The Glorious Folly: A Novel of the Days of St. Paul

by Louis de Wohl

En esta vida del apóstol San Pablo, Louis de Wohl entreteje con maravillosa habilidad la historia y la ficción, dando como resultado una narración emocionante.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Catholic, Fiction, Religion

384 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1957

About the author

Mr. de Wohl was a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and his wife (nee Ruth Magdalene Lorch, whom he married in 1953) is a Lady Commander of the same Order. His fifty books include The Living Wood (Lippincott, 1947), Imperial Renegade (id., 1950), The Restless Flame (id., 1951), Throne of the World (id., 1949; published in England as Attila), The Golden Thread (Lippincott, 1952), The Second Conquest (id., 1954), Set All Afire (id., 1953), The Spear (id., 1955), and St. Joan, the Girl Soldier (Farrar, 1957) in the Vision Books series.

Reviews

[Mary Ellen Barringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mixed review. I thought the novel would be mainly about St Paul. More than half the book follows characters who are either Christians or Jewish or Roman officials.


I enjoy Paul's story from the Roman point of view. The ending was abrupt and sort of odd. It's not my favorite historical novel of the period, but I'm.glad I read it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louis de Wohl had a terrific knack for taking historical Christian figures such as the Saints, and placing them into stories which are very readable. His books could be called historical fiction, as the actual conversations and day to day actions are mostly lost to history, but he reconstructed the surrounding events and characters of his subject to follow what is known historically. The result reads like a novel rather than a dry biography but we can get to know these heroes of Christianity pretty well by reading them.

St. Paul was one of the most prolific authors of the New Testament, penning numerous letters to the various Christian communities he helped found, and these letters are read over and over in our modern churches. Yet for me, it was often difficult to follow his train of thought in his letters, as there are frequent long circuitous sentences to decipher. I've always felt like St. Paul was condescending in his writing but I knew I must be missing something. This book on Paul has given me a much better understanding of who he was and how he lived, both before and after his conversion. Many of the powerful Romans and Jewish leaders who surrounded Paul are present in this book as well, which helps to flesh out the historical details.

I had great difficulty finding this book and finally had to rely on interlibrary loan. A copy was found at Towson University.

[Monika Kilijańska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jest to książka będąca swoistą fabularyzowaną biografią św. Pawła. Czytanie w Biblii listów św. Pawła to nie to samo, co możliwość odtworzenia historii jego życia i umieszczenia każdego wydarzenia na swoim miejscu. Pomimo znajomości nieuchronnego losu głównego bohatera, narracja sprawia, że czekasz na to, co wydarzy się dalej. Tu rzeczywiście mamy przemianę bohatera z antagonisty w protagonistę. Dzieło, które w bardzo piękny i dobrze poparty sposób ukazuje to, co mogło się wydarzyć w czasach misji pierwszych apostołów. Niestety powieść sporo miejsca oddaje innym bohaterom, co nieco rozmywa akcję.
Więcej na: https://konfabula.pl/nowe-lektury-2021/

[Meli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Era necesario cambiar un poco de estilos de lecturas 🙌🏻
Es un libro muy parecido en forma a “Médico de Cuerpo y Almas” de la misma autora.
Está escrita con un estilo particular que se puede decir que es el propio de la escritora. Alto en detalles y en descripciones nos acerca a los primeros días del cristianismo entremezclando la ficción y la grandeza de la figura de San Pablo.
Es una lectura didáctica y al igual que los demás libros de la autora hay que leer en “ese momento preciso” ya que no es una lectura liviana, además te permite pensar críticamente, analizar y “empaparse” de la inmensa Fe de san Pablo.
El final me pareció bastante abrupto, da la sensación de que se saltaron una parte.
No es mi favorito pero me gustó haberlo leído 🫶🏻

“He peleado la buena batalla, he acabado la carrera, he guardado la Fe”

[Álvaro E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prácticamente la continuación de La lanza, está más centrada en personajes periféricos a San Pablo que en el propio San Pablo para contar su historia y entender mucho mejor el contexto histórico y sociopolítico de los primeros cristianos. Como todas las novelas de Wohl, es una lectura muy interesante, didáctica (aun teniendo muchas licencias literarias), ágil y que engancha desde el principio.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ho dato solo 3 stelle perché, sebbene scritto molto bene, la storia non mi ha presa del tutto, come invece è successo con La Lancia di Longino. Segue troppi punti di vista e, contrariamente a quello che pensavo, la storia non è incentrata su San Paolo. Nel complesso mi ha lasciata un po’ stranita.

[Giuseppe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intenso romanzo con al centro la vicenda storica di Paolo di Tarso. Rabbino ebreo convinto tanto da essere il principale persecutore degli odiati seguaci di Cristo. Ma da Cristo stesso conquistato alla sua fede. Topo!

[Edith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes you re-think how you are living your Faith, are you lukewarm? Or are you fighting the good fight, are you keeping the faith?

[Paolo Lucente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanzo curioso ma non troppo interessante. Speravo in meglio

[Silvia De · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una novela interesante, que nos presenta a un Pablo entrañable. Me gustó.

[Consuelo Gallo Marin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantan las novelas de Louis de Wohl pero confieso que me daba pereza empezar ésta. Y me ha encantado. La imagen que yo tenía de San Pablo ha cambiado totalmente tras la lectura de este libro. No es lo mismo leer las cartas de San Pablo a trozos que poder recrear la historia de su vida y poner cada carta en su sitio. Realmente recomendable

[Maite Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pesar de que uno conoce el inevitable destino del protagonista, la narrativa te mantiene a la expectativa de qué ocurrirá después. Una obra que retrata de una forma muy hermosa y bien sustentada lo que podría haber pasado en los días de la misión de los primeros apóstoles.

[Pablo Sotomayor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una buena novela pero no la mejor de Louis de Wohl. Tratándose de quién se trata, fue una decepción para mí.

[Mike O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel to THE SPEAR not nearly as compelling as its predecessor, and I think the main reason is de Wohl's attempt to juggle three different storylines: the continuing storyline of Cassius Longinus from the spear and his Jewish/Christian wife Naomi, the story of Saul/Paul of Tarsus, and the story of Cassius' daughter Acte and her involvement from Nero. I think the smarter move here would have been to focus more on the latter, as it seems there's the possibility for further exploration of that thread, both as history and as narrative (for instance the final few paragraphs of the novel lack the intended punch I think because that storyline was given short shrift). Still worth a read.