Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A powerful story about faith and perseverance.
An unnamed priest, a whiskey-priest, is on the run from the Mexican government. Catholicism has been outlawed, the practice punishable by a fine in some states, punishable by death in others. Yet this whiskey-priest, a bad priest in mortal sin having fathered a child, refuses to leave the state. Aware of his own failures, guilt-ridden by them, he still honors his duty and gives mass, confession, and baptism. When it becomes dangerous he leaves the community. The hunt for him becomes so severe that they begin executing hostages from villages he has visited, further burdening the priest with guilt. He could leave and have an easier life in another state and does leave, but he returns to danger for one last service.
The writing here is excellent. The heavy pressing of guilt on the priest and the symbolism used is very emotional and powerful. The young girl talking with the priest in the rubbish dump that could represent her future. Even the priest, a self described coward, still has the preserverance to perform his duties. There is also a great deal of catholic symbolism with a gunshot representing a spear, a convert, and a rising that implies the triumph and the return of the faith.
"but I'm not a saint," the priest said. "I'm not even a brave man... But it doesn't matter so much my being a coward--and all the rest. I can put God in a man's mouth just the same--and I can give him God's pardon. It wouldn't make any difference to that if every priest in the church was lime me. P162
"this was the love he should have felt for every soul in the world: all the fear and wish to save concentrated unjustly on the one child. He began to weep: it was as if he had to watch her drown slowly from the shore because he had forgotten to swim." p 173
"what an impossible fellow I am, he thought, and how useless. I have done nothing for anybody. I might just as well have never lived. His parents were dead--soon he wouldn't even be a memory--perhaps after all he wasn't really Hell-worthy. Tears poured down his face: he was not at the moment afraid of damnation--even the fear of pain was in the background. He felt only an immense disappointment because he had to go to God empty-handed, with nothing done at all. It seemed to him at that moment that it would have been quite easy to be a saint. It only would have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that counted--to be a saint." p 176
"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in." p. 8
"The good things of life had come too early--the respect of his contemporaries, a safe livelihood. The trite religious word upon the tongue, the joke to ease the way, the ready acceptance of other people's homage, a happy man. A natural hatred as between dog and dog stirred in the lieutenant's bowels." p. 16
"But it was from him too they took to God in their mouths. When he was gone, it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake, even if they were corrupted by his example?" p. 55
"...but every failure dropped out of sight and out of mind: somewhere they accumulated in secret--the rubble of his failures. One day they would choke up, he supposed, altogether the source of grace." p. 52
An unnamed priest, a whiskey-priest, is on the run from the Mexican government. Catholicism has been outlawed, the practice punishable by a fine in some states, punishable by death in others. Yet this whiskey-priest, a bad priest in mortal sin having fathered a child, refuses to leave the state. Aware of his own failures, guilt-ridden by them, he still honors his duty and gives mass, confession, and baptism. When it becomes dangerous he leaves the community. The hunt for him becomes so severe that they begin executing hostages from villages he has visited, further burdening the priest with guilt. He could leave and have an easier life in another state and does leave, but he returns to danger for one last service.
The writing here is excellent. The heavy pressing of guilt on the priest and the symbolism used is very emotional and powerful. The young girl talking with the priest in the rubbish dump that could represent her future. Even the priest, a self described coward, still has the preserverance to perform his duties. There is also a great deal of catholic symbolism with a gunshot representing a spear, a convert, and a rising that implies the triumph and the return of the faith.
"but I'm not a saint," the priest said. "I'm not even a brave man... But it doesn't matter so much my being a coward--and all the rest. I can put God in a man's mouth just the same--and I can give him God's pardon. It wouldn't make any difference to that if every priest in the church was lime me. P162
"this was the love he should have felt for every soul in the world: all the fear and wish to save concentrated unjustly on the one child. He began to weep: it was as if he had to watch her drown slowly from the shore because he had forgotten to swim." p 173
"what an impossible fellow I am, he thought, and how useless. I have done nothing for anybody. I might just as well have never lived. His parents were dead--soon he wouldn't even be a memory--perhaps after all he wasn't really Hell-worthy. Tears poured down his face: he was not at the moment afraid of damnation--even the fear of pain was in the background. He felt only an immense disappointment because he had to go to God empty-handed, with nothing done at all. It seemed to him at that moment that it would have been quite easy to be a saint. It only would have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that counted--to be a saint." p 176
"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in." p. 8
"The good things of life had come too early--the respect of his contemporaries, a safe livelihood. The trite religious word upon the tongue, the joke to ease the way, the ready acceptance of other people's homage, a happy man. A natural hatred as between dog and dog stirred in the lieutenant's bowels." p. 16
"But it was from him too they took to God in their mouths. When he was gone, it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake, even if they were corrupted by his example?" p. 55
"...but every failure dropped out of sight and out of mind: somewhere they accumulated in secret--the rubble of his failures. One day they would choke up, he supposed, altogether the source of grace." p. 52
While Graham Greene was a marvelous writer, his conversion to Catholicism tripped him up a couple of times in his writing. In The Power and the Glory, as in The End of the Affair, it is blatantly evident that his grasp of Catholicism is about a mile wide...but only about one inch deep. He has good intentions, no doubt, but he has set himself up for failure: The central character, a deeply flawed "whisky priest" whose name we never learn, is obviously meant to be redeemed by book's end, but Greene overplays his hand. The man is so thoroughly self-involved, his actions so damning, that by novel's end, there isn't a rosary large enough, nor an act of contrition great enough to save such a blackened soul. Sydney Carton, the man is not. Interestingly, the book's moral compass seems to pass from hand to hand among a group of supporting players: two atheists and a pair of Presbyterians: a young girl named Coral, a Javert-like police lieutenant, and two aging siblings, all of whom display more compassion than our protagonist.
I first read The Power and the Glory back in the late 1980’s and I was keen to revisit it. I think I found it more difficult to read this time. Much of the narrative feels clipped and difficult to follow in places. The story seems pared down to its bare bones, with little interest in the supporting characters. The priest is a sympathetic antihero, he fits many of the stereotypes about Catholic priests, yet he is acutely aware of his flaws and his failures, he feels guilty for role he plays in the suffering of others and sees himself as the most improbable of martyrs.
A Roman Catholic priest in the southern state of Mexico tries to elude capture after the government has declared the church illegal. The priest isn’t a likable man, and much of the book I found rather irritating. I wouldn’t describe it as entertaining, but it is good literature. It is well written and the character is well developed.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the third time I have read it, and the previous time was nearly fifty years ago. Though I remembered the main plot outline, I had forgotten many details. This time I read it soon after reading two others by the same author, [b:Stamboul Train|145039|Stamboul Train|Graham Greene|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387732851l/145039._SY75_.jpg|7463], and [b:The Quiet American|3698|The Quiet American|Graham Greene|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388187216l/3698._SY75_.jpg|1469913], and I think this one is by far the best of his novels.
Perhaps because I was more familiar with it I noticed different things about it on the third reading. The first thing that struck me was the quality of the prose, which struck me as much better than the other two books, and also better than most other fiction I have read recently.
When I first read it at the age of 22 I was quite harsh in my judgement on the whisky priest protagonist. His last thoughts recorded in the book were an admission of failure.
Any my main thought when I finished reading the book was "What a pity that he missed it, that he didn't show a little self-restraint, a little courage.
But reading it when older, I see it differently. We can only ever come to God empty-handed. And God can use even our failures. Everything that we do that is worthwhile is the Holy Spirit's work, and all that isn't is our interference.
So at this reading I came to a different conclusion: he didn't feel like a saint, and just for that readon he was one.
Perhaps because I was more familiar with it I noticed different things about it on the third reading. The first thing that struck me was the quality of the prose, which struck me as much better than the other two books, and also better than most other fiction I have read recently.
When I first read it at the age of 22 I was quite harsh in my judgement on the whisky priest protagonist. His last thoughts recorded in the book were an admission of failure.
He felt only an immense disappointment that he had to go to God empty-handed, with nothing done at all. It seemed to him, at that moment, that it would have been quite easy to be a saint. It would only have needed a little self-restraint and a little courage. He felt like someone who has missed happiness by seconds at an appointed place. He knew that at the end there was only one thing that counted -- to be a saint.
Any my main thought when I finished reading the book was "What a pity that he missed it, that he didn't show a little self-restraint, a little courage.
But reading it when older, I see it differently. We can only ever come to God empty-handed. And God can use even our failures. Everything that we do that is worthwhile is the Holy Spirit's work, and all that isn't is our interference.
So at this reading I came to a different conclusion: he didn't feel like a saint, and just for that readon he was one.
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes