Frederick Buechner has taken the historical account of the life of Godric as recorded by the monk, Reginald and turned it into a 12th century narrative by Godric himself. Using old English idioms, he gives Godric an authentic voice with which he retells his life story from adventurous young man to pirate ultimately to ascetic hermit living by the river Wear near Durham.
Buechner perfectly captures the struggle that every man who desires righteousness and godliness faces - that is, the lustful desires of the flesh.
For those who want to get a better feel for how life was in that era, I'd highly recommend The Year 1000-What life was like at the turn of the first millenium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger.

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This is one of the best books I've read in a long time! To read it feels nearly like reading poetry or music lyrics, it pulls you in and along with a comfortable rhythm that just feels right. The story is rich and many layered; very human and at the same time very holy. It reminded me very much of my favourite novel by C.S. Lewis "Till We Have Faces" in its style, depth, creativitity, and excellent writing. I heartily give this book five stars, I wish there were six to give. I am looking forward to both re-reading it (so much depth there) and also to finding other novels by Buechner (actually, I have a friend who offered to loan them to me, so I won't have to search!). I encourage you to find a copy of this book and savour it. This is a must-read.

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Buechner has done it again! Godric is a wonderful tale of St. Godric of Britain. Not only is this book beautifully written (the entire book is in iambic pentameter) but is adventure to read, as Buechner recounts (and creates) the sorted life of St. Godric. This book gives much food for thought about grace, mercy, and redemption despite human judgments about what constitutes a Godly life.

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