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Godric A Novel Frederick Buechner 9780060611620 Books

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Godric A Novel Frederick Buechner 9780060611620 Books

Recently I polled some friends to help me decide if I should next read a volume of theology or fiction. The response was unanimous...one person replied, voting for fiction. With this decided, choosing the particular book was fairly easy, as there was a copy of Godric (New York, Harper Collins, 1980), by Frederick Buechner, an author held in high esteem by several of my friends, sitting on the shelf above my desk. It seemed like the right time to dive in and see what the buzz was about. The water initially shocked my system, but then, like a swimming pool on a hot summer day, it became something very pleasant, which I was reluctant to leave when the day was done.

Buechner has written the story of an English hermit, Godric, from the 12th century. It reads as part memoir and part biography, as Godric changes back and forth between the first- and third-person in the telling of his life's story. It took a bit of time for me to acclimatize my brain to Buechner's narrative style and vocabulary, given my 21st century existence, but once I did so I found Godric's story to be compelling and to some extent, universal.

Godric is someone who moves through life making the most of the opportunities present to him at the time. He is someone whom I would characterize as a survivor. Things go awry, sometimes he knows he is doing wrong, but he does what he thinks he needs to do at the time to get through the day, choosing not to be concerned with the next day until the sun rises on it.

Godric has a sense of Christian ethics, as he occasionally ponders the implications of his actions from the perspective of the Gospel and a clear understanding that there is an eternal destiny for all persons, a destiny that could just as likely be Hell as Heaven. And while he seems to desire Heaven he knows that God's will for him may be for the opposite.

As he looks back over his life Godric sees a point where there was a profound change in his heart for God, a change that came about not through any action on his part but which was entirely the work of God. Buechner writes "The Godric that waded out of Jordan soaked and dripping wet that day was not the Godric that went wading in." Shifting to Godric's voice he prays, "O Thou that asketh much of him to whom thou givest much, have mercy. Remember me not for the ill I've done but for the good I've dreamed. Help me to be not just the old and foolish one thou seest now but once again a fool for thee. Help me to pray. Help me whatever way thou canst, dear Christ and Lord. Amen." (105)

As a Christian Godric was drawn to life as a hermit, but his latter life was no less boring than what came before. Over time his renown as a mystic grows and people seek him out for wisdom and guidance. But Godric knows the truth well, particularly that his own personal struggles with sin are really no different than before. Sin continues to plague him in thought, if perhaps less so in deed. But Godric also knows he belongs to God and he places himself before his Lord and Savior as his only hope for this world and the next.

I read this book knowing it was a novel and I presumed it to be fiction. At the end of Godric's story Buechner has 2 pages of historical notes, and to my surprise I learned that there was really a Godric of Finchale, whose story was chronicled by a monk named Reginald, a character appearing in Buechner's work and whose biography provides the framework for Buechner's tale.

My intent in reading Godric was to enjoy some fiction and Buechner surprised me by incorporating theology to the story in a manner that transcends time. Godric's struggle with sin is mine as well, and we both know that our only hope is in the mercy of Christ.

Having tasted Buechner once, I intend to explore his work again sometime. If you have never read him then I invite you to start here. Jump right in, for the water is delightful!


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Godric A Novel Frederick Buechner 9780060611620 Books Reviews

GODRIC is a uniquely crafted narrative, in which every line and image rings with poetic genius, while successfully depicting the grittiness of medieval life, and the protagonist's painful, stumbling journey toward God. It's a novel unlike any I've ever read, both because of the verisimilitude of the setting and the beauty of Beuchner's craft as a writer. I recommend it very highly to anyone who values great literature.
Novel, biography and spiritual meditations - Frederick Buechner's Godric is all of these at once. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, Buechner tells the account - using as many real facts as are available - of Saint Godric of Finchale, a 12th century holy man who lived the second half of his 105 year-old life as a hermit in the woods, praying and befriending animals. Godric is also recognized as being author to the oldest recorded verse in the English language.

Buechner tells his story as if it were the (also real) account being laid out for a contemporary of Godric, Reginald - a local monk who asks Godric's permission to record his life. Buechner stays faithful to the language and sentence structure of the day, making his 175 pages not as quick a read as you might think.

In addition are the many passages that felt I needed to re-read in order to grasp their weight. Godric is not a man without struggles, and even well into his hermit years, he grieves over the sins he can't seem to tame. A friend of all animals, Godric befriends two snakes who are frequent invited guests in his cave. (Two of five living beings Godric calls 'friends' from the beginning of his story.) When Godric finally sends them on his way, he laments that he is not able to tame his sin nature the way he has tamed the serpents.

For me, one of the most moving passages was when Godric reflects on an experience during one of his pilgrimages. Near Jerusalem, Godric baptizes himself in the Jordan river "Nothing I ever knew before and nothing I have ever come to know from then till now can match the holy mirth and madness of that time. Many's the sin I've clipped to since. Many's the dark and savage night of doubt. Many's the prayer I haven't prayed, the friend I've hurt, the kindness left undone. But this I know. The Godric that waded out of Jordan soaked and dripping wet that day was not the Godric that went wading in.

"O Thou that asketh much of him to whom thou givest much, have mercy. Remember me not for the ill I've done but for the good I've dreamed. Help me to be not just the old and foolish one thou seest now but once again a fool for thee. Help me to pray. Help me whatever way thou canst, dear Christ and Lord. Amen."

As a Christian, I think one of our common struggles is recognizing moments of holiness, moments where God stepped in and created a milestone for us; and yet, as humans do, we can't live up to what we know God requires of us. It is the same struggle Paul grieves over in Romans when he says he does what he doesn't want to do, and does not do the good he wants to do.

Anyway, there were many times that I related to the human experience that Buechner lays out in Godric's life - not only about his spirituality but about friends, family, travel - life.

Godric has been on my TBR pile for almost ten years - since a friend gave me Listening to Your Life - a book of daily meditations that are all excerpts of Buechner's writings. Buechner, a Presbyterian minister, definitely has a gift, for crafting a well-turned phrase, and at the same time conveying truth in it. He's a must-read for anyone - Christian or non alike.
"Godric" takes a very particular slant on "sainthood", mainly presenting a person who comes to reject the dreadful and disgusting aspects of our lives that still present themselves today, involving sex, money and family, but also laced through with the ambiguous beauty and joy of life. Buechner shows a rather self-consciously modern view of sin and evil, but never relents in his painstaking care to create the perspective of a real person living in the Middle Ages. Miracles occur, but they could be illusions. Renunciation is a major theme, but the story shows it operating unevenly, and sometimes from obsession or delusion.

In the end, the honest display of our sinful nature and the ambiguity of the human response inevitably leads to mocking of hagiography, and that is both an explicit and an implicit theme. I consider it the best part of an interesting, and very good, book.
Recently I polled some friends to help me decide if I should next read a volume of theology or fiction. The response was unanimous...one person replied, voting for fiction. With this decided, choosing the particular book was fairly easy, as there was a copy of Godric (New York, Harper Collins, 1980), by Frederick Buechner, an author held in high esteem by several of my friends, sitting on the shelf above my desk. It seemed like the right time to dive in and see what the buzz was about. The water initially shocked my system, but then, like a swimming pool on a hot summer day, it became something very pleasant, which I was reluctant to leave when the day was done.

Buechner has written the story of an English hermit, Godric, from the 12th century. It reads as part memoir and part biography, as Godric changes back and forth between the first- and third-person in the telling of his life's story. It took a bit of time for me to acclimatize my brain to Buechner's narrative style and vocabulary, given my 21st century existence, but once I did so I found Godric's story to be compelling and to some extent, universal.

Godric is someone who moves through life making the most of the opportunities present to him at the time. He is someone whom I would characterize as a survivor. Things go awry, sometimes he knows he is doing wrong, but he does what he thinks he needs to do at the time to get through the day, choosing not to be concerned with the next day until the sun rises on it.

Godric has a sense of Christian ethics, as he occasionally ponders the implications of his actions from the perspective of the Gospel and a clear understanding that there is an eternal destiny for all persons, a destiny that could just as likely be Hell as Heaven. And while he seems to desire Heaven he knows that God's will for him may be for the opposite.

As he looks back over his life Godric sees a point where there was a profound change in his heart for God, a change that came about not through any action on his part but which was entirely the work of God. Buechner writes "The Godric that waded out of Jordan soaked and dripping wet that day was not the Godric that went wading in." Shifting to Godric's voice he prays, "O Thou that asketh much of him to whom thou givest much, have mercy. Remember me not for the ill I've done but for the good I've dreamed. Help me to be not just the old and foolish one thou seest now but once again a fool for thee. Help me to pray. Help me whatever way thou canst, dear Christ and Lord. Amen." (105)

As a Christian Godric was drawn to life as a hermit, but his latter life was no less boring than what came before. Over time his renown as a mystic grows and people seek him out for wisdom and guidance. But Godric knows the truth well, particularly that his own personal struggles with sin are really no different than before. Sin continues to plague him in thought, if perhaps less so in deed. But Godric also knows he belongs to God and he places himself before his Lord and Savior as his only hope for this world and the next.

I read this book knowing it was a novel and I presumed it to be fiction. At the end of Godric's story Buechner has 2 pages of historical notes, and to my surprise I learned that there was really a Godric of Finchale, whose story was chronicled by a monk named Reginald, a character appearing in Buechner's work and whose biography provides the framework for Buechner's tale.

My intent in reading Godric was to enjoy some fiction and Buechner surprised me by incorporating theology to the story in a manner that transcends time. Godric's struggle with sin is mine as well, and we both know that our only hope is in the mercy of Christ.

Having tasted Buechner once, I intend to explore his work again sometime. If you have never read him then I invite you to start here. Jump right in, for the water is delightful!