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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
This book has been on my "to read" list for years -- basically ever since I first read Brennan Manning's description of the "whiskey priest." For whatever reason, I had the hardest time tracking the book down until I helped myself to my friend Jeffrey's bookshelves. It took me a while to get into the pace of the novel but about two chapters in I became engrossed in the story. Maybe more than the story as the voice.
Here's the Amazon blurb:
In a poor, remote section of Southern Mexico, the paramilitary group, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little worldly “whiskey priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.
Here's one of several favorite excerpts:
"A voice said, 'You are the priest, aren't you?'
'Yes.' It was as if they had climbed out of their opposing trenches and met in No Man's Land among the wires to fraternise. He remembered stories of the European war - how during the last years men had sometimes met on an impulse between the lines.
'Yes.' he said again, and the mule plodded on. Sometimes, instructing children in the old days, he had been asked by some black lozenge-eyed Indian child, 'What is God like?' and he would answer facilely with references to the father and the mother, or perhaps more ambitiously he would include brother and sister and try to give some idea of all loves and relationships combined in an immense and yet personal passion...But at the centre of his own faith there always stood the convincing mystery - that we were made in God's image. God was the parent, but He was also the policeman, the criminal, the priest, the maniac and the judge. Something resembling God dangled from the gibbet or went into odd attitudes before the bullets in a prison yard or contorted itself like a camel in the attitude of sex. He would sit in the confessional and hear the complicated dirty ingenuities which God's image had thought out, and God's image shook now, up and down on the mule's back, with the yellow teeth sticking out over the lower lip, and God's image did its despairing act of rebellion with Maria in the hut among the rats. He said, 'Do you feel better now? Not so cold, eh? Or so hot?' and pressed his hand with a kind of driven tenderness upon the shoulders of God's image."
Here's the Amazon blurb:
In a poor, remote section of Southern Mexico, the paramilitary group, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little worldly “whiskey priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.
Here's one of several favorite excerpts:
"A voice said, 'You are the priest, aren't you?'
'Yes.' It was as if they had climbed out of their opposing trenches and met in No Man's Land among the wires to fraternise. He remembered stories of the European war - how during the last years men had sometimes met on an impulse between the lines.
'Yes.' he said again, and the mule plodded on. Sometimes, instructing children in the old days, he had been asked by some black lozenge-eyed Indian child, 'What is God like?' and he would answer facilely with references to the father and the mother, or perhaps more ambitiously he would include brother and sister and try to give some idea of all loves and relationships combined in an immense and yet personal passion...But at the centre of his own faith there always stood the convincing mystery - that we were made in God's image. God was the parent, but He was also the policeman, the criminal, the priest, the maniac and the judge. Something resembling God dangled from the gibbet or went into odd attitudes before the bullets in a prison yard or contorted itself like a camel in the attitude of sex. He would sit in the confessional and hear the complicated dirty ingenuities which God's image had thought out, and God's image shook now, up and down on the mule's back, with the yellow teeth sticking out over the lower lip, and God's image did its despairing act of rebellion with Maria in the hut among the rats. He said, 'Do you feel better now? Not so cold, eh? Or so hot?' and pressed his hand with a kind of driven tenderness upon the shoulders of God's image."
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This isn't my favourite Graham Green. I read it because I wanted to look at flawed characters, particularly those that are critical of their own behaviour. This certainly matches the brief, but the characters were so unlikable it was hard for me to find any empathy with them.
I've been on a bit of a Graham Greene kick lately, but, despite the fact that this book is one of the most well-known and praised of his works, I did not like it as much as some of the others I have read.
On one hand, I can see why this book is considered a classic. The discourses on faith and religion in times of strife are impressive and moving, and one is struck at many points by the despair of the situation. The reader is faced with serious issues, such as the function of organized religion and the qualities which make a person "good" or "evil." I found the descriptions of the love that the whisky priest feels for his daughter and the conflict that this causes him to be particularly thought-provoking.
On the other hand, I could not help but notice that this is a story of Mexico written from the outside looking in. Yes, Graham Greene was European, but, honestly, how many Europeans/Americans did the whisky priest run into over the course of this novel? Other than the whisky priest himself, who, for me, also looks at the society from an outsider's point of view, though for different reasons, the Mexican people seem to be noticeably silent. Because of this, I had a hard time making this feel "real."
All in all, I did like this book, but it did not affect me as much as others I have read, such as [b:Monsignor Quixote|138995|Monsignor Quixote|Graham Greene|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172098970s/138995.jpg|4329], which I liked a great deal.
On one hand, I can see why this book is considered a classic. The discourses on faith and religion in times of strife are impressive and moving, and one is struck at many points by the despair of the situation. The reader is faced with serious issues, such as the function of organized religion and the qualities which make a person "good" or "evil." I found the descriptions of the love that the whisky priest feels for his daughter and the conflict that this causes him to be particularly thought-provoking.
On the other hand, I could not help but notice that this is a story of Mexico written from the outside looking in. Yes, Graham Greene was European, but, honestly, how many Europeans/Americans did the whisky priest run into over the course of this novel? Other than the whisky priest himself, who, for me, also looks at the society from an outsider's point of view, though for different reasons, the Mexican people seem to be noticeably silent. Because of this, I had a hard time making this feel "real."
All in all, I did like this book, but it did not affect me as much as others I have read, such as [b:Monsignor Quixote|138995|Monsignor Quixote|Graham Greene|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172098970s/138995.jpg|4329], which I liked a great deal.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Listen to the audio book version of The Power and the Glory. Unfortunately, the narrator was awful. The story was interesting and provocative, if a bit on the slow side. I still found the story compelling and worth an eventual closure read.
I read this book with Chris since it was one of his summer reading books for school. I had a really difficult time with it and I'm surprised they assigned the book to a bunch of 16-year-old boys to decipher. The setting is Mexico in the 1930s, during the Red Shirts era, when the Catholic Church was outlawed and priests were hunted down. By the end, I did realize what the author was trying to get across, but throughout the book, I was just majorly confused, especially since most of the characters have no names. The journey that the "runaway" priest goes through ends up being quite interesting, but again, way too difficult to understand while I was reading it.
I read this book with Chris since it was one of his summer reading books for school. I had a really difficult time with it and I'm surprised they assigned the book to a bunch of 16-year-old boys to decipher. The setting is Mexico in the 1930s, during the Red Shirts era, when the Catholic Church was outlawed and priests were hunted down. By the end, I did realize what the author was trying to get across, but throughout the book, I was just majorly confused, especially since most of the characters have no names. The journey that the "runaway" priest goes through ends up being quite interesting, but again, way too difficult to understand while I was reading it.
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Found it quite hard to get into, was a bit confused which characters were which. It only cost me $1 though.
Other's reviews have got it pretty right; read those.
About this book's "masterpiece" status. I think it's a matter of how quickly it's read, as in how little clock time elapses between the first page and the last:
* Read quickly : "Masterpiece!";
* Read slowly, intermittently "Oh, it's ok, not a masterpiece. Why are people saying that?"
This book is about atmosphere: the weak willed whiskey priest stumbling, being abandoned, failing. The jungle, the authorities, the hopeless-christ, the human failings. If you immerse yourself in this book's world, it will seem to be a masterpiece that has communed directly with your own, treasured, inner pathetic-ness. Otherwise it's just a rather sad road story with some vivid scenes here and there, to the soundtrack of 'why did he do *that*?", "oh, no!", "for heaven's sake" ... etc.
About this book's "masterpiece" status. I think it's a matter of how quickly it's read, as in how little clock time elapses between the first page and the last:
* Read quickly : "Masterpiece!";
* Read slowly, intermittently "Oh, it's ok, not a masterpiece. Why are people saying that?"
This book is about atmosphere: the weak willed whiskey priest stumbling, being abandoned, failing. The jungle, the authorities, the hopeless-christ, the human failings. If you immerse yourself in this book's world, it will seem to be a masterpiece that has communed directly with your own, treasured, inner pathetic-ness. Otherwise it's just a rather sad road story with some vivid scenes here and there, to the soundtrack of 'why did he do *that*?", "oh, no!", "for heaven's sake" ... etc.