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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Abandoned at pg. 82. There's nothing in here for me. I have nothing negative to say about "The Power and the Glory," just that there was nothing at all engaging or new to my eye. Perhaps later in life but honestly, it felt like a third-tier version of other books I've read before
The Power and the Glory is a story of a priest, who is desperately trying to serve his community in a region in Mexico where religion is outlawed. He has many sins, like fathering a child and having a great thirst for brandy. However, when he feels that there is an urgent need to serve his community, he will go out of the way to reach out to them.
The Power and the Glory shares some similarities with Silence, another “Catholic novel” that I read last year. For Silence, it shows how an optimistic priest realises how little he can do for his community. For the Power and the Glory, it shows how a sinful priest can do so much to lift the spirits of his community. In both Silence and the Power and the Glory, the community suffers as they are forced to confess where the priest is hiding. However, the unflagging faith of the community in great persecution is one thing that I can truly admire.
The Power and the Glory shares some similarities with Silence, another “Catholic novel” that I read last year. For Silence, it shows how an optimistic priest realises how little he can do for his community. For the Power and the Glory, it shows how a sinful priest can do so much to lift the spirits of his community. In both Silence and the Power and the Glory, the community suffers as they are forced to confess where the priest is hiding. However, the unflagging faith of the community in great persecution is one thing that I can truly admire.
This is my first book by Graham Greene and I was pretty drawn in by the main character, referred to as the whisky priest. The whisky priest is such a intriguing character because he is a priest that has broken almost every vow, often seems to be governed by self-interest rather than a love for his kinsman and yet displays amazing acts of kindness and grace to people in the most unlikely circumstances. He swings often between acts of courage and acts of cowardice which the dentist in the story, Mr Tench described as "the dignity of people afraid of a little pain and yet sitting down with some firmness in his chair". And precisely because of his own weakness, the whisky priest is able to find a common ground with every person that he meets, be it the lieutenant who is after his life or the mestizo who tries to betray him. The author describes one such moment - "It was as if they had climbed out of their opposing trenches and met in No Man's Land among the wire to fraternize."
The beauty of this story is that despite the gloomy setting and the fundamentally flawed people, there is always room for goodness to shine through, even in the tiniest cracks.
"It was one of the strange discoveries a man makes that life, however you lead it, contains moment of exhilaration : there are always comparison which can be made with worse times : even in danger and misery the pendulum swings."
The beauty of this story is that despite the gloomy setting and the fundamentally flawed people, there is always room for goodness to shine through, even in the tiniest cracks.
"It was one of the strange discoveries a man makes that life, however you lead it, contains moment of exhilaration : there are always comparison which can be made with worse times : even in danger and misery the pendulum swings."
I've read many of Greene's books, and this is the most powerful and intense of the lot. The book follows the travels of a priest on the run from a communist regime that has sworn to abolish religion, and has got rid of every priest in the state, either by execution or by forcing them to marry. The "whiskey priest" is the last in the state. He's been on the run for years and is wearing down.
The book is a study of faith and doubt, human weakness and the limits of endurance, compassion and cruelty. It has the sustained intensity of Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana, and in many parts, the bleakness of JM Coetzee's Disgrace. You could even call it a dystopian novel, as it portrays the living conditions and the oppression of mind and spirit in a state ruled by an unyielding communist dogma that seeks to improve the world by exterminating all who refuse to conform to its ideas.
It's rare to find a book anywhere with such sustained depth of insight. I'll have to read this one two or three more times to really absorb all that's in it.
The book is a study of faith and doubt, human weakness and the limits of endurance, compassion and cruelty. It has the sustained intensity of Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana, and in many parts, the bleakness of JM Coetzee's Disgrace. You could even call it a dystopian novel, as it portrays the living conditions and the oppression of mind and spirit in a state ruled by an unyielding communist dogma that seeks to improve the world by exterminating all who refuse to conform to its ideas.
It's rare to find a book anywhere with such sustained depth of insight. I'll have to read this one two or three more times to really absorb all that's in it.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another masterpiece written by Graham Greene.
3* The Third Man
4* The End of the Affair
4* Our Man in Havana
3* The Captain and the Enemy
3* The Quiet American
4* The Ministry of Fear
4* The Power and the Glory
TR Brighton Rock
TR Travels With My Aunt
TR The Tenth Man
TR Monsignor Quixote
TR The Honorary Consul
TR The Heart of the Matter
TR Orient Express
3* The Third Man
4* The End of the Affair
4* Our Man in Havana
3* The Captain and the Enemy
3* The Quiet American
4* The Ministry of Fear
4* The Power and the Glory
TR Brighton Rock
TR Travels With My Aunt
TR The Tenth Man
TR Monsignor Quixote
TR The Honorary Consul
TR The Heart of the Matter
TR Orient Express
Beautifully written and heartrendingly bitter and cynical with the tiniest flower of hope. Recommended if you like Heart of Darkness and literature like kidney punches.
The Power and the Glory is a powerful and a glorious story. Set as a consequence of Cristero War, the novel revolves majorly around the journey of a whisky priest, a term coined by Graham Greene. An attempt by Mexican government to suppress the Catholic Church was in full swing. As a result, the lieutenant comes up with a plan so that he can follow the government's order.
This novel is essentially about perspectives and kindness in the face of the barren world. It is about mutual respect to differing ideas. It is about regretting for some deeds, while not regretting for the result of those deeds. It is about abandonment and hushed secrets. It is about recurring ghostly presences. All in all, it is a wasteland that the modern world has continued to be.
This novel is essentially about perspectives and kindness in the face of the barren world. It is about mutual respect to differing ideas. It is about regretting for some deeds, while not regretting for the result of those deeds. It is about abandonment and hushed secrets. It is about recurring ghostly presences. All in all, it is a wasteland that the modern world has continued to be.
Highly cinematic in technique, Greene’s novel is a masterclass in narrative tension and character building. All about finding redemption in the most unpromising places, this is likely to be too Catholic for some readers but the story is really well done.
I really enjoyed this gentle but deep novel about guilt, forgiveness, commitment and death.