Francis of Assisi is, after Mary of Nazareth, the greatest saint in the Christian calendar, and one of the most influential men in the whole of human history. By universal acclaim, this biography by G. K. Chesterton is considered the best appreciation of Francis's life - the one that gets to the heart of the matter.Here is the Francis who tried to end the Crusades by talking to the Saracens, and who interceded with the emperor on behalf of the birds. Here is the Francis who inspired a revolution in art that began with Giotto and a revolution in poetry that began with Dante. Here is the Francis who prayed and danced with pagan abandon, who talked to animals, who invented the creche. For Chesterton, Francis is a great paradoxical figure, a man who loved women but vowed himself to chastity; an artist who loved the pleasures of the natural world as few have loved them, but vowed himself to the most austere poverty, stripping himself naked in the public square so all could see that he had renounced his worldly goods; a clown who stood on his head in order to see the world aright. Chesterton gives us Francis in his world - the riotously colorful world of the High Middle Ages, a world with more pageantry and romance than we have seen before or since.
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LOLJPB, February 17, 2006
Reviewer: LOLJPB
General Content: With audiobooks it’s sometimes difficult to separate the quality of the book itself from the quality of the recording and the narration. I purchased St. Francis of Assisi looking a gain a greater insight to this man and his life. Unfortunately I feel that I learned little during the course of the 5 ½ hours I spent listening to this book.
Paul Rogers’ narration wasn’t terrible but it also wasn’t particularly enrapturing either. Of course, he wasn’t helped out by the fact that the sound quality of the recording was pretty bad. In addition to constant crackling and hiss, there were a number of times throughout the book in which the volume level changed or the narrator’s voice was edited in a noticeable way.
While the content itself was somewhat interesting, I think the book also suffered from having no clear “signposts”. In other words, there wasn’t anything to mark the beginning or end of a passage which made it seem like one fairly long, rambling monologue. It’s definitely not a biography of St. Francis but rather a commentary on his life. So don’t expect to learn the basic details of his life from the book, it’s assumed you already know them.
Overall I would like to give this book a higher score because when I was able to get past the aforementioned problems, there did seem to be interesting anecdotes and observations. Unfortunately, the distracting factors took their toll and made this a forgettable listen.
Audio-Specific Content: I listened to the unabridged (5.5 hours in length) version of this title through Audible.com. It is narrated by Paul Rogers who, while not terrible, does not have a particularly interesting voice. As mentioned previously in the review, problems with sound quality make this recording tough to listen to. So much so that I asked for a refund from Audible.
- Published:
1992
- LearnOutLoud.com Product ID:
S001471
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0786101288 |
9780786101283 |
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Biography
Religious Figures
Religion & Spirituality
Religious Figures
Religion & Spirituality
Christianity
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