3.89 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional sad
challenging mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

During a book fair organized in my village, I was surprised to find this book by Graham Greene, which I had discovered as a teenager and had forgotten.
The story takes place around 1930 in Mexico. The communist revolutionaries hunt down and shoot priests who refuse to deny their faith. Finally, an undercover priest, the last exercising the profession, is pursued by a convinced Communist lieutenant. This hunted priest has alcoholism and is the father of a little girl he had with one of his parishioners.
A price is placing his head. His pursuers threaten to execute the villagers who come to his aid.
That's a vital text, not always easy to follow, but a significant work for the great Catholic writer Graham Greene.
challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Questo è il libro più pesante, cupo e crudo del mio mese di letture.
Ambientato in Messico negli anni 30/40 quando si sviluppò nel paese una persecuzione anti-cattolica. Non conoscevo questa parte della storia del Messico. In seguito alla dittatura si misero al bando la religione cattolica e i preti, quando non si convincevano a sposarsi, venivano arrestati o fucilati.
Il protagonista è "l'ultimo" prete, senza nome, conosciuto come "padre dell'acquavite" che fugge attraverso buona parte del paese, incontrando chi lo aiuterà ma anche chi proverà a denunciarlo per ricevere la ricompensa.
Un viaggio che lo farà riflettere sul suo essere un peccatore, perché, oltre ad essere amante dell'acquavite è anche padre di una bambina, che ama tantissimo; allo stesso tempo rimane fortemente legato alla sua missione, non smetterà nemmeno in clandestinità di dire messa e amministrare i sacramenti.

Non riesco a scrivere molto altro perché non ho avuto il tempo di metabolizzare a fondo la storia, sento che c'è altro ma non so e non riesco ancora a descrivere tutto.
Una scrittura molto diversa, particolare rispetto a quella a cui si è abituati, anche materialmente. Frasi brevi e dialoghi scritti senza punteggiatura che hanno rallentato un po' la lettura ma non più di tanto.

I read this book for my Brit Lit II class. It is a book I really enjoyed being forced to read.

Tremendously enjoyable. Parts 1 and 3 contain some of Greene's best writing. He does lay on the Catholic stuff a bit thick, particularly in part 2. In the edition I read, the intro by Updike talks about Greene's career as a film reviewer. I think this was right on point. So many of the scenes are cinematic in structure.
challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy reading this book or not. I still have no idea what year it was. The introduction a flashlight jumped me forward a thousand years or so. It wasn't unusual to the characters because they did not take any special notice. It was as if the intention of author was to write it so that the year was irrelevant.
Faith, Failure, Fatigue, Fear, Inner Turmoil, Regret, Self Hate, but mostly just people being people.