I've just finished Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, an exploration of Christian ethics in extremis.
Lived Christianity is juxtaposed with state persecution of priests. A 'whiskey' priest (with an extramarital daughter) struggles heroically to survive, with the fleeting protection of closet Catholics. But the cost of compromise has become his terrible burden. Ultimately, is he something of a saint or merely a damned sinner?
"Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself"
This is often acclaimed as Greene's greatest novel but I would reserve that accolade for Brighton Rock where his catholicism is also much in evidence but less so than in The Power and the Glory which, in my view, is not so well written. There are two scenes within it that, although they may be intended as allegorical, are just simply irrational. One depicts the game of cunning between the hungry priest and the starving dog over which will get the food left behind by the priest's potential helpers and the other concerns the moving of a dentist's chair fom its surgery so that the military ruler of the region can watch the priest's execution from his office while having his teeth attended to.Originally Posted by Gladys
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
the doc hasn't read 'brighton rock', but found 'the power and the glory' a very subtle high quality of writing that kept you turning the pages...
enjoyed thoroughly...
to the op...
did you like the book?
as for the saint or sinner stuff...irrelevent to the doc...and probably greene too...it's all about the story...
I agree that Greene produced one of the greatest novels of the 20th century in that piece. It is so because it is open-ended and reveals even if to the extreme that some have claimed, that the Catholic Church cannot be destroyed, it also showed clearly that it doesn't serve a lot of purpose. That's why many Catholics attacked the novel. The title fits very well.
As for the saint or sinner, also irrelevant to Cafolini's interpretation of the piece.
Last edited by cafolini; 12-31-2011 at 03:11 PM.
It illustrates so well the frailty of men who find themselves "called" to the priesthood. When the book was first published, the then Pope said to one of his cardinals, that Greene was "a troubled man."
On the contrary, Greene was bringing out into the open, problems that had existed since the establishment of the Catholic Church. Part of his thinking arose from his Jesuit confessor who tended towards the thinking that it was not so much what God commanded, but what He was prepared to tolerate and forgive.
M.
Like many Catholic converts, Greene felt moved to justify his decision and incorporated the religion into much of his work. But it is interesting that he went to Mexico, the setting for The Power and the Glory, on account of a lawsuit pending in the USA in which his extradition was being sought, and Mexico was one of the few places where the extradition didn't apply.
I wonder whether the book would have been written, had he not had the necessity to go there, unlike other countries that feature in his work where he chose to go of his own free will.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
frailty is the apt word, manichaean...there was a 'frail' goodness there...anyways, that's the doc's recollection...
happy new year...
As for liking the book, having spent last year reading Henry James and George Eliot, the style and plot of The Power and the Glory seemed decidedly Spartan at first, but I became increasingly entranced by the physical and spiritual predicament of whisky priest and his clerical peers. What constitutes a Christian life; what is it to love one's neighbour as oneself; or, if you will, what is involved in living a life of service to your fellow man? These questions are put in a context where such service is not simply hard, but well nigh impossible. Consider, for example, the impact on the priest of hostage taking.
The adversaries of the church are not inhuman monsters. Of either the lieutenant or Padre José, the priest can say, "You're a good man." What does it mean to be good is constant concern of the priest and the novel. And what is to be said for all those Catholic clergy that sought sanctuary across the border at the first opportunity? Is their desertion love in action? Are they more righteous than a whiskey priest with an illegitimate daughter?
The saint or sinner stuff is the story! The moral life is far from simple. Consider the irony ricocheting here:
"And that one," the boy said slowly, "they shot today. Was he a hero too?"
"Yes."
"The one who stayed with us that time?"
"Yes. He was one of the martyrs of the Church."
"He had a funny smell," one of the little girls said.
"You must never say that again," the mother said. "He may be one of the saints."
"Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself"
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