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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Really great book. Certainly a classic. The tale of a "whisky priest" who has stayed in a part of Mexico where it has been declared treasonous to be a priest. The dead man walking part of the plot really enables the author to tackle some major questions: what is sin?, what is the worst sin?, what is martrydom?, what is sainthood?, and these are just a start. I am still piecing through my thoughts and reactions to this book, but I really thought it was an inspired work into which the author poured himself deeply. It made me think about the nature of humanity, as created by God, and any book that does that I call good.
Good but not great. It is a thought provoking book about faith, trust, and humanity. It also touches the need to accept our own faults and those of others. It's a short read and worth the time.
3.5 stars. The prose was excellent - very well written. The plot moved around a bit and was hard to follow until you got into the book. I liked that the main character, a priest, had obvious flaws that humanized him. I didn’t feel that this was a masterpiece, but I did enjoy the book overall.
Not the most thrilling book, but it made me think about the difference between how we appear and how we act. The plot is about a sympathetic outlaw whiskey priest in central America.
Somehow I missed the hoopla here. I just wanted this trudge to end. And then I swore off Graham Greene. An unfortunate turn, maybe, maybe not.
Definitely a rough commute read! But Greene's book is a vicious modernist novel, contrasting spare prose with a story of faith in the tropics.
It's a bear to read. Greene's style is between the more-famous Hemingway and McCarthy, but not nearly as overwrought as either of them. It's simply a beautifully-paced book about a lone man's struggles with himself, his community, his state, and with God...without having any pretensions of being anything more than that.
Reading this at a time when I'm trying to remember how to write with style and with emotion, it's absolutely beautiful reading something written with style and emotion. I have to refind a writing style and a reading style, and even if the troubling bleakness of Greene's world is probably not what I need 20 pages at-a-time on a train, it's nice to be grounded in something between spending my days overhearing gamer convos. There's something else out there, thankfully. Even if the something else isn't particularly pleasant.
It's a bear to read. Greene's style is between the more-famous Hemingway and McCarthy, but not nearly as overwrought as either of them. It's simply a beautifully-paced book about a lone man's struggles with himself, his community, his state, and with God...without having any pretensions of being anything more than that.
Reading this at a time when I'm trying to remember how to write with style and with emotion, it's absolutely beautiful reading something written with style and emotion. I have to refind a writing style and a reading style, and even if the troubling bleakness of Greene's world is probably not what I need 20 pages at-a-time on a train, it's nice to be grounded in something between spending my days overhearing gamer convos. There's something else out there, thankfully. Even if the something else isn't particularly pleasant.
I feel like I didn't really give this book it's due. I read it rather quickly and just didn't seem to sink into it. I did appreciate the themes that Greene visited, but the book just didn't beckon me back.
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
priest is a sinner. battles with the tension between his faith and his past sins. a good read, very reflective and makes you think. i’d say the priest is a good character, but definitely quite sad. he clearly understands the battle between being faithful and having pride, and he is convinced he is prideful. the saddest part about the novel is that he doesn’t see how impactful he is, how his shame makes him humble. major spoiler: his death is SO sad because it’s just mr tench (minor character) seeing him die out the window. very anticlimatic, very sad.