A review by msand3
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

2.0

A novel of faith in which a priest with many flaws (including alcoholism and a child out-of-wedlock) flees religious persecution in southern Mexico. He questions both his worthiness as a priest and as a potential martyr, especially considering that villagers are captured, tortured, and killed so as not to give away his identity as a priest during the purge. As with other Greene novels I've read, I found the novel to be slow at times and not quite as good as I has hoped it might be, considering the plot (which sounds great) and the acclaim of the work. Also, this feels like the type of novel that would have been required reading in my Catholic school days, so perhaps my judgment is marred by that! I find that I enjoy Greene's self-described "entertainments" more than his Catholic novels. I also happened to be reading Endo's [b:Silence|25200|Silence|Shūsaku Endō|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327991351s/25200.jpg|1796157] at the same time (a coincidence) which has a similar plot about a priest questioning his faith while he watches others suffer persecution so as to protect him. The ending was pretty predictable, so I mostly kept flipping pages so as to reach the end. I'm still fascinated with Greene's work and will continue reading his books, but maybe I'll try some of his crime fiction next.