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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This book definitely had me guessing till the end. Liked the attention to detail in the ins and outs of a Papal Conclave. Did like the tension and politics of it all and some of the cast of characters it followed too.
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm going to do my absolute best to make this review about Conclave, the novel by Robert Harris and not totally about the masterpiece that is "Conclave" (2024). But I've already shown you my hand, huh? ;)
First off, after now having read the novel, the movie is a FANTASTIC adaptation. While Lomeli (Cardinal Lawrence) and Benítez's relationship is fundamentally different- dialogue, character beats, and moments are taken directly from the page and put onto a grandiose stage. I think that may be the problem for me and other movie-cum-readers. "Conclave" is massive in its elegance, it's Balenciaga-inspired costumes, colors, and frescos. How does text on a page measure to such a gleam of the best of Catholicism's aesthetics? It can't. How can one (very good) writer in 2016 connect to the "modern" audience of today with our increased political divisions, racial strife, and a worldwide pandemic in a way that a team of the best directors and screenwriters today cannot? He can't. And it's an unfair comparison. Yes, most of the dialogue is from Conclave, but viewers will notice the big turning of the Curia towards their decision does not exist in the novel the same way. Denying the viewer that modern thematic rush they get from "Conclave". And that's not Harris's fault!! So I will try to make my distinctions, because yes, of course I was disappointed thatBenítez's monologue in the novel was not as emotionally resonant as the movie, but that's not the book's fault. They just made too goddamn good of a movie!
"Conclave", is a bold statement on the unrelenting progression of The Church into the modern age, and a devoted man's struggle to find the true Church amongst politicians and his own doubts. And, importantly, the hidden labor of women that actually keeps the Church, and the world, moving. À la Who Cooked the Last Supper by Rosalind Miles, a book I desperately want to read.
First off, after now having read the novel, the movie is a FANTASTIC adaptation. While Lomeli (Cardinal Lawrence) and Benítez's relationship is fundamentally different- dialogue, character beats, and moments are taken directly from the page and put onto a grandiose stage. I think that may be the problem for me and other movie-cum-readers. "Conclave" is massive in its elegance, it's Balenciaga-inspired costumes, colors, and frescos. How does text on a page measure to such a gleam of the best of Catholicism's aesthetics? It can't. How can one (very good) writer in 2016 connect to the "modern" audience of today with our increased political divisions, racial strife, and a worldwide pandemic in a way that a team of the best directors and screenwriters today cannot? He can't. And it's an unfair comparison. Yes, most of the dialogue is from Conclave, but viewers will notice the big turning of the Curia towards their decision does not exist in the novel the same way. Denying the viewer that modern thematic rush they get from "Conclave". And that's not Harris's fault!! So I will try to make my distinctions, because yes, of course I was disappointed that
"Conclave", is a bold statement on the unrelenting progression of The Church into the modern age, and a devoted man's struggle to find the true Church amongst politicians and his own doubts. And, importantly, the hidden labor of women that actually keeps the Church, and the world, moving. À la Who Cooked the Last Supper by Rosalind Miles, a book I desperately want to read.
"Say that we are deliberately taking our time, and praying hard to divine God's will, and that it may take us some days yet to settle on our new shepherd. You might also point out that God is not to be rushed simply to suit the convenience of CNN."
Conclave is a quieter, more internal look into The Church itself, and how a dedicated lifetime of meticulous, true Catholic pathology can crumble against the braggadocios who put on the disguise of piety in the name of power. Lomeli is in a constant state of self-doubt, because he sees his colleagues of the Curia float on by as if they have never struggled, never doubted. He is haunted by his doubts, his whole foundation of life lies on faith alone. How terrifying.
"Lomeli was sure he must be dead, and in those few seconds, when time seemed suspended, he discovered that thought is not always sequential - that ideas and impressions can arrive piled on top of one another, like photographic transparencies. Thus he was at once terrified that he had brought God's judgement down upon his own head and yet simultaneously elated to be given proof of His existence. His life had not been lived in vain! In his fear and joy he imagined that he must have passed on too another plane of existence"
Conclave is a man who is loosing his faith, his ability to reach out and connect with God. He sees these men who are supposed to be the most pious believers, fail again and again to live by the standards of The Church. He must "manage" an archaic (but not biblical) holy event, that will literally shape the world for decades to come. And his flock, instead of approaching with reverence, are acting as if they are back alley dealers. And then he punishes himself for thinking so. Because he lives by the Word and the Word says vanity, intrigue, malice, and gossip, are sins and will only lead him further in his "spiritual disfigurement".
"The chasm between the figure he appeared to be and the man he knew he was had never seemed so wide."
Lomeli must believe his fellow Cardinal's minds are fixed on the holy, because that's what they were brought there to do. Even if he does not like or agree with the politics of a Cardinal, he still respects them as faith leaders. An easy example is his actions with Cardinal Adeyemi, after learning of his sexual assault of a teenager. Lomeli makes no concessions to Adeyemi's excuses (honestly, he fucking kills it “What sin therefore did she have to confess? Where was her guilt? And yet carrying the burden of it had been the ruin of her life.”), but will still sit and earnestly pray with him. Because that's what men of faith are supposed to do. But would Adeyemi have done the same with no ulterior motives? Would Cardinals Tremblay and Tedesco? Would even the progressive Bellini have taken time to breathe with the sinner he has no choice to condemn? Benítez would.
"I thought we were here to serve God, not the Curia."
Through a world on fire, and a Church in peril, he comes to find the beauty in the doubt that he is ridiculed for. In reaching into the unknown for a better Church. Trusting the movement of "The Holy Spirit" through him. Putting faith in the great unknowable.
“Our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith."
TL;DR: Conclave is a beautiful and thought provoking examination of oneself when faced against the cruelties of the world. How we choose to respond, despite our fears, makes us who we truly are. I also really want to put Lomeli in a jar and shake him.
Tremblay: "I will pretend this conversation never happened"
Lomeli: "BUT IT DID HAPPEN!!! >:( "
Non-review comment: Lomeli should have become Pope because imagine a world were the Pope fucking ends up killing himself in office. Which is exactly what would have happened.
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced