constancepoplos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kayeness's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting enough, but it didn't really come alive for me. Maybe I just can't relate to religious fanatics.
logophile's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know anyone to whom I could recommend this book, but it has stayed with me years after reading it. It's possibly the most repellent book on my all-time favorites list. It's grotesque, compelling, and quite unlike anything I've ever read. The plot involves a monk devoted to St. Catherine of Alexandria, his patron, a sinister translator, a young woman who is either a lunatic or a saint, a medieval pilgrimage, and holy relics including the titular tongue.
jlsigman's review against another edition
1.0
The idea of the monk "marrying" the saint was so odd, and so different from anything else I had ever seen, that after 100 pages of the narrating character acting like an idiot about it I did a quick bit of research. In nothing I found, and in nothing I've read before, did the Dominican monks "marry" like the nuns did.
At which point I stopped reading.
At which point I stopped reading.
carolhoggart's review
5.0
Flicking through previous reviews, it seems readers either love this book or loathe it, with a constant see-saw between the extremes of 2 and 5 stars. I'm on the love it end, although not unconditionally.
Holman manages to borrow Felix Fabri's 'tongue' fantastically well. She creates an utterly unique narrator, one capable of translating us readers uncomfortably back into the mentality of late medieval saint veneration. Ever seen a relic, boys and girls? A brownish, crumbling bone housed in gorgeous crystal and gilt, adored by those who desire a miracle or communion with the divine. It's a weird, macabre headspace, and Holman dumps us directly in it. Correspondingly, the book is chock-full of deep reflections and insights, at times distinctly twisted. I loved the way Holman takes a genuine historical record of pilgrimage and radically reimagines it.
Less positively, I was irritated by the character of Ursus Tucher, a 14 year old who was continually made to act and sound like a 9 year old. Then there were some to my mind unnecessarily grotesque elements, particularly in the last quarter of the book. (No spoilers here.) Lastly some of the other secondary characters were more caricature than believable 'human beings'. But maybe, in the spirit of medieval allegory, that was the point.
Highly recommended for those not squeamish and desirous of immersion in a delusional medieval mindset.
Holman manages to borrow Felix Fabri's 'tongue' fantastically well. She creates an utterly unique narrator, one capable of translating us readers uncomfortably back into the mentality of late medieval saint veneration. Ever seen a relic, boys and girls? A brownish, crumbling bone housed in gorgeous crystal and gilt, adored by those who desire a miracle or communion with the divine. It's a weird, macabre headspace, and Holman dumps us directly in it. Correspondingly, the book is chock-full of deep reflections and insights, at times distinctly twisted. I loved the way Holman takes a genuine historical record of pilgrimage and radically reimagines it.
Less positively, I was irritated by the character of Ursus Tucher, a 14 year old who was continually made to act and sound like a 9 year old. Then there were some to my mind unnecessarily grotesque elements, particularly in the last quarter of the book. (No spoilers here.) Lastly some of the other secondary characters were more caricature than believable 'human beings'. But maybe, in the spirit of medieval allegory, that was the point.
Highly recommended for those not squeamish and desirous of immersion in a delusional medieval mindset.
assimbya's review
5.0
This book, with its fascinating and unexpected subject matter, and its gorgeous, evocative writing style, creates and strong emotional impact, building up to a climax and conclusion of startling intensity. It chronicles the pilgrimage of Friar Felix Fabri, who has been spiritually 'wed' to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, and, writing through his eyes, author Sheri Holman skillfully describes the intricacies of Felix, his incredibly interesting fellow travellers, their very humans emotions and decisions, and the drastically different perspectives on Medieval religion that bring them all together. The real power of the book comes in the empathetic and balanced portrayal of religious beliefs that Holman gives us, the writer's magic of understanding without either condoning or passing judgment.
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