 | |
| Author | Frederick Buechner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | New York: Atheneum |
Publication date | 1987 |
| Preceded by | Godric |
| Followed by | The Wizard's Tide |
Brendan is the eleventh novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1987 by Atheneum, New York, and it won the Christianity and Literature Book Award for Belles-Lettres in the same year.
Brendan is a reimagining of the life of Brendan the Navigator, a fifth century Irish saint, ‘born in 484 in what is now Tralee, Ireland’, [1] whose entrance into the world, as recalled by Bishop Erc, was attended by a miracle: the spontaneous combustion of a patch of nearby woodland. Erc's decision to set aside the life of the new-born child in service of the “new faith” sees Brendan separated from his parents, Finnloag and Cara, and raised ‘to the glory of the new and true grand God’, [2] at the school of Abbot Jarlath. Equipped with Latin and accompanied by his childhood friend, Finn, the adolescent Brendan is sent out on a mission to bring a blessing to the castle at Cashel, where a new king is to be crowned. Their journey is interrupted, however, when they are intercepted by a druidic tribe, who, unimpressed by Brendan's protective bishop's ring, insist upon bringing them to the court of their own king, Bauheen. Bauheen's health problems, particularly his inability to walk, appear to be miraculously healed by the young monk, whose Christ-like command, ‘”walk!”’, [3] is obeyed by the king, to the astonishment of all onlookers. The conversion of both the king and his subjects seems the natural response to this extraordinary happening, and this small kingdom is brought out from the “old faith” and into the “new”.
Brendan expects to bring the simple blessing of Bishop Erc to a new monarch at Cashel, but, upon their arrival at the castle, the travellers are confronted by a clown named Crosan, who informs them of a succession crisis. The destiny of the crown, and the kingdom with it, is caught between two suitors: the first, Hugh the Black, the charismatic champion of the “old faith”; the second, the humble, unimpressive, and ironically named Hugh the Handsome, who is, controversially, a follower of the “new faith”. Into this cloud of confusion and tension steps an old friend, Maeve, who, following her childhood sojourn at Jarlath's school alongside Brendan, had been stationed at a nunnery, before escaping to become a roving warrior. Maeve's scheme to demonstrate Hugh the Black's unsuitability for the kingship – a scheme that involves her wrestling him to the ground in order to prove his rumoured infertility – is successful, and it ensures that Hugh the Handsome is installed as King of Cashel. In a further and unexpected victory for the “new faith”, Hugh the Black's most potent weapon, a cunning and eloquent bard named MacLennin, is both baptised and renamed by Brendan, who gives him the new name of Colman. His first escapade at an end, Brendan returns to Jarlath's abbey, accompanied by Finn, Crosan, and Colman. Bishop Erc's tales from the time of Saint Patrick, especially those concerning the martyrs who journeyed across the sea in search of the “land of the blessed”, stir in Brendan memories of his own childhood vision, in which, from a vantage point on cliffs overlooking the stormy waves, he himself had seen the same mysterious paradise: “Tir-na-n-Og”. Following the eventual death of Bishop Erc, Brendan is inspired to follow in the tradition of the “curragh martyrs”, to sail the high seas in search of the “land of the blessed”. Boarding the boat, he is joined by Finn, Crosan the Clown, Colman the Bard, and two monks from Jarlath's abbey, Dismas and Gestas. As the ship sets sail, however, Finn, who is unused to life on the water, falls overboard, and is apparently lost to the waves. Believing his friend to be dead, Brendan continues his journey, beset by doubt, fear, grief, and numbness, which becomes for him a dark night of the soul. Within the turmoil of this crisis, the adventurers encounter a giant whale, a hellish volcanic eruption, unhinged monks who inhabit desolate islands, and an uncouth stranger full of tales, sat astride a rock in the middle of the sea. The tragic death of Dismas brings further torment for Brendan, and a loss of faith for Gestas, who is cast into deep depression by the loss of his bosom friend.
Upon returning from this, his first voyage, Brendan is greeted by joy and tragedy. In his absence both of his parents have died, but he is astonished to find that Finn is alive. Leaving his wife, Finn follows his old friend on a new quest to build monasteries all over Ireland. Brendan's tales of his voyage on the Cara grow with each telling, and the men that are drawn to him give their lives to the “new faith”, many of them becoming monks in his newly built monasteries. Following the calamitous death of one of his disciples, Beothacht – a death for which Brendan feels personally responsible – he leaves his vocation as a founder of monasteries, and takes to the sea once more, a broken man desperately in search of Tir-na-n-Og. His quest ends in despair, and, following a misadventure on an island once inhabited by monks, the pilgrim returns home again, weary, dispirited, and convinced that his life has been a failure. Encouraged to spend his last days as a travelling preacher, Brendan journeys through the rugged countryside of Wales. The old saint is bent on using his twilight years in the service of the poor, the care of the destitute and elderly, and in offering spiritual council to all who will listen, before taking his last voyage back to Ireland, and finally, having produced several miracles, bringing peace to Cashel.
Brendan was written by Buechner seven years after the publication of his tenth novel, Godric . In the intervening years Buechner had published several memoirs, including The Sacred Journey (1982) and Now and Then (1983). The author's return to fiction writing, and the world of medieval Europe, was, he recalls, partly inspired by his own spiritual experiences. In his autobiographical work, Telling Secrets , Buechner describes attending St Barnabas Church in Glen Ellyn IL, while guest lecturing at Wheaton in the Fall term of 1985. The author remembers being particularly struck by the preaching of the rector, Robert MacFarlane: ‘He spoke very quietly, and the church he spoke in was not brilliantly lit but full of shadow, full of secrets’. [10] Searching for a similar experience upon his return to Vermont, Buechner recalls his visit to a Greek Orthodox Monastery, and a sermon delivered by a 'huge monk in cloth of gold'. [11] Shortly after this experience, the author began writing his next novel, Brendan. [12]
A common theme with many of his previous characters, Buechner describes a close connection that he felt between himself and ‘Brendan the Navigator’:
He was a haggard sort of man as I pictured him, in many of the ways that I also am haggard, a loose-footed sort of a red-headed, inhibited, nimble-tongued, miracle-working man. He may have sailed as far as Newfoundland in his wanderings, maybe even as far as Florida some believe, but he never found what he was after, needless to say, and at the end of his long life somewhere around the year 580 wondered if perhaps he had spent all those years on a wild goose chase when he might better have stayed home and looked for Christlier ways to serve Christ and his Kingdom there. [13]
In his reflections on the process of writing Brendan, Buechner also reveals some details about the publication history of the novel, and of his previous fiction. Published initially by Atheneum, New York, a second edition of Brendan was subsequently released by HarperCollins. In Telling Secrets, Buechner pays tribute to Clayton Carlson, the director of the HarperCollins religious division, who republished 'virtually all' of the author's earlier books. [14]
Brendan is thematically consonant with much of Buechner's earlier fiction, with its reflections on the life of faith, the presence of the miraculous within the ordinary, death, and doubt. Literary critic Dale Brown notes that, outside of the Buechner canon, the author's depictions of both Brendan the Navigator and Godric of Finchale fall within a tradition of ‘literary saints’, including ‘the “crazy saints” of Flannery O'Connor, along with Dostoevsky’s Father Zossima, Salinger’s Seymour Glass, and Greene’s whiskey priest’. [15] Regarding the themes within the novel, Brown suggests that its success is located in the author's imagining of 'the resounding clash between paganism and Christianity in the youthful days of the Christian faith in Ireland.' Despite its new setting, the critic writes that the novel retains 'essential Buechnerian themes such as the mixture of false and true and the possibility of God's involvement in human experience'. [16]
As with many of its predecessors, Buechner's eleventh novel utilises a first person narrator, in the form of a childhood friend of Brendan's named Finn. Concerning the development of this particular voice, Buechner commented in an interview with Harold Fickett that:
One of the great devices in Irish writing is the simple business of reversing the usual position of adjectives. Instead of saying the little black dog ran into the room, they say the black little dog ran into the room, and it’s all the difference in the world. [17]
A number of critics offered comment on the prose style of Brendan. In a review published in the New York Times , Julia O'Faolain called the novel ‘strikingly convincing’, characterising its style as ‘sinewy and lyrical’. [18] In the Los Angeles Times Book Review , Thomas Cahill struck a similar note, describing Brendan as a ‘lusty, bawdy, teeming, festooning, dancing marvel of a book’. He continues: ‘Within its crafty interlacings, we can read its buoyant meaning: that life, for all its woes, is essentially a comedy.’ [19]
Other critics further noted the ‘buoyant’ union of style and subject in Buechner's eleventh novel. The reviewer for The Atlantic identified it as a ‘a grand, gaudy tale’, [20] while The Washington Post World review labelled Brendan an ‘exuberant’ novel, which ‘proves the power of faith to lift us up, to hold us straight, to send us on again.’ [21] In her work, Frederick Buechner: novelist/theologian of the lost and found, literary critic Marjorie Casebier McCoy suggests that the novel ‘wells up from Buechner’s questing faith’, concluding that here the author ‘has discovered a way that makes it possible for him to carry out his vocation as novelist/theologian’. [22] Dale Brown writes that ‘Brendan is a stew of Dante and Homer, the northern mythologies, and even a dash of Malory and Tolkien. There is much more here of the fanciful and fantastic.’ [23]
Carl Frederick Buechner was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his career spanned more than six decades and encompassed many different genres. He wrote novels, including Godric, A Long Day's Dying and The Book of Bebb, his memoirs, including The Sacred Journey, and theological works, such as Secrets in the Dark, The Magnificent Defeat, and Telling the Truth.
The Son of Laughter is the twelfth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The novel was first published in 1993 by Harper, San Francisco. In the same year it was named ‘Book of the Year’ by the Conference on Christianity and Literature.
The Storm is the fourteenth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The novel was first published in 1998 by Harper, San Francisco.
The Return of Ansel Gibbs is the third novel by the American author and theologian Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1958 by Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
The Final Beast is the fourth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1965 by Atheneum, New York.
The Entrance to Porlock is the fifth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1970 by Atheneum, New York.
Telling Secrets: a memoir (1991), is the third of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1991, the work considers in depth several scenes and events from the author's life, from his father’s suicide through to his time spent as a visiting professor at Wheaton College.
The Eyes of the Heart: a memoir of the lost and found (1999), is the fourth of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1999, the work moves between a number of vignettes from the author’s life, remembering friendships, and imagining conversations with lost family members.
The Alphabet of Grace is a collection of addresses on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a trilogy of sermons, delivered at the Harvard Memorial Church in the winter of 1969. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1970.
The Magnificent Defeat is a collection of meditations on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a series of sermons, delivered at the Phillips Exeter Academy throughout 1959. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1966. The Magnificent Defeat is Buechner’s first non-fiction publication.
Wishful Thinking: a theological ABC, reissued in 1993 as Wishful Thinking: a seeker’s ABC, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the first of Buechner’s lexical trilogy, which includes Peculiar Treasures (1979) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1973 by Harper and Row, Wishful Thinking is Buechner’s fourth non-fiction work.
The Faces of Jesus: a life story is a collection of meditations by Frederick Buechner on the life and person of Jesus Christ. The work gathers and discusses a selection of artistic portrayals of Jesus, including a variety of forms, from tapestry to sculpture. Published in 1974 by Simon and Schuster, Faces of Jesus is Buechner’s fifth non-fiction work.
Telling the Truth: the Gospel as tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale, is a collection of essays by Frederick Buechner on the subject of homiletics. It was first composed for and delivered at the Yale Divinity School Lyman Beecher Lecture series in 1976. Telling the Truth was subsequently published in 1977 by HarperCollins. It is Buechner's sixth non-fiction work.
Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who, is a collection of meditations on the stories of biblical figures, written by Frederick Buechner. It is the second of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1979 by Harper and Row, Peculiar Treasures is Buechner's seventh non-fiction work.
Whistling in the Dark: a doubter's dictionary, first issued as Whistling in the Dark: an ABC theologized, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the third and final instalment of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Peculiar Treasures (1979). Published in 1988 by Harper and Row, Whistling in the Dark is Buechner's ninth non-fiction work.
The Clown in the Belfry is an anthology of sermons, lectures, and articles, authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1992 by Harper and Row, The Clown in the Belfry is Buechner's tenth non-fiction work.
The Longing for Home: recollections and reflections is an anthology of sermons, poetry, devotional pieces, essays, and autobiographical reflections authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1996 by HarperCollins, The Longing for Home is Buechner's twelfth non-fiction work.
Speak What We Feel : reflections on faith and literature is a collection of literary critical and theological essays authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 2001 by HarperCollins, Speak What We Feel is Buechner's thirteenth non-fiction work.
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons is a collection of sermons and lectures authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 2006 by HarperCollins, Secrets in the Dark is Buechner's fifteenth non-fiction work.
The Wizard's Tide: a story is a novella by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1990 by Harper and Row, before being re-issued in 2005 under the altered title, The Christmas Tide.