I’ve read quite a few books about the life of St. Francis of Assisi in the past two years. These books happened to be in my reading backlog, which is quickly clearing out. This book was special because it’s about St. Francis and was written by renowned British journalist and Catholic intellectual G.K. Chesterton.

This was my first time actually reading a long form Chesterton work. While I no doubt believe that his contemporary readers benefited greatly from his writing style, I struggled immensely. Even with my background in philosophy, I found the text difficult to engage with. This problem of mine is in no way unique to Chesterton’s work. When reading a historical primary source, my lack of context around the language composition of the era hobbles my comprehension.

This wouldn’t make my top-five recommended books about St. Francis list, but it was decent. The content that I did take in was quite good, as Chesterton presented his rationale for understanding and believing the story of the ancient St. Francis.

We just celebrated St. Francis’ feast day earlier this week. I know the man so much more deeply now. Yet, the more I know, the less I understand. He’s a fascinating man.

Would I recommend: NO

ISBN: 978-9780385029001