Rating: 
Summary: beautiful. touching
Review: A beautiful, touching story. Seemingly the tale of a crusty, hardened man, but that crust is merely the thin veil of a truly broken and human heart. One forgets that the story is primarily fiction. Though based on the life of an obscure cleric, it is the story of everyman -- I think most readers will find themselves in the person of Godric.Buechner is not one of those authors who, when one reads his books says "Oh, this is Buechner." Each of his books is wholly unique and original. I would recommend anything he has written. (NOTE: I see that the long out-of-print Book of Bebb is being re-released in October. Highly recommended! Unlike anything else you've read!)
Rating: 
Summary: Beyond good, strange, lyrical, disturbing.
Review: Buechner does a beautiful job of pulling you through the
life story of a man who has done more un-holy acts than
just about anyone, and yet is somehow the most holy man
you will ever meet. Godric has feet planted solidly in
heaven and on the earth, and the pain of that seperation
is achingly felt as the story is told.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Buechner is so familiar with the atmosphere of the time that his words mirror the the sound of the ancient texts I have read. Large sections are actually in pentameter, though I didn't notice that because I was too caught up in the story. Entire passages now reside in my journal.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: Buechner is so familiar with the atmosphere of the time that his words mirror the the sound of the ancient texts I have read. Large sections are actually in pentameter, though I didn't notice that because I was too caught up in the story. Entire passages now reside in my journal.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical story of longing for oneness with God
Review: Buechner once again shows he is a master, not only of prose, but of understanding what being human is. In spellbinding, rythmic language, he unveils the longings of the heart, as well as the deeds of the flesh, of an ancient hermit. Godric the man is a surprise of contradictions. His overwhelming passion for oneness with God is equalled only by his ability to be profane, and then to punish himself in penitence. He is a surprise, until we read the story of our own lives and find we are much like Buechner's sinner/saint. We want redemption, the touch of mysterious grace, but are too often confronted with evidence of our own humanness. I found myself both pitying Godric, and wanting to be him. Godric the book is beautifully crafted both in style and structure. Buechner's language has a beautiful visual quality. It creates, and leaves, pictures in the mind. The structure of the book is more episodic than chronological, placing stories of Godric's life into a well made mosaic of a saint and sinner.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical story of longing for oneness with God
Review: Buechner once again shows he is a master, not only of prose, but of understanding what being human is. In spellbinding, rythmic language, he unveils the longings of the heart, as well as the deeds of the flesh, of an ancient hermit. Godric the man is a surprise of contradictions. His overwhelming passion for oneness with God is equalled only by his ability to be profane, and then to punish himself in penitence. He is a surprise, until we read the story of our own lives and find we are much like Buechner's sinner/saint. We want redemption, the touch of mysterious grace, but are too often confronted with evidence of our own humanness. I found myself both pitying Godric, and wanting to be him. Godric the book is beautifully crafted both in style and structure. Buechner's language has a beautiful visual quality. It creates, and leaves, pictures in the mind. The structure of the book is more episodic than chronological, placing stories of Godric's life into a well made mosaic of a saint and sinner.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book and read it once a year.
Review: Buechner's novel on the paradoxical coexistence of grace and depravity in humans is the finest work on the subject I know of short of Romans, Chapter 7. The language Buechner uses is a mirror of the subject -- gritty and rough-hewn but colorful and lyrical at the same time. It paints a refreshingly clear picture of God's grace in the midst of man's sinfulness.
Rating:
Summary: Moving, Funny, Poignant, Poetic
Review: Everyone points out that this little novel is graceful and poetic, and they couldn't be more correct. Throughout the novel, I marveled at the simple beauty of the words and the way they are put together, and it wasn't until later that I realized why. This novel is so meticulously put together that each sentence is written in iambs. I think that fact kind of holds within how wonderful this novel it is. It is a carefully constructed and beautiful portrait of a life persevering, persisting toward sainthood. Everything about this novel is perfect. Of course, each sentence is perfect, and at times, I would go back a read and reread certain chapters which strike me so profoundly. The relationships held herein, such as Godric's loving relationship with Burcwen, with Mouse, and with Reginald, are subtle complex and really touching. And of course, Godric's own characterization is the biggest strength of the novel, as he moves from the worst of sinners to a godly, compassionate, and humble man. I can't say enough for this perfect novel. I am sure that I will return again and again to its pages for the humor and warmth and beauty held therein.
Rating:
Summary: THE MOVING LIFE STORY OF A VERY HUMAN SAINT
Review: I have only recently discovered the works of Frederick Buechner -- and I know I have found something precious and rare. In this novel, his telling of the life story of Godric, a saint who lived from c.1065-1170, he paints a vivid, breathing portrait of a man who aspired with all his heart to know, love and serve God, struggling with his humanity every step of the way. Godric's heartfelt prayer to Mary is a touching example of the longing he feels: 'Saint, Mary, virgin dame.
Mother of Jesu Christ, of God his Lamb,
take, shield, and do thy Godric bring
to thee where Christ is King.
Our Lady, maiden, springtime's flower,
deliver Godric from this hour'. Godric never saw himself as a saint -- even though some people called him that even during his lifetime. He saw his failings and sins as too many to bear that title -- he doubted his own entry into Paradise. During his youth, he behaved as many his age would do -- he lusted after women; he fell victim to his own greed and exploited pilgrims, the poor, and the rich alike; he turned his back on his own family, breaking the hearts of his mother and sister when he left them to roam the world (although his love for his sister Burcwen was so great that, for the remainder of his life, he wore a cross made of two sticks, bound together by locks of her hair). He took up with a would-be privateer and sailed the seas, amassing treasure that he brought back from time to time and stored away on the Holy Isle of Farne -- realizing only later how he had desecrated not only those shores, but his own soul as well by hoarding away the profits he so rudely gained. When Godric leaves home, he is blessed for his journey by Tom Ball, a family friend. Ball's blessing is prophetic in relation to Godric's eventual life choices. Godric describes Ball's blessing thus: 'He laid his hands on me and blessed my eyes to see God's image deep in every man. He blessed my ears to hear the cry especially of the poor. He blessed my lips to speak no word but Gospel truth. He warned against the Devil and his snares...' Ball speaks to Godric of the choices we are given to make in our lives every day, likening them to doors that we may enter or pass by. At the time, his words touch Godric -- but it is only later, after many life experiences, good and bad, that Godric feels them in his heart and is touched by them to the core. The book covers many of Godric's adventures, including a pilgrimage to Rome with his mother, on which he is visited by a holy vision of a maiden he calls Gillian, which urges him to follow God's will more completely. He also visits Jerusalem, walking on the same paths that Christ walked, visiting the room in which he was condemned by Pilate -- and bathing in the Jordan, perhaps one of the most life-changing experiences he is given. He returns to England, and after a few more adventures, he meets with Elric, a hermit devoted to God (seen by many people as a madman), staying with him a while until the old man's death. He sees great holiness within Elric's life. Godric himself settles at a spot in the woods near the river Wear, a place that he had seen in an earlier vision -- it is here that he lives out the rest of his days in almost complete solitude, devoting himself to prayer and reflection, visited only rarely by outsiders. A monk named Reginald is sent to him in order that Godric's story may be written -- and a young man named Perkin becomes his devoted servant, meeting those needs he cannot meet himself. They are the sole witnesses to the end of his life -- and they know him better than any other. Godric's longing for God -- and his strength at bearing up under what he sees as the weight of his humanity and his sin -- are tenderly and lovingly rendered by Buechner in a prose that is stunning itself in its beauty, in its breathtaking evocation of the very language of the times in which the story takes place. So effective is the style contructed by the author for this book that the reader could well believe the manuscript dated from the era in which it is set. It brings alive the people and places in Godric's life in an illuminating manner. It is a marvel to read -- and an experience that will entertain as well as enlighten. This is a book that I will return to again and again -- there are many riches to be found within. Buechner is blessed with a gift for telling classic stories -- both from the Bible and other sources. We are blessed that he shares this gift with us.
Rating:
Summary: THE MOVING LIFE STORY OF A VERY HUMAN SAINT
Review: I have only recently discovered the works of Frederick Buechner -- and I know I have found something precious and rare. In this novel, his telling of the life story of Godric, a saint who lived from c.1065-1170, he paints a vivid, breathing portrait of a man who aspired with all his heart to know, love and serve God, struggling with his humanity every step of the way. Godric's heartfelt prayer to Mary is a touching example of the longing he feels: 'Saint, Mary, virgin dame.
Mother of Jesu Christ, of God his Lamb,
take, shield, and do thy Godric bring
to thee where Christ is King.
Our Lady, maiden, springtime's flower,
deliver Godric from this hour'. Godric never saw himself as a saint -- even though some people called him that even during his lifetime. He saw his failings and sins as too many to bear that title -- he doubted his own entry into Paradise. During his youth, he behaved as many his age would do -- he lusted after women; he fell victim to his own greed and exploited pilgrims, the poor, and the rich alike; he turned his back on his own family, breaking the hearts of his mother and sister when he left them to roam the world (although his love for his sister Burcwen was so great that, for the remainder of his life, he wore a cross made of two sticks, bound together by locks of her hair). He took up with a would-be privateer and sailed the seas, amassing treasure that he brought back from time to time and stored away on the Holy Isle of Farne -- realizing only later how he had desecrated not only those shores, but his own soul as well by hoarding away the profits he so rudely gained. When Godric leaves home, he is blessed for his journey by Tom Ball, a family friend. Ball's blessing is prophetic in relation to Godric's eventual life choices. Godric describes Ball's blessing thus: 'He laid his hands on me and blessed my eyes to see God's image deep in every man. He blessed my ears to hear the cry especially of the poor. He blessed my lips to speak no word but Gospel truth. He warned against the Devil and his snares...' Ball speaks to Godric of the choices we are given to make in our lives every day, likening them to doors that we may enter or pass by. At the time, his words touch Godric -- but it is only later, after many life experiences, good and bad, that Godric feels them in his heart and is touched by them to the core. The book covers many of Godric's adventures, including a pilgrimage to Rome with his mother, on which he is visited by a holy vision of a maiden he calls Gillian, which urges him to follow God's will more completely. He also visits Jerusalem, walking on the same paths that Christ walked, visiting the room in which he was condemned by Pilate -- and bathing in the Jordan, perhaps one of the most life-changing experiences he is given. He returns to England, and after a few more adventures, he meets with Elric, a hermit devoted to God (seen by many people as a madman), staying with him a while until the old man's death. He sees great holiness within Elric's life. Godric himself settles at a spot in the woods near the river Wear, a place that he had seen in an earlier vision -- it is here that he lives out the rest of his days in almost complete solitude, devoting himself to prayer and reflection, visited only rarely by outsiders. A monk named Reginald is sent to him in order that Godric's story may be written -- and a young man named Perkin becomes his devoted servant, meeting those needs he cannot meet himself. They are the sole witnesses to the end of his life -- and they know him better than any other. Godric's longing for God -- and his strength at bearing up under what he sees as the weight of his humanity and his sin -- are tenderly and lovingly rendered by Buechner in a prose that is stunning itself in its beauty, in its breathtaking evocation of the very language of the times in which the story takes place. So effective is the style contructed by the author for this book that the reader could well believe the manuscript dated from the era in which it is set. It brings alive the people and places in Godric's life in an illuminating manner. It is a marvel to read -- and an experience that will entertain as well as enlighten. This is a book that I will return to again and again -- there are many riches to be found within. Buechner is blessed with a gift for telling classic stories -- both from the Bible and other sources. We are blessed that he shares this gift with us.
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