Synopses & Reviews
This haunting medieval novella, set somewhat ambiguously in the period of the Crusades, tells the story of Julian the Hospitaller, drawn from ancient legend. Revered for his famous devotion to the church, Julian must hide a violent nature that leads him to love the hunt and the kill above all.
Saint Julian follows the inexorable descent of this golden-boy hero from favored son of nobility to the depths of beggardom, and eventual sainthood.
Rich with fascinating historical detail and deft religious metaphor, this story is powerfully gripping and lingers long after the read. Wangerin's juxtaposition of the forces of tremendous privilege and duty with those of obsession and fate make for storytelling at its finest. His language is dark, spare, and vivid -- as sure and sharp as the marksmanship of Julian the obsessed hunter.
Julian's terrible fate is inescapable -- yet it is only when he can sink no further that the fantastical possibility of his transformation breaks through like a thunderbolt to gather up his broken life. Prophetic and lyrical, Saint Julian will transport readers to a distant time filled with meaning for our own.
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“[A] masterfully crafted and spellbinding story of sin and grace...” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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“[D]ark and vividly imagined ... a compelling tale of depravity and redemption.” Christianity Today
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“[A] remarkable piece of imaginative hagiography, steeped in the awareness of sin and the certainty of grace.” Jill Peláez Baumgaertner, author of Leaving Eden, and Dean of Humanities and Theological Studies, Wheaton College
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“[A] rich, strange tale, this time in antique language that imposes formality, leaving us space for wonder and meditation.” Grand Rapids Press
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“There is a loveliness to the prose . . . [A] story of salvation with a genuine soul.” Wall Street Journal
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“[B]eautifully written, in a style that is formal without being overly lyrical or stagily archaic.” Publishers Weekly
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“[A] mesmerizing fictional account of the life of Saint Julian.” Booklist
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“An exquisite rendering of the ancient tale...” Kirkus Reviews
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“In Wangerins hands the medieval saints tale is marvelously transformed to speak to a contemporary audience....” Books and Culture
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“A medieval tale [that] speaks to our present moment with a force like the ringing of a great bell.” John Wilson, Editor, Books & Culture
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“A beautiful, poetic, lilting book that will lie upon your heart long after you have finished it.” Sophy Burnham, bestselling author of A Book of Angels and The Treasure of Montsegur
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“We read and realize, ‘Why, yes--even I could become a saint.” Eugene H Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College
Synopsis
In this spiritual allegory, the young knight Julian is an avid -- even voracious -- hunter and sportsman. But his thrill at taking the lives of his prey becomes an obsession until he one day confronts a mystical deer that prophesies that Julian will murder his own parents. Terrified, Julian travels across the world to make a home for himself as far from his parents as possible. As fate has it, his parents search for him and his wife takes them into Julian's castle and lets them sleep in the master bedroom. Julian returns late at night, enters the bedroom, and thinking he has found his wife with a secret lover, murders them both.
Realizing that the prophecy has come true, Julian leaves home for a lifetime of wandering and seeking penance. Ultimately he becomes a ferryman at a dangerous river crossing. When an elderly leper shows up and makes unusual demands upon Julian's kindness and hospitality, Julian discovers -- with his final breath -- that the old leper is Jesus himself, come to absolve Julian of his sin.
Synopsis
A stunning spiritual tale about the life of the legendary Saint Julian, who as a cruel hunter in his youth is doomed to a tragic fate, but only through a lifelong learning to performs acts of charity and kindness does he find redemption in his encounter with Christ himself.
Synopsis
We read and realize, Why, yes--even I could become a saint.
About the Author
Walter Wangerin Jr. is the National Book Award-winning author of The Book of the Dun Cow. His other books include The Book of God, Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, and Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace.