God's fool The life and times of Francis of Assisi

Julien Green, 1900-

Book - 1985

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BIOGRAPHY/Francis
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Subjects
Published
San Francisco : Harper & Row c1985.
Language
English
French
Main Author
Julien Green, 1900- (-)
Item Description
Translation of: Frère François.
Physical Description
ix, 273 p. ; 24 cm
ISBN
9780060634629
Contents unavailable.
Review by Library Journal Review

The virtues of this portrayal of Francis of Assisi are those of its inspirer. With disarming simplicity and candor, Julien Green (a well-known bilingual novelist who was the first English-speaking person elected to the French Academy) unfolds the life of il Poverello , who was not merely converted to Christianity but utterly transformed and abandoned to the truth of the Gospel. Though familial ambitions attempted to shape and control him, and the historical milieu to set its mark upon him, Francis chose, instead, ``perfect destitution,'' joy, song, and the wonders of nature. The rarity of such a transformation is the secret of Francis's endless appeal. The thoughtful, lucid prose that made the book a bestseller in Europe is marvelously evident in this translation. Highly recommended for general collections. Carol J. Lichtenberg, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

An enthusiastic, insightful biography of Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), everyone's favorite saint, by the French-American Catholic novelist Julien Green. The highlights of St. Francis's life--profligate youth, conversion at 25, espousal of absolute poverty, founding of the brown-robed brotherhood, friendship with St. Clare, ""Canticle of the Sun,"" miracle of the stigmata--loom large in Christian lore; for many, they comprise the elements of a sacred story second in importance only to that of Jesus. Green shares this view, confessing that Francis is ""the man I have always admired the most."" Happily, he does his subject full justice. He carefully places the saint in historical context--a turbulent era of failed crusades, civil wars, troubadours, and a Church tottering from corruption. Actions which seem largely eccentric--Francis's disrobing before the Bishop of Assisi, for instance--acquire new meaning after Green's astute elucidation of medieval mores. Unlike some other biographers, Green adopts an informal, sleeves-rolled-up approach, cheerfully mixing his own opinions and adventures in with Francis's story. He chats about earlier studies of the saint (especially those by St. Bonaventure and Thomas of Celano), recalls his own visits to Franciscan holy sites, offers devout comments on the Gospel, tosses in a cunning analysis of the extant firsthand portraits of Francis, muses over various miracles and proclaims most of them genuine. All this is carried off in muscular prose bulging with wit; of the relationship between Francis and Clare, Green writes that ""lovers have no psychology, because they are out of their heads."" This, then, is that rarity among hagiographies: a colorful tapestry in which the rich historical background neither dominates nor is obscured by the powerful foreground personality. Francis's passage from peacock dandy to penitent, and his subsequent madcap exploits as God's holy fool, have rarely been recounted with such gusto. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.