Return to Glow by Chandi Wyant

The subtitle of this book is A Pilgrimage of Transformation in Italy, and it falls in the genre “Women traveling to get over divorce/breakdown/depression/and or mid-life crisis”, within the sub-genre “Travel to Italy”. Actually, the book is less the purported memoirs of a walk along Italy's ancient pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena, and more an autobiography that includes the childhood, adolescence and adulthood of the author, and even background on the author's family.

The writing is educated and well-edited, with beautiful quotes from literature and poetry to illustrate many important points. At times the writing rises to the romantic lyricism of Marlena di Blasi in her famous A Thousand Days in Venice. At other times the subjects covered by the author seem less for romantics and more for fans of schadenfreude, or for armchair-analysts. Those latter parts were my least favorite. They always make me cringe and say a silent prayer that the author has at least changed the names of the people she exposes.

 Siena's Cathedral

As a pilgrim along part of the Catholic religious route of pilgrimage, the Via Francigena, we learn a lot from the author about the places she visits during her ill-conceived trip of healing, which leaves her physically worse off than at the start. Psychologically, she feels she has healed quite a bit through her ordeal, and the time it gave her to reflect critically on her life choices. We are given a front row seat to her ruminations and remembrances. Honestly, too many of them brought back bad memories of my own, so I can recommend the book only to those readers who won't suffer the same upsetting flashbacks.

So what exactly happened to set the author out to conquer her demons and rediscover her lust for life (her glow)? First, she did the very modern-day thing for worldly, well-educated women: she married down. It is such a common phenomenon these days that it is even a major plot element of the popular TV show “Modern Family”. The author belatedly realized her mistake and ended the ten year marriage. Second, she had a near-death experience coupled with a horrific, trauma-inducing stay in an Italian hospital that left her with lasting poor health. (If you have a hospital phobia, as I do, those parts of the book may be unreadable!)

 Cinqueterre, a detour for the author

Who comes off badly in the book? Airlines, doctors, the ex-husband, some friends and family, the hole-riddled U.S. social net, and the U.S. jobs market that can't provide secure, good-paying, full-time jobs with benefits for highly educated people. Italy comes off the best in the book. The sections set in Italy clearly show the author's love of the country, the Italian people and the culture. The author admits:

Learning Italian is the greatest gift I have given myself.

For Italophiles, there is much to enjoy in the book. You'll need to be a fan of this genre of book, Female Travel Therapy, however, to really enjoy the whole book. This is not a guide to the Via Francigena. This is an autobiography of an Italophile who endured the pilgrimage route, ill-prepared for its challenges, while attempting to jump-start her life.

 San Gimignano

From the book's description:

In her early forties, Chandi Wyant’s world implodes in the wake of a divorce and traumatic illness. Determined to embrace life by following her heart, she sets out on Italy’s historic pilgrimage route, the Via Francigena, to walk for forty days to Rome.

Weakened by her recent illness, she walks over the Apennines, through the valleys of Tuscany, and beside busy highways on her 425-kilometer trek equipped with a nineteen-pound pack, two journals, and three pens.

Return to Glow chronicles this journey that is both profoundly spiritual and ruggedly adventuresome. As Chandi traverses this ancient pilgrim’s route, she rediscovers awe in the splendor of the Italian countryside and finds sustenance and comfort from surprising sources. Drawing on her profession as a college history instructor, she gracefully weaves in relevant anecdotes, melding past and present in this odyssey toward her soul.

This delightful, transporting tale awakens the senses while inviting readers to discover their own inner glow by letting go of fixed expectations, choosing courage over comfort, and following their heart.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's website where she offers great advice to those who wish to emigrate to Italy. 

Here's a short video to give you an idea of the route and travelers, made in English by a Dutch couple who start at the Via Francigena's beginning, in Canterbury, England.

I Am John, I am Paul by Mark Tedesco

This historical novel is a first-person account by the titular John of his adult life in the Ancient Roman Empire in the fourth century. The subtitle of the book is A Story of Two Soldiers in Ancient Rome, because John recounts much about the life of his friend and fellow soldier Paul, too. The story is focused on John's spiritual growth while doing his duty as a son, brother, soldier and friend, but that doesn't mean there isn't any action in the story. There is plenty, and it involves the royal family at times!

The writing is smooth, literate, and professionally edited, reminiscent of classic historical fiction set in the Roman era. The reader is not loaded down with details, but what is referenced is always spot on historically, showing that much research and learning was done by the author in preparation for telling the story. He even includes some interesting notes on elements of the story, which is based on the martyrs John and Paul of Rome, and mentions his main sources, for readers who are interested in furthering their study of the history.

Several Roman emperors rule during the course of the story. Constantine is probably the one that most readers will recognize, since he is closely associated with the Christian faith. He was the first Roman emperor to be of the Christian faith, the cult of Christos as it was called. Under Constantine, the cult was allowed to freely co-exist with the faiths that worshiped pagan gods and the emperors as gods.

I found it refreshing that the author alluded to many of the ancient faith myths that were incorporated over time into the fledgling religion. As historians have explained for centuries, certain iconic elements from the beliefs that were present and studied in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria, Egypt, were adopted by followers of emerging faiths, including the cult of Christos. Even the early leaders of the newer faiths encouraged the adoption of those iconic elements. I won't go into them here, but there are many books on the subject for those interested.

After retiring from soldiering, John and Paul turn away from the Ancient Persian cult of Mithras, that was favored by the military, to the cult of Christos, to find “a more joyful way of living”. The feeling of belonging, and the classless, egalitarian organization of the Christos followers appeal to the men. They then experience a growth in compassion for their fellow man, followed by altruistic efforts to relieve the suffering of others.

The steps depicted in their conversion are convincing, and give an idea of how the cult of Christos spread, and of how it forced the brutal Roman society with its institutionalized sadism, to face up to its lack of humanity. Some elements of the early cult and of Roman society may surprise readers, but they are based on fact, such as the easily recognizable Eucharist service by the cult followers, and the societal acceptance of same-sex relationships.

The cult and John and Paul are threatened when Justinian becomes emperor, later called Julian the Apostate for his attacks on Christianity. It is Emperor Julian who brings about the end of John and Paul's life story, when the emperor unleashes a backlash against the new faith that he blames for Rome's misfortunes.

Julian was on the wrong side of history, as we now know, but there were many in Ancient Rome who agreed with his belief that the lack of sacrifices to the ancient gods had brought down a retaliation by the neglected gods. The story is a gentle reminder that there will always be a faction of society that depict change and minority beliefs as destructive forces.

The faction resists advancements in thought and human understanding, and blame those advancements for any and every thing they dislike, or makes them feel uncomfortable. The book is a reminder that our progress from primitive, violent society to enlightened, peace-loving society was one of starts and stops because of those foot-dragging elements.

Sadly, that struggle is played out today in our globe of dispirit societies forced to co-exist, and dispirit elements within societies that struggle to co-exist. The message of the book is really the old one, that a house divided cannot stand, so consensus and tolerance must be achieved to survive and move forward.

The last chapter of the story is from the perspective of John's sister, Fulvia. In it she recounts things that she can't possibly know, but I overlooked that anomaly because I enjoyed the rest of the book so much, and it was done to provide the reader with closure.

Readers may be interested in researching the Basilica of Saints John and Paul on Rome's Caelian Hill, since it was the inspiration for this author's book. If you follow the links out from the article, you'll read about the inspirations for many of the sights and characters in this novel.

Here is a virtual tour of the Case Romane del Celio, the Roman houses excavated under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul, said to be their home that was also their burial place, and then converted into a place of worship (the images on this page are from there).

Here is the book's description:

"Adventure, intrigue, faith, commitment, love and hate and everything between! Mark Tedesco has done it again, fashioning what is arguably his best work yet! He entices you on a phenomenal journey into the fascinating lives of two 4th century Roman soldiers, John and Paul, in a tale of loyalty and love that grabs you by the throat from the very first sentence and holds you spellbound, gasping for air as you're swept from chapter to chapter with barely a moment to breathe. An unbelievable marriage of fact and fiction that will leave you applauding or appalled but never bored or indifferent. A must read!"
-Tony McEwing, KTTV News

And here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

A Very Blessed Christmas Coloring Book by Robin Mead

This is a book designed to entertain coloring-artists during the holiday season. There is a psychedelic look to the images at times, but that is the case with many coloring books aimed at adults. The book would appeal to teens and tweens too.

The images are a mix of secular and religious, all related to the Christmas season. There are some beautiful Biblical quotes related to the season too, surrounded by artwork to color.

 An image from the book

At the end of the book, there are seven pages of images designed for you to color-decorate and cut out, then paste on card stock, to send as cards or to use as tree decorations or gift tags. However, to be honest, there are many elements in the individual coloring pages that you can use for this too. You don't have to be limited to the specially designed pages for that.

All in all, some fun images to sooth nerves during a season that sometimes can be full of stress rather than peace.

An image from the book

 

From the book's description:

Color your way to a meaningful holiday season with A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS COLORING BOOK.

There is no better way to get into the full spirit of the holiday season than by coloring more than 85 uplifting illustrations in this special volume: frosty winter scenes, carolers in the snow, trees trimmed in nostalgic trappings, ornate churches, angels, nativities--all reminiscent of cozy moments with family and friends and the sweetest, simplest blessings of the holidays.

Each artist can rejoice with a grateful heart and be reminded of the ultimate gift God gave the world. Also included are illustrated Scripture verses and fun holiday craft cutouts that everyone can use to create their own ornaments, Christmas cards, gift tags and more!

Here is a link to the book at Amazon.com:

The Secret Scrolls by Sonia Falaschi-Ray

The Secret Scrolls is a good-hearted, well-intentioned spiritual exercise that wonders if modern Catholic dogma might have taken a different turn if a wider range of ancient documents had been considered as the basis of the faith.  Most of the story takes place in Sicily.

The book is not heretical, instead it is infused with a very human and humanistic perspective.  As for genre, it is not in the category of historical conspiracy thriller, but rather a novel of spiritual questions presented as an archeological inspired drama.  The author uses a 3rd person omniscient narrative, that sometimes moves into 3rd person limited style.

We meet good guys and bad guys and some who fall somewhere in between the two.  Some names have a Dickensian feel, like the two main characters,  Verity Hunter and Crispin Goodman, the truth-hunter who works alongside the good Englishman.  They work for a charitable trust:

...to preserve and restore cultural, and particularly religious, buildings.

I won't cover the story, since the book's official description pretty much says it all.  I'll just say that the story is a well-presented, interesting and informed speculation on what might have been in the past, and how it might have affected the present church dogma if it had been considered with an open heart and mind by the early church fathers.

From the book's description (which pretty much says it all):

They gazed at a bronze-bound wooden chest supported by bossed feet in the shape of lion paws. It was covered in a film of limestone dust. There were handles at each end and it was similar in size to a case of wine. Both knew that they should wait for archaeologists to examine the chest in situ but the temptation was too great...

To her amazement, historian Verity Hunter discovers a chest full of letters, hidden for two thousand years in a Sicilian catacomb. She and her classicist colleague, Crispin Goodman, have been investigating the apparent disappearance of restoration funds. They race to translate and return the scrolls before anyone knows they exist. Once their astonishing content is revealed, there is a battle for possession. The Vatican wants them for ‘safe storage’ due to their doctrinally incendiary nature; the catacombs’ director wants them as a tourist attraction; scholars want them for their historical value, the restoration contractor recognises their financial value; and who is the Russian private collector of religious relics with Mafia connections?

The Secret Scrolls is a fast-paced mystery novel, and can be compared to Susan Howatch’s ‘Starbridge’ series and even reflects Dan Brown’s themes. The book is set in the present, but the situations of the modern protagonists and the ancient writers reflect and inform each other. It encompasses a historical background, the differing significance of religious relics to different interest groups, the power of the numinous and the enduring longing for love and acceptance experienced by all.

The Secret Scrolls will appeal to those who enjoy historical novels, mystery quests, spirituality, romance and a good story.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

Please visit the author's Facebook page.

You can also visit the on-line archive of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Enthusiast by Jon M. Sweeney

The Enthusiast: How the Best Friend of Francis of Assisi Almost Destroyed What He Started.  The best friend in the title is Elias of Cortona, who was in from the start of the Franciscan movement, an attempt to bring the church back to the people and to the poverty of Christ, to make religious figures more humble and to have them live in Christ's poor footsteps.

This is a biography of St. Francis of Assisi "through the lens of the relationship that most consoled him", with Brother Elias of Cortona.  Elias is called "Francis's friend, confidant, and source of strength."  Elias often played the role of social buffer for iconoclast Francis, and many other traits of the men melded well so that Elias could be called Francis's soul mate.

The reader gets a front row seat for the conflict in the real medieval world between an idealist and a realist, Francis the idealist, Elias the realist.  Today's pilgrims to Assisi know mainly the monuments created by the realist to honor the idealist, even if the basilicas in Assisi are the last things Francis would have wanted built.

Elias could envision the future for Assisi as "the world's pilgrimage destination" to honor the "greatest saint since the apostles".  The first basilica was designed by Elias, and built under his supervision so he could do something special for his late friend, Francis:  "make his name great on earth, as it is now in heaven".

The author set out to show the "complexities of a relationship between two men and shows how it changed their world...how idealism can be undone by the enthusiasm of one devoted follower."  An understanding of fame and the growth of a business along with human psychology informs the author's work.

While a visionary, charismatic person can start a revolution, it is the strong, practical administrator with a sound, realistic vision who guides a revolution through to the established phase.  As a new venture grows, the founder is often pushed aside for a new leader to run the show during the consolidation phase.  The author shows that that applied to Francis's movement, and Elias was the leader who replaced him.

But when a revolution has to do with morality and faith, as in the case of St. Francis's new, modest religious orders, the risk is that the needs of politics and secular society will undermine the original intent of a movement.  In many ways that did happen, and Elias repented of that later in life, and of his own vanity, greed and self-importance.

The reader learns along the way of Francis's childhood and some of the history of the era in which he lived.  Francis's struggle to found an order of poverello brothers, poor brothers living as Christ preached, not as the contemporary church lived, in luxury, is detailed.  This is Francis's story told with a greater focus on the people around him.

The author uses some conjecture and invents dialog to tell his story, attempting to humanize the caricatures that have crept into the history of Francis.  The reader is reminded that real historical people surrounded Francis as he built his movement from the ground up.  This book has a literate yet approachable style, with a strong novelistic feeling.  The overall result is very entertaining.

I enjoyed most the clear view of the types of people who are drawn to a charismatic figure.  True believers are there, as are those who see an opportunity for personal advancement.  Sometimes, as in the case of Elias, those people are one and the same.  The reader is treated to an account of how the central focus of a new movement, like St. Francis, can lose his position when his movement becomes bigger than him.

From the book's description:

Popular historian and award-winning author Jon M. Sweeney relates the untold story of St. Francis’s friendship with Elias of Cortona, the man who helped him build the Franciscan movement.  Sweeney uses the complexities of their relationship in a gripping narrative of how their efforts changed the world and how Elias’s enthusiasm betrayed the ideals of his friend.

Few biographies of St. Francis have examined his complicated relationship with close friend Elias of Cortona.  In The Enthusiast, award-winning author and historian Jon M. Sweeney delves into this little-known partnership that defined and then almost destroyed Francis’s ideals.

Blending history and biography, Sweeney reveals how Francis and Elias rebuilt churches, aided lepers, and entertained as “God’s troubadours” to the delight of everyday people who had grown tired of a remote and tumultuous Church.  At the height of their spiritual renaissance, however, Elias became “the devil” to many of the other friars; they believed him to be a traitor to their ideals.

After Francis’s premature death, the movement fractured.  Scorned by most of the Franciscan leadership, Elias followed a path that would leave him a lonely, broken man.  Sweeney shows how Elias’s undoing was rooted in his attempts to honor his old friend.

This is the book's lovely trailer:

 

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

I review other books by the same author on this site:

- The Complete Francis of Assisi

- When St. Francis Saved the Church

And I review a walking guide of Assisi too, that is FREE!: Assisi Walking Adventure Guide

Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds by Peter Adamson

The subtitle of this book is A History of Philosophy without any gaps, Volume 2.  It is the book form of a podcast available on-line.  In the book you will learn about:

• Hellenistic Philosophy,
• Pagan Philosophy in the Roman Empire, and
• (Judeo) Christian Philosophy in the Roman Empire.

The book is divided into those three parts, but has many overlaps.  Included for eager students are Notes, a Bibliography, an Index (in the print edition) and a Further Reading list.

In this volume one meets the Skeptics, Epicurus, Stoics... all sorts of curious characters, including Plotinus, Augustine and Philo of Alexandria, and even Moses of Old Testament (Torah) fame.  The author tries to engage the reader, often using popular culture references or questions.

"Do you like a nice garden?  Do you enjoy the company of friends?  Do you believe the world is made of tiny particles, which you call atoms?  Do you trust the evidence of your senses?  Do you find politics tiresome, and raise a skeptical eyebrow at those who live in fear of God?  If your answer to these questions is "yes", then you might want to consider becoming an Epicurean."

The religious philosophers were concerned with what all philosophers are concerned with:  ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, logic, philology, the mind, and even political philosophy such as how society should best be governed. 

A direct line is drawn from Moses to Plato to Aristotle to the Stoics to Neo-Platonism to Judeo-Christian thought.  All those thinkers stress the need to turn away from the pleasure of the body (our animalistic nature) and turn toward virtue and a faithfulness to God (our divine nature).  One must be aware of both our higher and lower natures, and integrate the two as a whole person, self plus soul.

The author has more books in the works, and plans to cover in his works all 2500 years of western philosophical thought, without any gaps.

• Pre-Socratics
• Plato and Aristotle
• Hellenistic period philosophers
• Roman era thinkers
• Judeo-Christian thinkers
• Ancient philosophies preserved by Muslims, then Christian monks, leading to
• Byzantine and Renaissance thought and philosophy
• The Enlightenment
• Modern and Post-Modern thought and philosophy

The author aims to educate anyone who wants to know about the history of philosophy, through his podcasts, and with the books.  His style is approachable and knowledgeable.  He lightens the text with humor when possible. 

So if you are interested in learning the history of thoughts on how we should live, and what is the nature of man, truth, language and knowledge, this might be a book for you, together with Book 1 which covers Classical Philosophy, namely Plato and Aristotle.

I've read other philosophy books, and attended university lectures on philosophy, so I have some basis of comparison when judging this book.  To me, it reads like a really fun philosophy professor's lecture notes. 

The professor is modern minded, including two subjects professors of history and philosophy often skip when talking about the ancients:  pervasive slavery and the negligible role of women in the paternalistic societies.  I would have like to have seen more mention of the institutional sadism of the societies in which these philosophers lived, another subject often overlooked.

From the book's description:

Peter Adamson's History of Philosophy without any gaps series of podcasts is one of the most ambitious educational works on the web. It aims to do nothing less than take listeners through the entire history of philosophy 'without any gaps'. It assumes no prior knowledge making it ideal for beginners.  This is the second volume to make these witty, and highly accessible, podcasts available in book form.

Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds offers a tour through a period of eight hundred years when some of the most influential of all schools of thought were formed. From the counter-cultural witticisms of Diogenes the Cynic to the political philosophy of Augustine, the book gathers together all aspects of later ancient thought in a way that is a pleasure to read.

Peter Adamson offers an accessible, humorous tour through a period of eight hundred years when some of the most influential of all schools of thought were formed: from the third century BC to the sixth century AD.

He introduces us to Cynics and Skeptics, Epicureans and Stoics, emperors and slaves, and traces the development of Christian and Jewish philosophy and of ancient science.  Chapters are devoted to such major figures as Epicurus, Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca,Plotinus, and Augustine.  But in keeping with the motto of the series, the story is told without any gaps, providing an in-depth look at less familiar topics that remains suitable for the general reader.  

For instance, there are chapters on the fascinating but relatively obscure Cyrenaic philosophical school, on pagan philosophical figures like Porphyry and Iamblichus, and extensive coverage of the Greek and Latin Christian Fathers who are at best peripheral in most surveys of ancient philosophy.  A major theme of the book is in fact the competition between pagan and Christian philosophy in this period, and the Jewish tradition also appears in the shape of Philo of Alexandria.

Ancient science is also considered, with chapters on ancient medicine and the interaction between philosophy and astronomy.  Considerable attention is paid also to the wider historical context, for instance by looking at the ascetic movement in Christianity and how it drew on ideas from Hellenic philosophy.  

From the counter-cultural witticisms of Diogenes the Cynic to the subtle skepticism of Sextus Empiricus, from the irreverent atheism of the Epicureans to the ambitious metaphysical speculation of Neoplatonism, from the ethical teachings of Marcus Aurelius to the political philosophy of Augustine, the book gathers together all aspects of later ancient thought in an accessible and entertaining way.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

You can visit the History of Philosophy website at King's College London to learn more about the podcasts and about Book 1 and future books.

The Complete Francis of Assisi Edited, Translated, Introduced by Jon Sweeney

The subtitle of this book is His Life, The Complete Writings, and The Little Flowers.  This book is the ultimate St. Francis fan's collection at 400+ pages.  I had been wanting to read (and re-read) all these works for quite a while but now I'm very glad I waited.

The introductions and footnotes provided by the editor of this collection were wonderful and really helped me get the most out of the books, especially Sabatier's classic biography of St. Francis.

The editor says that he intends this collection for two audiences:

for those who already love St. Francis and want to be in his company

also ideal for someone new to the world's most popular saint...the little poor man from Umbria

Those are lovely thoughts, and one does feel in Francis's company when reading the story of his life, and the words written by his own hand, and the charming book Fioretti/Flowers, which reads like an attempt at a Gospel of St. Francis by those who loved the man.

I would add a third audience:  those who are about visit Assisi, Italy, especially those who are visiting the town as a religious pilgrim.

The first book in the collection is The Essential Biography of St. Francis by Frenchman Paul Sabatier, written in 1894.  Necessarily, the author included much material relating to the history of the times and the church in the late middle ages when Francis lived.  The editor's footnotes were very helpful in providing extra background information on these subjects for the modern reader.

Sabatier's style is easy to read and his book includes all the important moments in St. Francis's life.  For pilgrims to Assisi, this book will provide all the locations one would want to visit, explaining the importance of each to Assisi's most famous son.

I found most interesting the parts where Sabatier explained how Francis was viewed by his contemporaries.  That the man was considered a saint during his own lifetime was very impressive, and it explained why he was canonized within only two years of his death.

Sabatier also offers some of his own philosophical observations, which are beautiful in their own right, such as:

The greater number of people pass through life with souls asleep.  Yet the instinct for love and for the divine is only slumbering.

Francis provided in his religious community a refuge for "suffering souls thirsty for the ideal".

The second book is a collection of 19 writings attributed to Francis of Assisi:  Francis of Assisi in His Own Words:  The Essential Writings.  9 of the writings are prayers.  4 are rules for his Franciscan Order.  6 are letters Francis wrote to members of his orders (he founded 3 orders).

The prayers will appeal the most to readers, I suspect, for the same reason that St. Francis appeals to so many people:  their simplicity and their embodiment of Francis's heartfelt love of Christ.  The message is consistent and clear:  love, charity, faith, and humility.

Throughout the writings one sees a real man who is fully human yet inspirational in the path he chooses and the courage he shows in following through with his desire to live a life that emulates Christ's example.

The third book is a medieval collection of 53 stories about St. Francis and his followers:  The Little Flowers of Saint Francis Collected by Brother Ugolino.  The editor has arranged them in chronological order, and if you read them after having read the first two books in the Complete Francis of Assisi, they will be like icing on the cake.

The little flowers, or sweet little stories about St. Francis, read like a Gospel of Francis, a collection of stories and parables to bring glory to the man and to show to the world his sanctity and his Christ-like nature.  What comes across too, through the stories, is the love that people had for Francis during his lifetime, and that he was seen as a saint long before the church canonized him.

Just a note:  for modern readers, the physical abuse that Francis subjected himself to will be rightfully disturbing.  Today's Catholic Church does not condone extreme behavior such as extreme fasts and flagellation.  Today's emulators of Christ, and St. Francis, are along the lines as Mother Theresa of Calcutta, and others like her, who are sanctified for their good deeds, personal sacrifices, and unlimited compassion.

The Complete Francis of Assisi is a wonderful book for pilgrims, and for people who wish to know more about the poor little man from Umbria who set out to live as Christ lived and ended up founding three religious orders, and inspiring so many to strive to live their lives with more love, charity, faith and humility.

From the book's description:

There are many editions of the writings of Francis, and biographies about him, but here in one volume are both, plus the complete text of the late medieval work The Little Flowers, which did more to establish the legend of the man than any other work.

This “Paraclete Giants” edition includes the complete Road to Assisi, Paul Sabatier’s groundbreaking and foundational biography of the saint, first published in French in 1894 and reissued and expanded in 2002; the complete Francis in His Own Words: The Essential Writings; and The Little Flowers, thus offering the best introduction to St. Francis yet available between two covers.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

The editor of this book has published other books about St. Francis.  Here is a selection of them with direct links to their Amazon.com pages.

Please visit the author's website, or follow him on Twitter.

The Complete Francis of Assisi is published by Paraclete Press.  Here is a description of the press in their own words:

Paraclete Press is a publisher of essential Christian wisdom. It is our mission to publish books, music and videos which remind us, “Never lose hope in the mercy of God.” (The Rule of St. Benedict)

Although Benedictine spirituality is at the heart of all we do, we are an ecumenical publisher and as such we present works that unite us and enrich our understanding as Christians, whether Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or Evangelical.

Paraclete publishes about 40 books a year and distributes the recordings of Gloriæ Dei Cantores and the Monks of Solesmes, France. We also publish sheet music and an award-winning line of educational videos. Our sales department directly serves over 5,000 churches and 5,000 bookstores, and we distribute our books and music through Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Books-a-million, Sam's Club and other major retailers.

Here is a link to a very detailed article about St. Francis in The New Yorker magazine. I review other books by this author on this site:

Sweeney - The Enthusiast by Jon M. Sweeney
Sweeney - When Saint Francis Saved the Church by Jon M. Sweeney

Davide by Roger Pepper

Davide is a novel of spiritual fantasy that follows a man along his picaresque journey from troubled intellectual, to lightning struck man, to a man imbued with the graces of St. Francis, to the life he builds using those graces.  It is a gentle book filled with a message of kindness and charity.

David, the ornery, wealthy Italian-American protagonist, a famous history professor at Harvard University in the States, is visiting Assisi in Italy when his transformation takes place.  That is appropriate, since St. Francis set up his religious community in Assisi, and it has been a pilgrimage destination for the faithful for centuries.

The cluster of medieval building surrounded by a wall and spilling down the slope below...

Through the course of the book, we learn about the man David was before he was altered by the lightning strike combined with some divine intervention.  Through the 3rd-person limited narration, we enter David's mind and see how he deals with the drastic changes in his perspective, goals, emotions, and values.

St. Francis was a kind, gentle man, a follower not a leader, keen on reconciliation, forgiveness, compassion, justice, and he was a lover of nature and all God's creatures.  David finds himself imbued with these characteristics, and provided with an elderly woman (a guardian angel) who helps smooth his way along to his new life.

What happened in Italy turned his world inside out.  When he met Nola [his spiritual guide], things became as loony as Alice's Wonderland.

The story of Davide is the journey David makes to a new life.  Most of the story takes place in Italy, in and around Assisi, which is described lovingly by the author.  There is a brief part of the story that takes place in Boston and New York City in the States, when David returns to visit family and to deal with some former business.

But the central story in Davide is David's relationship with Nola, his spiritual guide.  Their relationship varies throughout the book, sometimes bantering, at times chiding, sometimes loving in a mother-son way.  Their dynamic provides much of the drive for the story, and it is enriched with the author's beautiful descriptions of Nola's mystical nature. 

Nola encourages David to try to spread goodwill and kindness rather than anger, controversy and fear.  This is the message of the book, and it is demonstrated by how David changes his live after receiving his gifts.  Providing comfort and understanding turns out to be much more productive and helpful to the world than the path of criticizing and grandstanding that David had taken pre-transformation.

I think this book will appeal to those who enjoy reading about people on a spiritual journey.  Those who value the messages of St. Francis will understand the value they can have in a troubled world.  David's journey is well-written (only a few typos that will certainly be edited out very soon), at times lyrical, gentle entertainment for people with kind hearts and open minds. 

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

You may be interested in some books about St. Francis.  I have some reviewed here on this site which you can find by clicking on the "St. Francis" label in the right column.  Here are some books at Amazon.com:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

How Dante Can Save Your Life by Rod Dreher

The subtitle of this memoirs/self-help book is The Life-Changing Wisdom of History's Greatest Poem (Dante's Divine Comedy).  The author offers an engaging read about his midlife crisis and how Dante's masterpiece helped him through it, along with help from his pastor, his therapist, his down-to-earth wife, and his supportive and accepting friends.

The book is presented as an inspirational text for those who might be tempted to make their own Dante pilgrimage, a journey of self-discovery and self-realization, by way of atonement and renewed motivation to lead a decent life.  To be honest, I felt it could just as effectively have been written as a straight memoirs, and the self-help aspect left for readers to discover on their own if they felt the need.

In the author's words:

This medieval masterpiece, perhaps the greatest poem ever written, reached me when I thought I was unreachable, and lit the way out of a dark wood of depression, confusion, and a stress-related auto-immune disease that, had it persisted, would have dangerously degraded my health.

The memoirs is in four parts:

1. Part I - From the Garden to the Dark Wood
2. Part II - Inferno, or Why you are Broken
3. Part III - Purgatorio, or How to be Healed
4. Part IV - Paradiso, or The Way Things Ought to Be

It is said that all of life is in the Commedia divina, as the Divine Comedy is known in its original Italian.  The epic poem can be read on many levels:  as a fantastical adventure, as a religious tract, as a philosophical treatise, or as the author uses it as a guide to how to live a moral life.  Some have even conjectured that one reason Dante wrote it was to take revenge on his enemies.

What is the poem about?  In the author's words:

Dante's tale is a fantasy about a lost man who finds his way back to life after walking through the pits of hell, climbing up the mountain of purgatory, and ascending to the heights of Heaven.  But it's really a story about real life and the incredible journey of our lives, yours and mine.

The family travails that trigger the author's crisis are not unique, especially if you have watched the TV sitcom Fraser which dealt with the father-son and the sibling dynamics, but that does not lessen the author's suffering, nor should it lessen our compassion for his suffering, and for his family's suffering. 

From his descriptions in the book, one can deduce that he is an erudite intellectual, curious about the world and the world of ideas, and he is fact and reality addicted.  His immediate family are tradition-based, change-averse, narrow-minded fantasists; like many insecure and fearful people, they prefer the world they imagine to exist, to the world that really does exists.

Given those differences, conflict was inevitable. 

If a person like the author is placed, either by birth or by choice, among people like his described family, he will most certainly be harassed and ostracized until he either kills himself, gets killed, or leaves to maintain his sanity and health.  That is the way it has always been and it is probably the way it will always be.

Inexplicably, the author chooses to return to that environment, and to remain in it even when his sanity and health falters.  He puts the well-being of his wife and children at risk in a stubborn (and selfish?) attempt to understand why the poor treatment he receives leaves him disoriented and disappointed. 

As a writer, the author had often advocated a return to small, religion and tradition-based communities.  I suspect much of his disorientation and disappointment was at the poor reception he received when he took his own advice and moved back to just such a community.  He had certainly romanticized the community of his youth, because the reality of it seemed to shock him to the core.    

The author's journey back to physical and mental health came from meditation through prayer, guided self-analysis, and through his own intelligence by using Dante's Divine Comedy as bibliotherapy, which produced joy in him through the intellectual stimulation it provided. 

 

I have my doubts about the author's ability to stay healthy in the narrow-minded community in which he has chosen to live.  His emotional, sensitive, over-intellectualizing, mystical, highly moral, and at times monomaniacal character is not well-suited to the severe, defensive, rural society he calls home.  And I suspect that the publication of this book will not improve his place in the eyes of his extended family and small community.

What carried me through this challenging book was the fluid, engaging writing that linked together extracts from Dante's poem with biographical sections, and with discourses on philosophy and theology.  The author has a talent for explaining thoughts, feelings, conundrums, faith, loss, conflicts and characters concisely, with a seemingly effortless prose style that is a joy to read.       

From the book's description:

The opening lines of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri launched Rod Dreher on a journey that rescued him from exile and saved his life.  Dreher found that the medieval poem offered him a surprisingly practical way of solving modern problems.

Following the death of his little sister and the publication of his New York Times bestselling memoir The Little Way of Ruthie Leming, Dreher found himself living in the small community of Starhill, Louisiana where he grew up.  But instead of the fellowship he hoped to find, he discovered that fault lines within his family had deepened.  Dreher spiraled into depression and a stress-related autoimmune disease.  Doctors told Dreher that if he didn’t find inner peace, he would destroy his health.  Soon after, he came across The Divine Comedy in a bookstore and was enchanted by its first lines, which seemed to describe his own condition.

In the months that followed Dante helped Dreher understand the mistakes and mistaken beliefs that had torn him down and showed him that he had the power to change his life.  Dreher knows firsthand the solace and strength that can be found in Dante’s great work, and distills its wisdom for those who are lost in the dark wood of depression, struggling with failure (or success), wrestling with a crisis of faith, alienated from their families or communities, or otherwise enduring the sense of exile that is the human condition.

Inspiring, revelatory, and packed with penetrating spiritual, moral, and psychological insights How Dante Can Save Your Life is a book for people, both religious and secular, who find themselves searching for meaning and healing.  Dante told his patron that he wrote his poem to bring readers from misery to happiness.  It worked for Rod Dreher.  Dante saved Rod Dreher’s life—and in this book, Dreher shows you how Dante can save yours.

Here is a direct link to the book at Amazon.com:

I have a page about Dante's masterpiece on my Italian Culture website, Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, which includes many of the illustrations that the author includes in his book, and which I use on this review page.  I also have links to free editions of Dante's poem in both Italian and English.

Direct link to my Dante page

Please visit the author's Facebook page.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.