false 3690 37 How does <i>good</i> spoil, and how can <i>bad</i> be redeemed? In his penetrating novel <I>The Power and the Glory</I>, Graham Greene explores corruption and atonement through a priest and the people he encounters. In the 1930s one Mexican state has outlawed the Church, naming it a source of greed and debauchery. The priests have been rounded up and shot by firing squad--save one, the whisky priest. On the run, and in a blur of alcohol and fear, this outlaw meets a dentist, a banana farmer, and a village woman he knew six years earlier. For a while, he is accompanied by a toothless man--whom he refers to as his Judas and does his best to ditch. Always, an adamant lieutenant is only a few hours behind, determined to liberate his country from the evils of the church.<p> On the verge of reaching a safer region, the whisky priest is repeatedly held back by his vocation, even though he no longer feels fit to perform his rites: "When he was gone it would be as if God in all this space between the sea and the mountains ceased to exist. Wasn't it his duty to stay, even if they despised him, even if they were murdered for his sake? even if they were corrupted by his example?"<p> As his sins and dangers increase, the broken priest comes to confront the nature of piety and love. Still, when he is granted a reprieve, he feels himself sliding into the old arrogance, slipping it on like the black gloves he used to wear. Greene has drawn this man--and all he encounters--vividly and viscerally. He may have said <I>The Power and the Glory</I> was "written to a thesis," but this brilliant theological thriller has far more mysteries--and troubling ideals--than certainties. <I>--Joannie Kervran Stangeland</I> 1036817 1940 The Power and the Glory total:3407|5:1200|4:1288|3:716|2:164|1:39| 3407 13667 4844 324 4 14 false false Mon Jul 13 19:01:19 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 08:41:26 -0700 2009
As the lead character, the 'whiskey-priest', moves from one place to another,...more...]]> 5 12 false true Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 18:06:15 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 12:38:59 -0700 2009 1 "... she unhooked the child and held the face against the wood...Did she expect a miracle? And if she did, why should it not be granted her?...The priest found himself watching the child ...more...]]> 4 11 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 11:56:04 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 09:38:21 -0700 2009 That was another mystery: it sometimes seemed to him that venial sins—impatience, an unimportant lie, pride, a neglected opportunity—cut off from grace more completely than the worst sins of all. Then, in his innocence, he had felt no love for anyone: now in his corruption he had learnt...
...more...]]> 3 10 false false Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 00:02:49 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 14:03:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 9 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 20 02:03:57 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 23:48:36 -0700 2009 3.68 stars. 3.85 stars

So, my first jaunt into book club territory. What do I bust in with? The Power and the Glory. What an idiot I am.

I have to say that this is probably not a book that I would have picked if left to my own devices. My first introduction into Gre...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 22 18:36:39 -0800 2007 Wed Feb 27 08:31:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 10:15:08 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 10:21:58 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 3 false false Thu Jan 15 15:55:45 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 15:55:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 10 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 10:26:46 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 19:52:54 -0700 2009 The End of the Affair and it rocked my world, and affected me in some profound ways. It was the perfect novel for me at the time, and I am forever indebted to Mr. Greene for giving me that enlightening experience.

Going into this, I knew better than to e...more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 10:51:03 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 10:52:10 -0700 2008
For years I’ve heard that I should read Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, and I finally picked it up this week. The previous week I had the pleasure of watching the BBC miniseries version of Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited” which left me profoundly moved yet quite u...more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Aug 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 04:47:57 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 07:34:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 11:55:50 -0700 2008 Sun Dec 07 08:53:29 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Aug 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 15:43:02 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 15:43:02 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 18:01:15 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 19:07:25 -0800 2009
Well-written with a distinct style of repeatedly revealing characters (exposing the reader to this in "ah ha" moments later). ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 24 18:17:07 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 12:33:19 -0800 2009
He brought up his bile again and shot it out into the hard sunlight. (p. 7)

He had the kind of dwarfed dignity Mr. Tench was accustomed to - the dignity of people afraid of a little pain and yet sitting down with some firmness in his chair. (p. 13)

...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 15 12:21:18 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 12:24:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 20 13:21:23 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 13:31:43 -0800 2008 The End of the Affair, which also describes the difficulties and graces in believing in God, though this masterpiece focuses more on the forgiveness of sins and our ability to believe in that salvation. Set in a militaristic socialist state in Mexico which has forbidden Catholicism,...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Oct 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 21:10:59 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 21:47:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 14 09:23:19 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 09:23:24 -0700 2009
A convert to Catholicism, Greene wrote a...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 07:03:30 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 07:18:26 -0700 2009 more...]]>