- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (3 Oct 1991)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140184996
- ISBN-13: 978-0140184990
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 465,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Power And The Glory
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"Greene's masterpiece." -John Updike@lt;br@gt;@lt;br@gt;"Graham Greene had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature." -John Le Carre
--This text refers to an alternate
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Book Description
'Graham Greene's masterpiece' John Updike
--This text refers to an alternate
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edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In The Power and the Glory, Greene fictionalises his distaste for anti-clerical 1930s Mexico through the efforts of a lapsed priest to escape execution by the police. This anonymous ‘whisky priest’ is far from saintly: he craves brandy, is a father, and candidly admits his hypocrisy and unworthiness. But as the last practising priest in the state, he is compelled to promote the Catholic faith – and through his travels he finds that the Christian devotion of communities is strong (frequently stronger than his own devotion), despite the dogma of the civil authorities.
Greene’s depiction of the Mexican pogrom of clerics and one man’s bid to stay alive is more sophisticated than a battle of good versus evil, as it is riddled with ambiguous personalities. The priest drinks excessively and doubts himself, but is at times compassionate and heroic. Likewise, the lieutenant who pursues him is cold and relentless, but his zeal is grounded in a desire to give Mexico’s children a world free of superstition, corruption and fear. Another priest has married to escape execution, while the chief of police regularly breaks the law by drinking spirits. There are no sinless characters in the novel. Instead, faith and violence give some sense of order to the lives of people worn down by poverty.
The cat-and-mouse plot allows the reader to sense the fear of the priest on each occasion that he is captured or placed in danger, especially through his preoccupation with pain rather than death. At times the priest is like a Christ figure wandering dishevelled and exhausted through the sweaty, claustrophobic tropics. He can be coolly fatalistic or implausibly generous, but his constant failings are a reminder of his mortality and the impossibility of his situation.
A poignant book, grounded in historical realism and religious doubt, that conveys one man’s plight to justify his faith in an unforgiving era.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Greene's talent for characterisation and plot is astounding. Rather than tell the story entirely through a central character Green actually begins this book with a dentist before going off on what appears to be a tangent with a person that he meets. It's a demonstration of his talent that there is no such thing as a peripheral character in this book - everyone is clearly thought-through with their own motivations and characteristics. Quite often you will witness scenes through a minor character's eyes, and this makes for a quite new experience.
The story - of the flight of a pursued alcoholic priest - is a compelling one. The inner conflict, especially when he is trying to decide what his duty actually is, is quite awesome reading. As he says many times, he is no saint, and what emerges is a picture of weakness and mortality, painted without pity or fear by a master of his art.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Since his death I would say Graham Greene's reputation and position as a novelist has declined. It may take twenty years and a new generation of readers to rediscover his true genius as a prose artist. I hope it won't take even that long.
The Power and the Glory is Greene's supreme achievement in my opinion. Set in Central America in an unnamed country (a thinly disguised portrait of Mexico however) where a Revolutionary Marxist government has come to power and outlawed the Church, Greene employs the narrative conventions of the thriller to explore spiritual, political and philosophical concerns (as he often did in his books).
The main plot concerns a renegade Catholic priest on the run from a Secret Policeman working for the Revolutionary government. This is no simplistic narrative. The Secular Humanist perspective of the policeman and the State is presented every bit as sympathetically and fairly as the Christian world view which Greene himself believed in. This classic "hunt" type plot allows Greene to explore his theme: what happens when the power of the Secular State comes into opposition with the Spiritual power of the Church of God?
Greene's answer to that question will provide food for thought and debate for all serious readers.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not his best!
The Power and the Glory was hailed as Greene's greatest book but after reading it for a second time many years apart, I cannot for the life of me understand why. Read more
Published 28 days ago by F. Nath
The Power and the Glory
Did they really believe with this muscle,
The Catholics and the Socialists,
& so recently, that one would wish
To eliminate the other, to hustle
Priests into... Read more
The Catholics and the Socialists,
& so recently, that one would wish
To eliminate the other, to hustle
Priests into... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sonnet Reviews
A David Attenborough of the literary world...
Like Mr. Attenborough, Graham Green has roamed the world. His interests were not primarily plants and animals, but representatives of the human species, often those profoundly... Read more
Published 18 months ago by John P. Jones III
A cracking tale of persecution and religious intolerance
I read and studied this book for A'Level English Literature some years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Power and the Glory is a very well written book and a satisfying read. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. Craig Henderson
The soul laid bare
The Power and the Glory finds us in Mexico in an age where the church has been outlawed and where priests are criminals there to be shot and eradicated. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Adrenalin Streams
Perverse humanity in all its glory
In the Mexico of the 1920s, against the (unspoken) background of the `Cristero' war, a nameless priest is a fugitive from the police in a state where the church has been outlawed. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Jeremy Bevan
Dark
Profound ..... dark ...... took me by surprise .... thoroughly enjoyed it .... not my favourite Greene though.
Published 23 months ago by Fidelina
Moving finale, though drags a bit in places
I wasn't sure about this for much of the time I was reading it and was prepared to take issue with the description by John Updike in the Introduction that this was the author's... Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2008 by John Hopper
"The passion to protect must extend itself over a world--but he felt...
(4.5 stars) Graham Greene's most elaborate and personal examination of the good life--and the role of the Catholic church in teaching what the good life is--revolves around an... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2008 by Mary Whipple
excellent narrative, moral ambiguity, moving ending
This fine novel, written 'from life' as a result of one of Greene's South American visits, is a modern classic. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2006 by Mr. Ian A. Macfarlane
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