Online since 1997 Pope Joan: A NovelClick on a title to get information such as reviews, price comparisons, and availability or to purchase. Search Again-Enter Keyword, Title, or ISBN: |
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Pope Joan: A Novel |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54 EAN: 9780345416261 ISBN: 0345416260 Label: Ballantine Books Manufacturer: Ballantine Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 448 Publication Date: 1996 Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: August 19, 1997 Studio: Ballantine Books |
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| Customer Reviews | ||
  - Pope JoanI'd been wanting to read this book for a long time. The idea of a woman disguising herself as a man and doing such a good job of it that she was eventually elected Pope intrigued me. How could that happen? The existence of Pope Joan is still debated but the author provides eleven pages of notes and sources that offer strong evidence that there may have been a female Pope who was erased from history once her deception was discovered. The story begins with a young Joan, growing up in a household of fear and fervent devotion to God, ruled by a tyrant father. A Catholic canon, he brought his Saxon wife home to Frankland after a missionary trip and has spent the years of their marriage punishing his wife for making him desire her, and for bearing a female child. Unlike Joan, her two brothers are prized by their father and are getting an education to enter the church. Joan wants to learn, too, but is forbidden. When a scholar comes to examine Joan's brother, he discovers that Joan is the more intelligent. This sets in motion the chain of events that puts Joan on the road to the throne of St. Peter. She attends school, falls in love, faces discrimination and ridicule, survives a Viking attack and flees to a monastery dressed as a young man, and thus begins her illustrious career as a scholar, healer and priest. I have to say I expected a lot more from this book. I felt like I was reading a light version, like there wasn't as much depth, as much exploration of human nature as there should be in a novel of this scope. Joan is likeable but too perfect, Gerold, her love interest, is too perfect, circumstances fall into place too perfectly. Even the villain, Anastasius, is too perfectly one-dimensional. The descriptions of religious rituals grew monotonous and I found myself skimming some sections. At one point I was pushing myself just to get to the end, but I'm glad I hung in there because it did pick up and it finished strong. It's not a bad read, I just don't think it's all it could have been, but I would recommend it simply for the fact that it's a period of controversial history worth learning about. 3.5 Stars Rating:  - Great historical fiction, best I've readI'm normally not much of a reader but I do love a good story, and I am an avid movie goer and regular gamer. Favorite games are Fallout 3, Bioshock 2, Dead Space, Portal and Half Life. I found this book jam packed with excitement and intrigue, every chapter is a warm, well told story that could exist practically by itself. Many novels I've read spend so much time dragging the reader through boring but "necessary" information but this novel contains entertainment to keep each 20 minute session of reading a satisfying time worth savoring. Although it was historical, its also free of snobbery and pretentiousness present in more academic novels, but has far more weight, meat if you will than Harry Potter and what not, but interestingly no less excitement and grandeur. I was actually taken aback by how Ms. Cross was able to weave such a spectacular and exciting tale from the rather mundane and realistic world of the 9th century without invoking any magic or fantasy, as many novelists seem to have to rely on as a sort of crutch. Thanks to Ms. Cross for an entertaining week or two of reading - just as fun and visual as Bioshock 2 was in spite of using the old technology of printed pages. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in history and digging for the truth, questioning everything! Rating:  - Clearly Embellished but Entirely Fantastic.WONDERFUL story!! The author obviously had to take liberties when filling in the gaps of this historical anomaly because there is virtually no definitive documentation in existence to validate the legend. Unfortunately, several of these embellishments took the form of literary cliches (forbidden love, feminist grand standing, etc) but taken as a whole, I adored this book and read it in giant gulp-fulls. Rating: - Brilliant StorytellingI can't say enough how much I loved this book! It was one of those books that I couldn't put down and was sad when I had finished it. We read it for our Book Group and had one of our most engrossing discussions ever! Donna Woolfolk Cross spent years researching her subject - no easy feat when you consider delving into the 9th century, when text was rare, and few people could even read or write. Pope Joan is the story of a young girl with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge who disguises herself as a boy and rises up through the ranks of the Catholic church ultimately becoming the Pope. Her character is easily identifiable - when you imagine what life must have been like for women in the dark ages, you wonder if you might have done the same thing to escape your fate! The time period comes vividly to life, as does Rome in the early years of the Church. You decide for yourself if Joan did indeed exist. Ms. Cross makes some very valid points at the end of the book. She is truly a brilliant storyteller! Now that a movie has been made - myself and a host of others are waiting impatiently for it's U.S. release!! Rating:  - Anti-CatholicI would only read this if you have an axe to grind with the Catholic church and are looking to stoke the flames. |
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