Christ in Concrete is a 1939 novel by Pietro Di Donato about Italian-American construction workers. The book, which made Di Donato famous, was originally published by Esquire Magazine as a short story and was expanded into a novel by Di Donato.
The novel was inspired by the death of Di Donato's father in a construction accident on Good Friday in 1923. It tells the story of a bricklayer and his struggle to provide a home for his family.
As indicated by the title, the novel is noted for its rich religious imagery, presented in a largely modernist stream-of-conciousness style. It was adapted into a 1949 motion picture, Give Us This Day (U.S. title Christ in Concrete) and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.
Famous quotes containing the words christ in, christ and/or concrete:
“One memorable addition to the old mythology is due to this era,—the Christian fable. With what pains, and tears, and blood these centuries have woven this and added it to the mythology of mankind! The new Prometheus. With what miraculous consent, and patience, and persistency has this mythus been stamped on the memory of the race! It would seem as if it were in the progress of our mythology to dethrone Jehovah, and crown Christ in his stead.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the juvescence of the year
Came Christ the tiger”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The Dada object reflected an ironic posture before the consecrated forms of art. The surrealist object differs significantly in this respect. It stands for a mysterious relationship with the outer world established by man’s sensibility in a way that involves concrete forms in projecting the artist’s inner model.”
—J.H. Matthews. “Object Lessons,” The Imagery of Surrealism, Syracuse University Press (1977)