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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Decent Biography but Fails to Prove Major Claims, October 16, 2008
This review is from: A Mended and Broken Heart: The Life and Love of Francis of Assisi (Hardcover)
Wendy Murray wrote her book to prove that St. Francis' deep conversion was the direct result of a platonic love affair of sorts with St. Clare. The evidence that she brings to bear is weak and rises to not more than the level of speculation and in some ways is no more than outright gossip. In addition, Murray reports that Francis' early life was whitewashed by the Catholic Church to keep the faithful from knowing the true extent of his libertine lifestyle prior to his conversion. In the end though, there is no smoking gun here either, but only a refutation from her sources that said that, despite being the leader of his partying friends, Francis was not prurient. In the end, then, the primary argument for her thesis is without claim, as are ancillary claims about Francis. The book also ends with a poor and obviously strained effort by Murray to culminate with a dramatic literary flair but the effort falls far short of the goal.
There is enough interesting history here, however, to make the book a worthwhile read: the constant warring among cities, including the involvement of Assisi; the allure of knighthood and the crusades; and the battle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, for example. The characters that took part in Francis' life, from St. Clare to the Pope to Francis' fellow friars, are also interesting, as are, in particular, the details of Francis' life, from his early days as a partier, to his conversion, to his efforts to create an order and ultimately to his struggle with illnesses near the end of his life. Ignoring the backdrop of an attempted expose, A Broken and Mended Heart remains a good short biography of St. Francis and a history of his times.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some insights - an easy read - worthwhile, August 14, 2010
Prior reviewers use as a premise for their reviews, the theorized "love affair" between St. Clare and St. Francis and seem to be evaluating this book on the basis of whether or not the author "proved" without a shadow of a doubt a torrid (sexual?) affair...Setting this premise aside, this book does provide insights into the life and love(s) of St. Francis and some of the not so saintly things about his life. As a premise for this review, so many times "Lives of the Saints" stories are sanitized and homogenized and pasteurized so that the portrayal of saints' lives are elevated onto a pedestal that no human being can hope to attain. That is NOT the case with Murray's book and that is the primary reason I liked the book. She shows some of the very real human foibles of St. Francis. This helps me to relate to his story, his life and his conversion. He did not get along well with his father, a well to do cloth merchant. Prior reviewers report that the church whitewashed some of the aspects of Francis' earlier life and that is most likely true. However, if one also reads the Confessions of St. Augustine Confessions of St. Augustine, The: Modern English Version, here too is a Saint who also readily admits to a decadent life prior to conversion. One thing I like about Murray's treatment is her portrayal of Sir Knight Francis, that is to say, the machismo young man of his times who gets rolled up into fantasies of heroic knighthood adventures. Also, when describing Francis' conversion, Murray takes pains to describe to us Francis' revulsion to people with leprosy. The leprosy part of any saint's story is so difficult for any of us to appreciate in this day and age as very few of us have personally encountered people with Hansen's disease (as leprosy is now called). We may have some image of leprosy and lepers from movies like "Ben Hur" Ben-Hur where Charlton Heston's mother and sister live in a leper colony. Murray portrays as do others, Francis' actual physical embrace (hugs him) of a leper which must have been terrifically difficult for him to do. In the context of conversion, the hugging of the leper, is integral to the life of Francis. Also depicted here is the migration from his original intentions of his religious order. As the Franciscans grow, others lead the order and it strays in its orientation. In frustration, Francis considers quitting the religious life, marrying and having children. He also self reports on his death bed his ability to still father children which seemingly could disqualify him from sainthood. These admissions seem to indicate a man with an intact potency and libido who chose to live in a manner whereby he did not seek satisfying those drives as his primary goal in life.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thesis not Proven, October 11, 2008
This review is from: A Mended and Broken Heart: The Life and Love of Francis of Assisi (Hardcover)
The author's main point, that St. Francis of Assisi was in love with St. Clare of Assisi, is not well developed. The evidence presented, praying together at the start of their religious conversions and their later contact is interesting but not convincing.
The book covers other pieces of St. Francis's life. Of particular interest to me were his experiences on a Crusade and his illnesses and their treatments.
While there is some interesting material here, it needs more content. This is more like an essay than a book.
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