The Crime of Father Amaro (Dedalus European Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
The explosive and highly controversial new film of The Crime of Father Amaro is set in Mexico, in a material and religious culture of this century not unlike the provincial Portugal where, as a young man, de Queiros was despatched to train for the consular service. The Crime of Father Amaro is set in Leiria, a provincial cathedral city, in which the hypocrisies of churchmen were not far to seek. Father Amaro, a young man like himself, with a priestly rather than a diplomatic vocation, falls into a relationship with a woman, and their tragic story unfolds with a harsh relentlessness. The situation of women, tightly swaddled in conformities yet fevered in their illusions of romance, much troubled the young author in this and later books
About the Author
Eca de Queiros (1845-1900) was Portugal's greatest nineteenth-century novelist. His works brilliantly evoke, and condemn, the rapidly changing society of his time. He travelled widely as a diplomat and, though he considered himself an apostle of Naturalist Realism, he is at heart an ironist, with the severity and compassion of Stendhal.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Firstly, ignore the "official" Amazon review under the synopsis - this is intended for the film based on the book.
The book is firmly set in Portugal, although ranges as far away as Paris in its search for reasons to heap opprobrium on the Catholic Church.
Whether this was intended as an indictment of Portuguese culture, the Catholic Church, or both is not clear. Either way, the book tells the enthralling tale of a young man whose ambition is to be a priest.
Not, you understand, because he is Holy. Because it brought "fringe benefits" as they might say. Celibacy is not the counter to these benefits that you might expect and thereby revolves one of Father Amaro's most telling (but not only) sins.
Consequences follow actions and hence the novel unfolds.
I can only imagine the reaction to this novel when it was first published, but even today it is breathtakingly cynical. I loved every word and heartily recommend it to anyone who is Catholic and also anybody who isn't.
The book is firmly set in Portugal, although ranges as far away as Paris in its search for reasons to heap opprobrium on the Catholic Church.
Whether this was intended as an indictment of Portuguese culture, the Catholic Church, or both is not clear. Either way, the book tells the enthralling tale of a young man whose ambition is to be a priest.
Not, you understand, because he is Holy. Because it brought "fringe benefits" as they might say. Celibacy is not the counter to these benefits that you might expect and thereby revolves one of Father Amaro's most telling (but not only) sins.
Consequences follow actions and hence the novel unfolds.
I can only imagine the reaction to this novel when it was first published, but even today it is breathtakingly cynical. I loved every word and heartily recommend it to anyone who is Catholic and also anybody who isn't.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
One of the best novels by (arguably) the best novelist Portugal have ever had, "The crime of Father Amaro" deals with the power of the church in a small provincial town in 1860's Portugal. Here we can see how powerful the representatives of church are, but we also look at their hypocrite lifestyle.
In the center of the book is Amaro, a young priest, ordained without ever being consulted and the love affair he has with Amelia, the daugther of his hostess.
Made recently into a film in Mexico, the novel has the power and strenght laking in the fim. It is a pity that the only reason this is not hailed as universal classic is the language it was written.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Crime of Father Amaro was a revelation to this reader. It's not just breathtakingly satirical and (as other readers have noted) cynical, but it manages to combine this with real wisdom and compassion (a difficult trick to pull off, since cynicism is so often heartless); and (in this superb translation by Margaret Jull Costa) comes across as wickedly stylish and inventive in terms of its language. The range of characterization is masterly; and what I particularly liked was the way in which our sympathies change as we read on. Father Amaro appears more sinned against than sinning for about the first half of the narrative: we feel genuinely sorry for his social isolation and angry at the injustice of his enforced celibacy. But then, when we discover how selfish and corrupt he has become, while still acknowledging that society IS at least partly to blame, we gradually stop feeling that his actions are in any way justifiable. The tragic consequences of his behaviour come with a chilling suddenness and savagery, and there is a wonderfully ironic final section set some years later, which ferociously condemns not just Father Amaro himself but the whole of Portuguese society at this time. And how topical this novel seems at a time when the Catholic Church is rent by scandals of a related kind!
This is a truly great book: it's up there with Crime and Punishment, Madame Bovary, and Anna Karenina as one of the titanic masterpieces of world fiction, and deserves to be much more widely known. I can't wait to read more of de Queiroz's fiction.
This is a truly great book: it's up there with Crime and Punishment, Madame Bovary, and Anna Karenina as one of the titanic masterpieces of world fiction, and deserves to be much more widely known. I can't wait to read more of de Queiroz's fiction.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fantastic read
I normally do not like nineteenth century novels, but this book is a fantastic read revealing the hypocrisy of the Catholic clergy in a small Portuguese town. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Tiger2402
truth told through fiction
The translation is crystal-clear and the author conveys an all too well known truth about the catholic clergy, corrupt and unrepentent or at least many of them as evidenced in... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by Julaka
What a great surprise!
In 1870's Portugal an uncommitted young priest cannot resist the allure of attractive Amelia a young village girl with a resulting pregnancy and the tragic death of two... Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by Officer Dibble
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