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Carregando... The Crusader: A Novel (original: 2001; edição: 2003)de Michael Eisner (Autor)
Informações da ObraThe Crusader: A Novel de Michael Alexander Eisner (2001)
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Registre-se no LibraryThing tpara descobrir se gostará deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. A somber book and its bleakness not easily forgotten, this novel was a story of the 8th Crusade. Young Spanish nobleman Francisco de Montcada has been sent to a monastery for exorcism of demons -- we might call his condition PTSD today. He had been broken in spirit by his horrendous experiences as a knight of the Order of Calatrava in the Holy Land. He finally narrates his story to a monk, Brother Lucas. He decides to take the cross in reparation for his brother, who, on the way to the Crusades himself, was drowned; Francisco really doesn't have the personality of a soldier but goes anyway. He and his cousin, Andres, fight together in the Levant. There are exciting battles, one won by the Crusaders then the fall of Krak des Chevaliers and capture by the Muslims. But the thrust of the story is of Francesco's fragile hold to life through the ugliness of war and his time of imprisonment in an obliette. Brother Lucas has gotten him to talk through his experiences and feelings. A thoughtful anti-war novel; one can almost parallel it to today's events; the author was involved in Near East Peace negotiations in our time. The history was somewhat manipulated to create a good story with many anachronisms, but the author made his point. I do wish he had included an Author's note. This powerful and moving tale tells the story of Francisco, who, during the Eighth Crusades, takes up the cross and joins the fight against the Muslims along with his cousin, Andres. Francisco returns to Spain from the battlefields of Syria a changed, seemingly hollow, man. He is thought to be possessed by demons and is entrusted to an old friend, Brother Lucas, who will be responsible for his exorcism. During the process of the exorcism, Brother Lucas draws out of Francisco a horrifying tale of murder, torture, and betrayal - all committed in the name of God. This story truly has something for everyone - there's love and romance, action and adventure, mystery and suspense, and murder and betrayal. It's great! I'm a for sucker stories about knights or the crusades, so unfortunately when I saw this book I just had to have it. The begining was promising but I found it to be very predictable and boring. I liked the story being told as flashbacks from memories but by the end of the book I couldn't care less about the characters. A spellbinding story narrated by a well-meaning monk who's often blinded by his own self-centered ambition & blind loyalty to a corrupt church whose corruption he is blind to. More heroic are the knight who goes off to fight in the Crusades to redeem his older brother who perished when his ship bound for the Crusades sunk just off the coast of Spain, and the beautiful, smart lady who awaits his return. Much of the story is told in the form of a confession by the knight to the monk as a means of exorcising the knight's demons. In that sense, it's reminiscent of Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow, though not as rich in characters or in theological or human depth & insight. sem resenhas | adicionar uma resenha
This is a retelling of one of the most brutal and ignominious adventures ever undertaken in the name of Jesus Christ. It follows the adventures of a young Spanish nobleman during the time of the crusades against Islam. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — Carregando... GênerosClassificação decimal de Dewey (CDD)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClassificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos E.U.A. (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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The story displays the duplicity of the Church and the crusaders, through the ambitions of Lucas (who was promised a Bishopry in reward for his efforts to recover Francisco) and the harsh and immoral behaviour of Fernando. The author has been involved in the Middle-East as a justice lawyer and peace negotiator. It is his only novel. The point is clear. The message sad but humane. ( )