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John Updike
Graham Greene's masterpiece

Synopsis
This title is provided with an introduction by John Updike. During a vicious persecution of the clergy in Mexico, a worldly priest, the 'whisky priest', is on the run. With the police closing in, his routes of escape are being shut off, his chances getting fewer. But compassion and humanity force him along the road to his destiny, reluctant to abandon those who need him, and those he cares for.

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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

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4.4 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)

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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping tale of persecution and flight, 23 Dec 2005

By	jacr100 "jacr100" (UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics) (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.

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graham Greene's masterpiece, 21 April 2001

By A Customer

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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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A revelation, 14 Jan 2003

By	Mr. Paul J. Bradshaw (Midlands, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 7 months ago by John Hopper

5.0 out of 5 stars "The passion to protect must extend itself over a world--but he felt it tethered and aching like a hobbling animal."
(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 15 months ago by Mary Whipple

5.0 out of 5 stars 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

5.0 out of 5 stars Cinematic masterpiece
The Power and the Glory is arguably Graham Greene's masterpiece and is one of the greatest books written about Mexico by a gringo (see also Malcome Lowry's Under the Volcano and... Read more

Published on 22 Dec 2006 by Demob Happy

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic novel of the 20th century
In this novel, Mr Greene portrays various characters in an unnamed southern province of Mexico at the time when the Red Shirts - a Communist party - have taken control. Read more

Published on 23 Jun 2005 by Philippe Horak

4.0 out of 5 stars "To Err is Human..."
Graham Green's The Power and Glory is a novel where the threads of personal desire and those of duty be it moral or religious intersect like they never did in other novels. Read more

Published on 26 Mar 2005 by Sameh Abdel-Galil

3.0 out of 5 stars Hate the Sin and Love the Sinner Doesn't Work For Me.
No matter how many times I read one of his books, Greene just never seems to connect with me. At least in this—his one book that in his own words was "written to a... Read more

Published on 20 Feb 2003 by A. Ross

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow
This book is a great story of the struggle of the human condition. Man's (and woman's) suffering in this novel is great, and can only be overcome with a love of God. Read more

Published on 28 Jan 2003 by Nathan Barrett

4.0 out of 5 stars Neither power nor glory for the whisky priest
Acknowledged to be Greene's masterpiece, this is the tale of a worldly priest persecuted by a secular regime in pre war Mexico. Read more

Published on 7 Dec 2001 by B. Ukiah

5.0 out of 5 stars Greene's masterpiece. Relentless and triumphant.
This book anout the struggles of one fugitive priest in Mexico is so powerful in its examination of endurance and faith that it echoes in the mind months after reading. Read more

Published on 29 Aug 2000 by wiwspan@fast.net

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	77% buy the item featured on this page: The Power and the Glory (Vintage Classics) 4.4 out of 5 stars (16) �5.99
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	5% buy Brighton Rock 4.1 out of 5 stars (26) �4.79


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The Power and the Glory (Vintage Classics) (Paperback)

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