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The Final Boundary: and other parables including THE VISIT
A collection of thought-provoking short stories from the best-selling Adrian Plass. Through this collection of humorous and moving stories, Adrian Plass reminds us of the failings we share as human beings. As we get caught up in our every day lives it is all too easy to be unaware when our egos become inflated and and we forget to consider the feelings of others. The home truths in these stories carry a message for us all but they are told in a way that will make you smile and sometimes wince with self-recognition. Adrian Plass has once again succeeded in getting us to take a closer look at our lives and our relationship with God.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
21 people want to read
About the author
Adrian Plass
136 books104 followersAdrian Plass is a writer and speaker who has produced over thirty books in the last twenty years. The best known of these is probably The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass, a gentle satire on the modern church, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide. This and other books have travelled to other countries and are translated into a number of foreign languages. Other books include biography, novels, short stories, a fictionalised account of the author's experiences as a residential child care worker, and collections of poems and sketches. A bemused Anglican, Adrian lives with his wife and daughter in a small market town near the Sussex South Downs.
Adrian has been in demand as a speaker in venues as varied as prisons, schools, churches, festivals, literary dinners and theatrical settings. His work also includes contribution to national and local radio and television. Live presentations combine humour, poetry, and story telling, largely revolving around his own inadequacies and struggles as a Christian and a human being.
In recent years Adrian has been joined by his wife Bridget in presenting a more varied and dramatic style of performance. Adrian and Bridget met at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and have found particular satisfaction in being allowed to ‘do a bit of acting’. They have also been privileged to work alongside World Vision on several occasions, visiting Bangladesh and Zambia, writing two books and touring both in the UK and abroad with the aim of encouraging people to take up child sponsorship
Their work now takes them as far away as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Africa, while trips to Europe have introduced the added dimension of speaking through interpreters. Not easy when you're trying to be funny!
Adrian's latest books include ‘Jesus Safe Tender and Extreme‘, published by Zondervan, ‘Blind Spots in the Bible’, published by BRF, and most recent of all ‘Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation’ published by Authentic Media. He and Bridget have also collaborated with friends in Canada to produce a CD of his favourite sketches from the last 20 years called ‘Preaching to the Converted’ while ‘A Touch of Plass’, CTA’s documentary video, is now out on DVD.
2008 began with a visit to Bolivia for Bridget and Adrian in collaboration with the charity Toybox to look at projects involving street children. Later on there will be a DVD, a book and a number of presentations promoting their work.
Adrian's central motivation continues to be his love for Jesus, although some may feel he expresses it rather eccentrically. His passion is to communicate the need for reality in faith, and a truth that he learned during a difficult stage in his life: "God is nice and he likes me..." Some have described his work as being ‘one long confessional’. They may well be right!
Adrian has been in demand as a speaker in venues as varied as prisons, schools, churches, festivals, literary dinners and theatrical settings. His work also includes contribution to national and local radio and television. Live presentations combine humour, poetry, and story telling, largely revolving around his own inadequacies and struggles as a Christian and a human being.
In recent years Adrian has been joined by his wife Bridget in presenting a more varied and dramatic style of performance. Adrian and Bridget met at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and have found particular satisfaction in being allowed to ‘do a bit of acting’. They have also been privileged to work alongside World Vision on several occasions, visiting Bangladesh and Zambia, writing two books and touring both in the UK and abroad with the aim of encouraging people to take up child sponsorship
Their work now takes them as far away as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Africa, while trips to Europe have introduced the added dimension of speaking through interpreters. Not easy when you're trying to be funny!
Adrian's latest books include ‘Jesus Safe Tender and Extreme‘, published by Zondervan, ‘Blind Spots in the Bible’, published by BRF, and most recent of all ‘Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation’ published by Authentic Media. He and Bridget have also collaborated with friends in Canada to produce a CD of his favourite sketches from the last 20 years called ‘Preaching to the Converted’ while ‘A Touch of Plass’, CTA’s documentary video, is now out on DVD.
2008 began with a visit to Bolivia for Bridget and Adrian in collaboration with the charity Toybox to look at projects involving street children. Later on there will be a DVD, a book and a number of presentations promoting their work.
Adrian's central motivation continues to be his love for Jesus, although some may feel he expresses it rather eccentrically. His passion is to communicate the need for reality in faith, and a truth that he learned during a difficult stage in his life: "God is nice and he likes me..." Some have described his work as being ‘one long confessional’. They may well be right!
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2016
This is a collection of short-stories, written as modern parables. They’re not all easy to understand, and should not be taken as direct analogies. Adrian Plass tells us in the introduction that a parable is ‘a story that entertains at the front door while the truth slips in through a side window’.
Some of the early stories are decidedly strange, and they’re all very different from each other. Quite a few have somewhat depressing themes, at first glance. There's a small boy who doesn't quite believe that his grandmother has died, a terminally ill patient reflecting on life with Jesus and cricket, the defendant at a murder case... perhaps the most obvious parable is one written in letter form, explaining why we're all supposed to climb Snowdon regularly.
The last story, ‘The Visit’ (which has been published elsewhere separately) is a rather longer one; it’s the story of ‘The Founder’ making a visit to a small town in the form of a man, confounding expectations and showing people the way he wants them to live. I very much liked this; but then Adrian Plass’s writing is always thought-provoking, making me smile and think in turn.
Overall I enjoyed re-reading this short story collection, and would recommend it in a low-key way.
Some of the early stories are decidedly strange, and they’re all very different from each other. Quite a few have somewhat depressing themes, at first glance. There's a small boy who doesn't quite believe that his grandmother has died, a terminally ill patient reflecting on life with Jesus and cricket, the defendant at a murder case... perhaps the most obvious parable is one written in letter form, explaining why we're all supposed to climb Snowdon regularly.
The last story, ‘The Visit’ (which has been published elsewhere separately) is a rather longer one; it’s the story of ‘The Founder’ making a visit to a small town in the form of a man, confounding expectations and showing people the way he wants them to live. I very much liked this; but then Adrian Plass’s writing is always thought-provoking, making me smile and think in turn.
Overall I enjoyed re-reading this short story collection, and would recommend it in a low-key way.
January 27, 2016
Just re-read this old favorite (my edition is 1987, from Kingsway Publications, with a much better cover than this one). Adrian Plass is a Christian apologist with a brilliant sense of humour and a wonderfully fresh way of looking at things. He is also a consummate story teller, and this collection of 'parables' demonstrates that admirably. Funny, moving, thought-provoking and challenging, I found they'd aged a lot better than I have! As good as they were when I first read them nearly thirty years ago.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews