Friday, June 18, 2021

Summer Book Club 2021 Part 1: Giving away everything...


Happy Friday friends, and welcome to the first part of our Summer Book Club for 2021!

*streamers!*

I hope that you enjoy reading more in the summertime as much as I do! We're taking our time this year, aiming for one segment (Louis de Wohl divides them into "books") every two weeks. Today we're discussing Book 1, so let's dive in!

So, Book 1 gives us a bunch of set-up of Francis's university life and of his family, and we also meet the future St. Ignatius of Loyola, who is known for leading a group of pious men that rely upon begging for their food and other needs. We see that Francis has a devout mom, a few brothers, and also a sister who is Abbess of a local community of Poor Clares. As the story begins, Francis is pretty into his university life and studies, and views the beggers with the same curiosity and suspicion as many of his peers.

To be honest with you, I had a difficult time following who was who (especially amongst anyone who wasn't related to Francis) and getting into the story at this point. As the section started to come to an end, things picked up for me a bit. In a dramatic turn of events, Francis has a conversion of heart, becomes a follower of Ignatius, and decides to join them. I enjoyed the details of what he decided to keep when he gave away all of his belongings, which if I'm remembering correctly, was a rosary, a Bible, and his breviary. Very touching! So now I'm definitely curious to see what will happen next as they set off on their journey!

What did you all think of this beginning of the book? I know that there are a lot of other details in here that I'm glossing over because I didn't fully absorb them, I'm not sure if it was me or the book! I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Discussion of Book 2 will go up on Friday July 2nd. :)

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