Customer Reviews

Saint Francis

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book a year ago while on Spring break with my husband and two little daughters. It completely took me away and put me on a higher spiritual level that lasted a long time. Kazantzakis somehow captured the essence of what St. Francis was all about...St. Francis was a man who truly tried to do what Jesus said to do, sell everything you have, give it to the poor, pick up His cross daily and follow Him. The feeling I get when I read the book was one of actually being with St. Francis and understanding why so many followed him and liked him. I am in the middle of reading it again (another Spring break!), and I see why I loved it so much the first time. It's a great novel, even if you aren't a Christian, because the characters and the writing are so good, but being a Christian adds a spiritual level that makes me want to read this book over and over, even though I think I am so far from where St. Francis was! It makes one think about what Jesus really said and what it would be like to TRULY do what He said! I highly recommend it.

Saint Francis is a passionate and highly personal vision of the life of Francis of Assisi, the poor man of God, by the late Nikos Kazantzakis, author of The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1958), The Last Temptation of Christ (1960), Zorba the Greek (1953), The Greek Passion (1954) and Freedom or Death (1956). (Note: dates are those of the first American editions.)

Nikos Kazantzakis' books transcend the usual limitations of the novel: they go beyond the mere telling of an exciting story and enter the sublime world of the spirit. Their themes are powerful and heroic, for above all they are concerned with the struggle between good and evil in man's soul, and with the ability of ordinary men, at all times in history, to leave behind their daily occupations and their pleasures and to dedicate themselves to a noble ideal, often at the cost of their lives.

In Freedom or Death, Kazantzakis wrote of the mortal combat between Greek and Turk on his native island of Crete; in the THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, he wrote of the Saviour's spiritual passion and agony as He prepares His own martyrdom. In SAINT FRANCIS, Kazantzakis has re-created the story of Christianity's best-known, most human, and most beloved saint -- Francis of Assisi.

It is a historical novel, and the reader will grasp in it all the miseries and glory of medieval Italy. But Kazantzakis has not limited himself to the retelling of this well-known story. He has tried to show us Saint Francis as a person, tempted by the life that is offered to him and the comforts of his home, but driven by his own restless spirit to rise above the level of his fellow men and to assert his belief in goodness and submission. Kazantzakis' Francis is not the calm and undisturbed saint of legend, preaching to the animals. His is a man, tempted, weary, but searching for spiritual peace in a world of evil and war.

Kazantzakis has made his narrator, Saint Francis' companion, a cheerful monk, happy with wine and good food, weak in the ways of the flesh, but faithful to the master he cannot fully understand. Through his eyes we see the endless strife between the flesh and the spirit, the bitter wanderings over Europe and the Holy Land, the struggle against complacent and entrenched men in the Church that finally led to the founding of the Franciscan order.

This is the story of Saint Francis as only Nikos Kazantzakis could tell it.

It is a book that cannot fail to move everyone who reads it.

I am pleased to find that a number of reviewers find this book life-changing. It presents the entire anguish of human being, and it is the book that describes one of the highest concerns of Kazantzakis, an issue that he deals on several other books, but never with such fever: the desire of the human being to talk with God, and the depths that the human mind has to go in believing and disbelieving, in facing irrationality and hearing the voice of God.
You do not have to be religious in the strict christian sense. If that is the case, then this book might be offending, as it presents the passions of man that tries to reach God in an 'uncoventional' way, that does not abide by the doctrine of the church.

Still, I was deeply affected and deeply shaken by this book, more than any other book of Kazantazakis that I have read. Reading it was a 'passion' in itself. I had to reach the same depths, and I felt some of the anguish of St. Francis, as presented by Kazantakis. A lst remark. Do not compare the book with a biography. St. Francis is a tragic hero, an embodiment of mans religious passions, an example of faith.

In 1972, I read The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis. I will always consider it one of the greatest books ever written. I found it an incredibly faith-affirming book and it changed my life as it changed my outlook on Jesus Christ. Thirty-five years later, I decided to read Saint Francis.

I was very disappointed. Not because it is a bad book, but because it fell way short of what I expected. Over the last three decades, I would say to anyone, "Open The Last Temptation of Christ to any page, and read. The words flow from each page like poetry." Such was not the case with Saint Francis.

I had a similar experience recently with Par Lagerkvist. I read Barabbas 40 years ago and then read The Sybil last year. I'll remember Mr. Lagerkvist for Barabbas, not for the disappointing Sybil. Similarly, I will remember Mr. Kazantzakis for the Last Temptation, not for Saint Francis. I truly believe that my failure to connect with these books recently is because of the translation, not because the author's work was of less value.

Saint Francis is a dark book of personal sacrifice. I continually saw visions of the Opus Dei sect as I read the book. Francis clearly led a life of personal sacrifice dedicated to the glory of God, but the translation left me empty and not inspired. I'll not refute any of the superlative reviews that this book has earned, but from this man's point of view, I'll be cautious in the future when selecting translated material regardless of the author.

Kazantzakis' "Saint Francis" captures the "madness" of the Poverello of Assisi like no other book. Francis was truly a revolutionary character, but often biographies have a tendency to neuter him into a quaint, slightly eccentric character from a fairy tale. But Kazantzakis does not fall into this trap - he displays Francis in his full devotion to God and desire to imitate Christ completely. This can make one uncomfortable, as Francis appears unbalanced at times, but it drives home the point that the Saint of Assisi cared for nothing other than embracing Christ in poverty and love.

The book is written from the perspective of Francis' closest follower, Brother Leo. Kazantzakis' depiction of Leo as a simple, struggling, but devoted follower of Francis helps to enlighten his portrait of Francis by contrasting the two in their travels and struggles. At times, Kazantzakis is harsh in his depiction of others in Francis' life, especially Brother Elias, and even St. Dominic, but this all works to allow the reader to focus on the specific charism of Francis to preach - and live - Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, and Love.

Anyone with a devotion to St. Francis will be rewarded by reading this book - it has the power to force you to reevaluate your own life in the light of the life of the poor friar from Assisi.

written in a poetic style, this book gives you a full meal of reading. it can be read in parts, a little at a time, or in one long marathon sitdown- the author puts his poems in prose-

Saint Francis of Assisi by Nikos Kazantzakis is a book about a man who becomes a Saint. Born to an Italian family in Assisi, Francis grows up in affluence and loves serenading young women. He joins the military hoping to earn knighthood and prestige. But he is not successful. One day he meets a man whom he calls mockingly Lion because he is covered with hair. Thus begins the story of Saint Francis by Brother Leo. Kazantzakis is the master story teller here and Brother Leo is narrating it. This book is a soulful story based upon the real life. Francis sets off in search of God and Brother Leo is his helper who accompanies him through the hardships on this path. They travel widely and preach "Poverty, Peace and Love", only to be mocked, thrashed and stoned by people calling them mad. But as Francis undertakes long lonely sessions to talk to God he hears voices. He is not sure if it is God or the Devil impersonating God. This is the epic struggle which Francis faces throughout. He disowns his father, mother, lover, all for seeking God. He constantly feels that Devil is trying to ensnare humans by taking different forms and sweet temptations. One cannot help seeing that perhaps Kazantzakis sees the similarity between Christianity now and the ensnare of the Devil. It is heart rending to see a man so possessed about God,love poverty, peace and all life including animals, birds. This book will bring tears to your eyes and if it does not then perhaps like Francis believes the devil has got to you. To read that such a person existed and was a Christian begs the mind that if Christianity to-day is the same of Jesus Christ of love? One cannot shake off the thoughts that later Christians dropped atomic bomb, napalm carpeting, drone attacks on civilians, burning of heretics, women, holocaust and still continue to believe they are the followers of Jesus Christ. If it was not tragic for Christianity that Europeans tribes snatched it from Middle East (Asia). They certainly were not ready for the spirituality of Jesus Christ. Saints like Francis re-affirm our faith in Christianity. I was so moved to know that there was a man of this enlightenment that I read it back to back. Overall a great loving book worth reading. As Kazantzakis says in the prologue that many a times while writing this book, the manuscript was smudged with large tears and so will be your copy.

If you want to order this, I'd steer away from the "Loyola" classics edition.

It's far fancier (and thicker) than you need. With large print and generous margins, the book ends up being quite thick.

There was no reason for this. I think they just did it to make the the book look thicker and thus charge you more.

I wish I had just gone with the no-frills paperback version. No, this one has frills.

I did know Saint Francis before but when i read this book it is with great honor I should say Nikos Kazantzakis is my Saint Francis!!

I love the story of St. Francis, and I loved Kazantzakis' excellent Last Temptation of Christ, but this novel fell short of my expectations. In my reading, St. Francis comes across as profoundly unlikeable, a wildly misogynistic and selfish attention-getter. Kazantzakis does capture St. Francis' affinity with the animal world well, but I found his St. Francis to be less than saintly throughout most of the book. I think it's still worth reading, as an individual's modern hagiography, but it pales in comparison to the genius of Last Temptation.