Saint Julian: A Novel - Hardcover

Wangerin Jr., Walter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060522526 ISBN 13: 9780060522520

Publisher: HarperOne, 2003

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.

About this title

About the Author

Walter Wangerin Jr. is widely recognized as one of the most gifted writers writing today on the issues of faith and spirituality. Starting with the renowned Book of the Dun Cow, Wangerin's writing career has encompassed most every genre: fiction, essay, short story, children's story, meditation, and biblical exposition. His writing voice is immediately recognizable, and his fans number in the millions. The author of over forty books, Wangerin has won the National Book Award, New York Times Best Children's Book of the Year Award, and several Gold Medallions, including best-fiction awards for both The Book of God and Paul: A Novel. He lives in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he is Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. <br><br> Walter Wangerin Jr. es reconocido como uno del mejor escritor sobre las aplicaciones la fe y la espiritualidad. Su libros incluyen The Book of God [El libro de Dios], Reliving the Pasion [Recuerdo de la Pasion], Peter's First Easter [El Primer Domigo de Resureccionde Pedro], Mourning into Dancing [Como Cambiar el Lamento en Baile], The Manger is Empty [El Pesebre Vacio] y Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? [ Quien te hizo, Corderito?]. Wangerin vive en Valparaiso, Indiana, ocupa la catedra Jochum en la Universidad de Valparaiso, donde es escritor residente.

From the Back Cover

A stunning spiritual tale in the English literary tradition---a saint's tale for modern readers. 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

Reviews

National Book Award-winning author Wangerin (The Book of Dun Cow) retells the story of St. Julian the Hospitaller, patron saint of carnival workers, ferrymen, wandering musicians and other peripatetic souls. The narrator is an elderly cleric in a small parish "in the neglected center of a city of considerable size" somewhere in Europe, in some indeterminate time; the story of St. Julian once brought the cleric out of despair, and he is anxious to tell it himself for the masses, for Julian is "the Saint of them that have sinned uncommonly, whether by heart or by hand." Born in medieval Europe to a noble family, Julian has blood lust from a young age. As a teenager, he goes hunting purely for the ecstasy of the kill. One day a stag, dying at his hand, prophesies that Julian will murder his own parents. Julian flees his home in terror of the prophesy, becomes a brutal warrior and takes a wife. While he is away pillaging, his parents come to his castle. His wife receives them warmly and unwittingly offers them her bed. When Julian comes home the stag's prediction reaches its inevitable, tragic fulfillment. In his grief, Julian becomes a beggar, seeking degradation in every form and doing good works for the poor, which include building a hospice and inns. The story is beautifully written, in a style that is formal without being overly lyrical or stagily archaic. The fable-like narrative won't be for everyone, but those interested in the lives of the saints will enjoy this imaginative tale.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Best-selling author Wangerin has fashioned a mesmerizing fictional account of the life of St. Julian. Born in medieval times to noble parents, Julian, a seemingly devout lad with a sunny disposition, hides a terrible character flaw. Plagued by an unremitting lust for blood, he is drawn to the hunt and kills unmercifully. Fleeing home after a particularly brutal episode, during which he learns he is destined to kill his parents, he resolves never to return to his former life. Unable to escape his tragic fate, he unwittingly fulfills it after his parents track him down. Taking flight once again, he wanders about seeking redemption until he is offered one last and momentous chance for salvation. Full of mystical and spiritual undertones, this dark novel of depravity and deliverance casts a spell heightened by the author's ability to immerse himself--as the narrator--in the culture, the language, and the moral fabric of another time and another place. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060522526
• ISBN 13: 9780060522520
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256