Godric
Frederick Buechner's Godric "retells the life of Godric of Finchale, a twelfth-century English holy man whose projects late in life included that of purifying his moral ambition of pride ... Sin, spiritual yearning, rebirth, fierce asceticism--these hagiographic staples aren't easy to revitalize but Frederick Buechner goes at the task with intelligent intensity and a fine readiness to invent what history doesn't supply. He contrives a style of speech for his narrator--Godric himself--that's brisk and tough-sinewed ... He avoids metaphysical fiddle, embedding his narrative in domestic reality--familiar affection, responsibilities, disasters ... All on his own, Mr. Buechner has managed to reinvent projects of self-purification and of faith as piquant matter for contemporary fiction [in a book] notable for literary finish ... Frederick Buechner is a very good writer indeed."--Benjamin DeMott, The New York Times Book Review
Print Book, English, 1983
Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1983