon Vanauken is always a pleasure to read. Nothing beats A Severe Mercy, of course, but I wasn't expecting it to--rather, it fills in some blanks which the first book had left me wondering about, and gives a glimpse into Vanauken's heart after Davy's death. Quite a trip it is, too. It's very interesting to see how he ends up questioning or repudiating much of his '60s radicalism (with the exception of his Civil Rights involvement), and whether or not the reader agrees with his later stance on, say, ordination of women to the priesthood, it's hard to deny that he's considered the issues from various perspectives (having embraced many of them at one point or another). Being a bit of a sucker for conversion stories, I also enjoyed the story of how he went over to Catholicism from the Episcopal Church. The book is also a sort of anthology of some of Vanauken's poetry, essays, and stories from the late 50's through the early 80's. While some of these were more absorbing than others, they were mostly chosen with an eye toward moving the story along and weren't just thrown in gratuitously. A worthwhile, insightful read. ( )

You can find my full review at Quieted Waters.

Fans of Vanauken’s first work, A Severe Mercy, will find the same light, honest writing in Under the Mercy, but this book lacks the emotional draw of the original.

Under the Mercy takes the same introspective memoir approach, but the writing is more concerned with issues than with the relationships and narrative that carried the original. The strongest and most compelling chapters are on Vanauken’s view of the roles of men and women, and on his shift from a catalyst for the feminist movement to a thoroughgoing complementarian.

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