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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
The Power and the Glory is the story of a "whisky priest" stumbling across southern Mexico during a purge of Catholic clergy, continually evading police because he understands himself to carry God with him in the performance of the Eucharist. The Power and the Glory is honest, inquisitive, painful, and strangely beautiful. Who are the saints? Who "qualifies" as a martyr? What kinds of people does God choose to use in this world?
The book reminded me a bit of Silence [Shūsaku Endō] in some of the themes-- the Judas figure, human pride, the idea of the "last priest standing", but is softer, in a way, and dips into more exploration of supporting characters. The characters are fascinating, and sometimes a little too reflective for comfort.
The book reminded me a bit of Silence [Shūsaku Endō] in some of the themes-- the Judas figure, human pride, the idea of the "last priest standing", but is softer, in a way, and dips into more exploration of supporting characters. The characters are fascinating, and sometimes a little too reflective for comfort.
The first half was a grueling read. The second half is much better. Wouldn't recommend it.
A worthy classic work that I'll return to read again one day. My favorite quote: “How often the priest had heard the same confession--Man was so limited: he hadn't even the ingenuity to invent a new vice: the animals knew as much. It was for this world that Christ had died: the more evil you saw and heard about you, the greater the glory lay around the death; it was too easy to die for what was good or beautiful, for home or children or civilization--it needed a God to die for the half-hearted and the corrupt.”
The priest’s inner dialogues are delicatedly constructed and are a delight to read: such interesting positionality and change! I must admit it does get tedious at times. Further, there is a tad too many plots and characters that cannot be innovated beyond being fillers (even the half-caste, which is almost but not really Shusaku’s Silence’s Judas figure).
Greene at the peak of his powers, allowing us to view the slow collapse of the whiskey priest, on the run from the anti-clerical purge in an unnamed Mexican state.
Cinematic in its descriptions, we glimpse a series of unfulfilled, unhappy lives before the focus settles on two main characters, the aforementioned priest and the police lieutenant determined to catch and execute him. Both are deeply flawed characters, yet in their own way likeable.
The story is part thriller, part investigation into the fallibility of man and his belief systems, both political and religious.
Coming back to this book about 10 years since last reading it, it truly gets better - possible my favourite book of all time.
Cinematic in its descriptions, we glimpse a series of unfulfilled, unhappy lives before the focus settles on two main characters, the aforementioned priest and the police lieutenant determined to catch and execute him. Both are deeply flawed characters, yet in their own way likeable.
The story is part thriller, part investigation into the fallibility of man and his belief systems, both political and religious.
Coming back to this book about 10 years since last reading it, it truly gets better - possible my favourite book of all time.
The thing that always surprises me with Greene is how humane he is; for some reason I expect his Catholicism to be curdled and grotesque, like Evelyn Waugh's, but it always strikes me as much more gentle and pitying. This novel follows an unnamed "whisky priest", an ordained man on the run from the authorities in a Mexican state where Catholicism and the priesthood have been outlawed. The priest's fugitive condition is set against that of Padre José, who has succumbed to the government's demand that ordained men enter marriage. José is constantly shamed and belittled by children and by his new wife (formerly his housekeeper); he is a man who has lost his dignity, his sense of purpose, almost his humanity; Greene portrays him as you might a confused dog. The whisky priest, meanwhile, is a weak man and a bad Catholic, but in his final acts, in his attempts to encourage kindness and love, he redeems himself. Greene is also spectacularly good at suggesting interiority while maintaining firm boundaries between the reader and his characters; we always feel we're standing somewhat outside of the whisky priest, watching him do things or have things done to him, but as we continue to observe him, our understanding of him grows. It would make a very interesting companion read to Shusaku Endo's Silence (which I'm afraid I've only seen the film of).
it was a little difficult getting into, but i liked it a lot. Graham Green is wonderful.
Very slow in the beginning, but quite good once you get into it and things start happening.
I did not find the lead character sympathetic or brave in any way. I read the whole book as a very strong indictment of the clergy, while an embracing of the Catholic faith and parishioners.
Not the best / favorite thing I've ever read but also not terrible.
I did not find the lead character sympathetic or brave in any way. I read the whole book as a very strong indictment of the clergy, while an embracing of the Catholic faith and parishioners.
Not the best / favorite thing I've ever read but also not terrible.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Being raised for a time as Christian, and finding myself a surefire atheist as an adult, the troubled relationship between faith and human nature has always been deeply interesting to me. So I found Greene's endlessly nuanced, introspective and layered interrogation of religious devotion in the face of persecution to be thoroughly fascinating, moving and profound. I have never encountered an author with a more subtle understanding of the fluctuating, conflicting shades of grey that make up the human experience, and of the Greene books I have read, this is the most abyssal of interrogations into that theme. That all of the characters in the novel, even those who in lesser hands would have become flat archetypal villains, can inspire pity through empathy with their suffering and desperation, even as their actions display a surface-level heinousness, is testament to the sheer skill of Greene's words. As ever with Greene, the subtexts of his scenes is kaleidoscopic in their intricacies, what he chooses not to put down on the page often having equal or greater weight than what is written. A staggering achievement of prose.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Whiskey priest” is on the run from the police in Mexico where they are rounding up an executing Catholic clergy. Lead-up to his death mirrors the Passion of Christ.
I don’t typically look at many reviews before reading a book, but I wish I did this time. Having now seen a few reviews, I feel like I can appreciate what I read a bit more. Nonetheless, this story never quite captured me. I would like to have been grounded in the fact that the protagonist priest was never going to positively impact the lives of others. I think I would have gotten more out of the book if I understood it as a straightforward look at a troubled man struggling with his understanding of God.
I don’t typically look at many reviews before reading a book, but I wish I did this time. Having now seen a few reviews, I feel like I can appreciate what I read a bit more. Nonetheless, this story never quite captured me. I would like to have been grounded in the fact that the protagonist priest was never going to positively impact the lives of others. I think I would have gotten more out of the book if I understood it as a straightforward look at a troubled man struggling with his understanding of God.