Eminencia

The Vatican #4

by Morris L. West

Morris West, author of the bestselling novel The Shoes of the Fisherman, manages in many of his books to balance a steadfast Catholic faith with a razor-keen perception of the flaws of the Church. Eminence begins with Monsignor Jorge Novak's 1995 admonishment of the Church's "complicities [in respect of] illegal repression" in Argentina and a short citation from William Pitt (1770): "Where law ends, tyranny begins." West uses these political statements as the launching point for his very personal story of Cardinal Luca Rossini. Luca is a compelling character--a haunted man who offers the world a stern visage to cover a deeply troubled soul. As a young and outspoken priest he was brutally tortured in an Argentine military prison and was then nursed to health by the beautiful Isabel, wife of an Argentine diplomat. To cover the scandal of his unacknowledged treatment, he was recalled to Rome and exiled to the Vatican. As the novel begins, Rossini is now the confidante of the reigning pope. He is admired and feared by his colleagues, for Rossini (like his creator) understands the Church, speaks frankly, and knows how to present his ancient faith to the late-20th-century media. When the pope becomes gravely ill and a successor must be chosen, Rossini takes a central role in the process. In the midst of the political intrigue that surrounds the selection of a new pope, however, Isabel arrives in Rome--along with Luca's daughter. Luca must suddenly confront old and painful memories of Argentina and the scandalous passion of his long-suspended love affair.

Eminence is a brisk thriller and simultaneously a very relevant examination of the byzantine Vatican City; but the ultimate pleasure of the book, as with the best of West's writings, derives from his complex and very human portrait of a modern man of the cloth. --Patrick O'Kelley

Genres: Fiction, Religion, Christianity, Collections, Thriller, Catholic, Drama

Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Morris Langlo West was born in St Kilda, Melbourne in 1916. At the age of fourteen, he entered the Christian Brothers seminary ‘as a kind of refuge’ from a difficult childhood. He attended the University of Melbourne and worked as a teacher. In 1941 he left the Christian Brothers without taking final vows. In World War II he worked as a code-breaker, and for a time he was private secretary to former prime minister Billy Hughes.

After the war, West became a successful writer and producer of radio serials. In 1955 he left Australia to build an international career as a writer. With his family, he lived in Austria, Italy, England and the USA, including a stint as the Vatican correspondent for the British newspaper, the Daily Mail. He returned to Australia in 1982.

Morris West wrote 30 books and many plays, and several of his novels were adapted for film. His books were published in 28 languages and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. Each new book he wrote after he became an established writer sold more than one million copies.

West received many awards and accolades over his long writing career, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the W.H. Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature for The Devil's Advocate. In 1978 he was elected a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1985, and was made an Officer of the Order (AO) in 1997.

Morris West died at his desk in 1999.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oct 12 ~~ This final book of the author's Vatican series is just too dark and depressing, with a main character who is haunted by severe trauma from his past and is another clergyman who has lost his belief in God. Right from the beginning the Pope in this story is in a coma from a severe stroke and for as long as I could stand to read the officials around him are trying to decide how to handle the situation for presentation to the public.

I can't take any more of this. Maybe our damaged mc will get through his trials, but I think I have overdosed a bit on the author's bitterness, and I don't have the patience this time to see what happens, I just want out.

DNF after about 100 pages.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eminence by Australian author Morris West was a heavily researched book by a man who spent a lot of time in Rome and intimately knew the inner workings including the politics of the Vatican. When I bought this book in London in 1999, I did not realize that it was part of a series, namely The Vatican. There are four books making up the series, this being the fourth. However, now I feel compelled to read the first three books beginning with the inconic The Shoes of the Fisherman having sold millions of copies world-wide after being published on the day of the death of Pope John XXIII. However, the fictional The Shoes of the Fisherman prophesied the election of the first Slavic pope, confirmed fifteen years later with the election of Karol Wojtyla of Krakow as pope becoming John Paul II. A further irony is that in the bookshelves of the new pontiff in his home in Krakow, Poland was a copy of the book The Shoes of the Fisherman.

This book Eminence is about another papal election taking place years after a young priest from Argentina was tortured, humiliated and degraded at the hands of a dictatorial regime in front of his parish church. He was ultimately rescued by a a powerful family and spirited away to heal both the physical and psychological wounds suffered that day. Luca Rossini was then sent to the Vatican under the care of Pope John Paul II where he rose to great heights in power becoming a Cardinal. It is during this papal election after the death of Pope John Paul II, that Cardinal Rossini becomes a possible candidate for election to the papacy although he describes himself as flawed and unworthy.

Complicating this are the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo, a group of women who had exposed and ultimately destroyed the dictatorship in Argentina. They were the mothers, widows, sisters and sweethearts of the thousands who had "been disappeared under the regime of which Luca Rossini himself had been a victim. As an aside, I have to say that in a trip that I took to South America in 1981, we were aware of demonstrations of the Mothers of the Disappeared against the Pinochet regime in Chile. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, staying in a lovely hotel overlooking the Plaza de Mayo, we could witness hundreds of women all dressed in black with black lace mantillas silently protesting the disappeared by Argentinian regime hour after hour, the Mothers of the Plazo de Mayo.

This book takes a look at a lot of issues that the church was dealing with including limitations on the reign of a pope as well as issues of health possibly compromising the papacy. There is a lot of discussion among the cardinals who will ultimately cast their votes for the next pope as to the strength of the church. This was one of my favorite quotes:

"Sometimes it's called the 'barque of Peter.' It's a good metaphor. It's a ship--a very old ship riding in stormy waters. It's been well built--its essential structures are sound, but its timbers creak; some of them are worm-eaten and have to be replaced. The rigging is frayed, the sails have been patched and repatched. It wallows in the troughs and lurches over the crests of big seas, but it's still afloat and the crew is still manning her--even though they, too, look a motley bunch sometimes."

[Tony Almeida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Morris West é daqueles autores que só li depois de ter visto a adaptação cinematográfica de um dos seus livros, no seu caso foi "As Sandálias do Pescador", um livro que me agradou muito e que acabou por envolver West com uma áurea de "visionário" ao prever no seu livro a eleição de um Papa vindo do antigo Bloco do Leste.

Neste livro West volta de certo modo a actualidade da Igreja. Um livro escrito em 1998, o autor volta a actualidade e descreve a Igreja após um longo pontificado, tal como foi o de João Paulo II. Morris West desenterra alguns dos esqueletos da Igreja, como sendo os problemas de pedofilia entre o clero, a homossexualidade, a ordenação de mulheres, o silêncio da Igreja perante os estados autoritários, problema que o novo líder da Igreja terá que enfrentar.

Ao mesmo tempo vivemos o drama Pessoal do Cardeal Luca Rossini, figura respeitada na Cúria Romana e protegido Papa, que viveu na pele a repressão da ditadura argentina e apaixonado pela mulher que lhe devolveu a dignidade.

Neste livro somos novamente mergulhados nos meandros da "política" religiosa, os jogos de bastidores em que os príncipes da Igreja se envolvem para eleger o novo ocupante do trono de Pedro. Um livro que funciona algo ao contrário de "As Sandálias do Pescador" em termos de organização: neste vemos o depois do conclave, com a surpresa que é a eleição de um Papa não romano pertencente ao bloco do leste; em "Eminência" vemos todos os jogos de cintura que podem existir até o resultado final do Santo Colégio reunido na Capela Sistina.

Talvez por isso este livro não seja tão surpreendente, e de certo modo previsível, sem que no entanto deixe de ser um livro interessante que nos dá mais uma visão particular da Igreja Romana.

[Ale Rivero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha sido una sorpresa 🤔 había leído con anterioridad al autor, y reconozco que la creación de personajes se le da muy bien, pero no me había enganchado tanto con sus tramas principales.
Aquí, aparte del gran desarrollo que le da a su protagonista, Luca Rossini, sabe crear una trama de intrigas, en un lugar que es bastante recocido por estas, El Vaticano. Puede que a muchos no les llame la atención por el contexto en el que sucede todo, pero el devenir de sus personajes merece mucho una lectura, ha plasmado unas personalidades muy interesantes en sus personajes que merecen ser conocidas.
En particular, disfruto mucho de los libros que presentan intrigas en cualquier estamento del poder, eso fue un punto extra en mi lectura.

[Natasha Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como ciudadana argentina recibí con gran agrado el anuncio que nombraba a Jorge Mario Bergoglio como nuevo Papa de la Iglesia Católica, jefe de Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano, obispo de Roma, vicario de Cristo, y muchos otros títulos más. Bergoglio dejó de ser un religioso jesuita argentino para ser Su Santidad el Papa Francisco. Esta celebración ha removido fuertemente muchas creencias, bandos políticos y rumores, entre ellos, los que vinculaba a Bergoglio con algunas personalidades oscuras durante la dictadura militar en Argentina. Por lo tanto, en el momento de leer Eminencia, fue imposible para mi separar la expectación que me creaba el reciente nombramiento. Un libro fuerte, sin dudas, que hubiese levantado mucha polémica en Marzo. Realmente resulta profético lo que Morris West escribió en 1998, porque más allá del desenlace final del libro, las coincidencias entre la ficción y la realidad son asombrosas.


Luca Rossini es un personaje misterioso para sus hermanos del Vaticano. Ha sabido ganarse la confianza y el afecto del Papa, quien lo ha estado ascendiendo con regularidad, lo que provocó celos en los demás. Realiza su trabajo con tacto y astucia, así que no hay nada que reprocharle. Excepto tal vez que oculta grandes demonios en su interior.
El Papa ha sido una gran figura conservadora, pero terminalmente enfermo, se encuentra en su lecho de muerte debido a muerte cerebral. Grandes dilemas se abren al respecto y será Luca quien salvará el momento. Sin embargo, las cartas ya están echadas... Una guerra fría se extiende entre los cardenales, remarcando aún más las diferencias entre ellos. La presencia de la Prensa en cada esquina no les dará respiro alguno.
Cuando personas de su pasado aparezcan, los demonios de Luca Rossini se soltarán en el momento menos adecuado. ¿Quién será el nuevo Papa? ¿Qué futuro le podrá dar a una Iglesia que se tambalea? ¿Hasta dónde se está dispuesto a llegar?


Más allá de las coincidencias casi proféticas que tuvo Morris West al escribir Eminencia, esta novela de ficción presenta grandes cuestionamientos acerca de la Iglesia y sus políticas. Polémico en todo momento, su argumento resalta grandes preocupaciones por el futuro de la fe y de la institución que la concentra. Temas como la homosexualidad, el aborto, la eutanasia, el celibato, las relaciones adúlteras, la pedofilia y los crímenes de lesa humanidad, que ya de por sí resultan fuertes, lo son aún más desde el contexto que se plantea. Algunas frases dichas por personajes religiosos resultan terribles. ¿Qué puede ocurrir si un cardenal pierde la fe?
El personaje de Luca Rossini está creado con gran maestría, su personalidad está vigente desde el primer capítulo, pero tanto para los otros personajes como para el lector, el proceso de comprenderlo y de conocer su pasado se irá dando a lo largo de la historia. Todos los personajes secundarios se mantienen en el plano con diferentes actitudes humanas. La imagen de la prensa, representada por varios periodistas, estará presente en todo momento y terminará con grandes funciones en este "circo mediático" que representará la Iglesia.
Rossini no será el único personaje argentino en la novela. Aparecerán aquí las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, buscando la justicia para sus desaparecidos. El período oscuro de nuestra historia se trasladará hasta el Vaticano con gran fervor.
El disparador de la situación más problemática para la Iglesia no será un miembro del clero, pero si una persona muy cercana al Papa, que pondrá en peligro no solo la estabilidad de la Institución, sino también su credibilidad ante los fieles. Y nuevamente llegamos aquí al tema de la fe, ya que a pesar de que la novela se sitúa en la ciudad más religiosa del mundo, la figura de Dios jamás se personifica. No es el propósito de West indagar sobre la existencia o no de esta presencia todopoderosa, sino de mostrar a los funcionarios de la Iglesia (incluyendo a su Máxima Santidad) como lo que en realidad son: hombres comunes que tienen defectos y pecan a diario.
La narración es sencilla y ligera, no está plagado de enseñanzas católicas y su función no es didáctica. No es necesario conocer mucho acerca de la religión para poder leer la novela. Todos los núcleos se desarrollan alrededor de Rossini, pero cuando es necesario, el narrador se separa para darnos un plano más amplio de la situación.
El desenlace es sumamente realista y, aunque un poco triste, logra cerrar la historia de manera coherententemente brillante. No me ha defraudado y me ha tenido prisionera durante las más de cuatrocientas páginas.
Eminencia resulta ser una novela sobre la Iglesia humana, sin mitos ni milagros. Cuando la fe, la política y el poder son hermanos, el ser más peligroso es aquel que dice la misa.

-Reseña publicada primero en mi blog Nanny Books-
http://nannybooks.blogspot.com.ar/201...

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

What began as a trilogy based on Catholics and Cardinals and the Vatican became a tetralogy with the publishing of this book - "Eminence." In Eminence we learn of a young priest who is tortured in Argentina by the military, is rescued back to Rome where he lives in exile, and eventually is made a Cardinal Priest by his patron the aging Pope. When that Pope later passes away, the young Cardinal must make his own way through all the intrigue and politics of the Vatican See on his own.

As in the other books in the series, the tale is well developed and will interest those who enjoy stories of the pomp and circumstance of the Catholic religion. With Morris West now passed on, this will be the last of his Vatican stories. This book touches on some more current issues and debates inside the Church. Good book, and recommended.

[Gustavo Nascimento · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interessei-me pela obra por causa do excelente filme "As sandálias do pescador" baseado em uma obra anterior do autor ( não tive oportunidade de ler o livro). O filme de 1968 teve um tom profético ao relatar a eleição de um papa não italiano depois de séculos, além disso acertou que este seria do leste europeu e teria que lidar com as tensões entre a URSS e os EUA durante a Guerra Fria. Teria o autor previsto o futuro novamente com um papa argentino?
Este livro de 1998 tem como protagonista um cardeal argentino tido como uma das personalidades mais influentes do Vaticano e candidato forte a sucessão do papado. Esta obra soa tempo todo inverossímil: um cardeal reconhecido pelos colegas como alguém que perdeu a fé, não só abandonou o celibato mas comete adultério e não se arrepende disso (até orgulha-se), é tido como um pilar moral e uma escolha viável para o próximo papa. Esses fatos não são apenas conhecidos do alto clero mas de toda a imprensa o que deixa tudo mais surreal. Os personagens são todos muito fracos e é difícil explicar sem grandes "spoilers". Posso dizer que uma personagem tem uma revelação importantíssima sobre seu passado e para ela é algo super comum, não há qualquer choque. O pontífice com morte cerebral no início da trama serve como uma versão crítica do saudoso João Paulo II que é tido como um velho ultrapassado que só prejudicou a Igreja levando a um retrocesso.
Creio que o autor também não tinha uma noção de como funcionavam as ditaduras latino americanas da segunda metade do século XX, na obra os militares argentinos torturam e estupram pessoas em praça pública diante de toda a população ao invés de fazer as torturas e execuções nos porões das cadeias e quartéis.
O livro não é extenso por isso persisti até o final, mas ainda assim tem muitas partes que não levam a nada na trama, toda uma subtrama envolvendo jornalistas que é totalmente dispensável.
De tantos pontos negativos devo dizer que os últimos parágrafos da obra me surpreenderam por haver um suspiro de coerência, mas ainda assim não passa de nota 1/5.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was well written & read, but I just couldn't work up any empathy for the characters. They're Catholics & most of the story hinges on their beliefs, which are also warring with reality in the form of modern medicine. If the Pope is the God's voice on Terra, what happens if he's a mindless vege? Of course, that tossed a monkey wrench into their laws & politics, but the more they struggled with their religious beliefs, the more ludicrous the whole plot became. The enormity of their egos & their tiny sense of racial & self esteem reminds me of a bunch of alcoholics. Instead of alcohol, they're drunk on their own philosophy, though.

It's pretty amazing that people can base their world view on such nonsense, but a neighbor recently stopped by to ask us if we knew anything about horse hair snakes. According to him, these are snakes born of horse tail hairs sitting in stagnant water that spontaneously come to life. Wow. He said he graduated high school & belongs to the Baptist church just down the street. That new preacher stopped by & told me the world was only 5,000 years old just a month or so ago. It's pretty incredible & very sad to think there is such intentional ignorance in the world.

[Silvana Feijóo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que Morris West es un genio no es algo que voy a descubrir yo ahora, es un hecho consumado que se confirma en cada nueva lectura... y que esta novela roza el concepto de "obra maestra", me caben pocas dudas.
Una historia inimaginable cuando la concibió, y que el tiempo demostró no ser tan "loca", pero más allá de eso, es una novela ágil, EXCELENTEMENTE documentada. Habla de hechos históricos MUY recientes de mi país con una contundencia y una veracidad que no encontré otros escritores extranjeros. Para los católicos, es un llamado de atención y para los que no lo son, un buen retrato de lo que es nuestra Iglesia... creo que West en esta obra llegó a su cenit. Altamente recomendable.

[Yobaín Vázquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta es otra de las novelas proféticas de West. Nos pone de protagonista a un papable argentino, tomemos en cuenta de que lo escribió en 1998. También muestra a un papa anciano, decadente (como Juan Pablo II) y plantea la posibilidad de que eso sea un contratiempo para la Iglesia. A partir de esto arma un entramado de chismorreos en el Vaticano.

Debo decir que esta sería la tercera novela de su tetralogía que leo y me queda claro que tuvo su encanto cuando era adolescente. Ahora su prosa me parece densa y con poco movimiento. Está sustentada en largos diálogos, todo se habla, se dice, poco se muestra. Algunas cosas le salen mejor, como las maquinaciones de los cardenales. No entiendo por qué le gusta meter más tramas.

En este caso, el cardenal argentino tiene ahí su historia de amor no logrado, con lo que implica revelaciones casi telenovelescas. ¿Hacía falta? ¿Es consecuencia de pensar que eso le ocurre precisamente por ser latinoamericano? Lo que le aplaudo es que nuevamente menciona el tema lgbt, pero esta vez menos tendencioso que en Las sandalias del pescador.

Es una novela que debió ser más concreta, me pareció un fastidio casi para el final, cuando le llega de visita la señora que lo rescató de la dictadura. Hizo que casi no disfrutara el desenlace. Por lo demás, la considero una obra más madura pero sin llegar a la perfección para alguien que vivía de escribir estos best sellers religiosos.

[Bohemian Book Lover · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Each book in
*Morris West's
*Incredibly prescient Vatican Trilogy has kept me invested & intrigued in one way or another. I do
*Not have the reading stamina for a book series. But since I
*Enjoy West's writing & find in it the character
*Nuances, human drama & themes that made these novels
*Captivating for me, I had to finish this last installment which has as its main protagonist a complex, flawed & traumatized Argentinian Cardinal (synchronising with a year that saw the death of the 1st Latin American Pope from Argentina) surviving the spiritual turmoil of faith & doubt, the Machiavellian vicissitudes of Church & secular politics, & the deep tempests of his heart. It didn't disappoint, & was as synchronistically prescient as all the previous books before it (the book mentions the building up of the nuclear arsenals of India & Pakistan during the start of a conclave... 27 years later, at the start of a factual conclave this year, there were nuclear war tensions between India & Pakistan!). The finale was movingly satisfying. I
*Exit this Vatican tetralogy with "Vatican fatigue", but with a sense of completion & achievement.

[Jay Dewey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second read after about 12 years. As I got into I remembered more and more of the plot, but it wasn't until the last couple of chapters that I find overwhelming waves of emotion sweep over me. A man (the hero has for more talents than I) undergoes a severe jolt to his live and very sense of being (me too though not so dramatic a jolt) so far me the story read so much more than a man coming to grips with loss and his place in his church culture, it was very much resonance of my own deep loss in my Cath0lic upbringing where I found the Organized Church no the help in finding my way but the enemy. I resorted to the very roots of Christianity, the early church, at least as I could find them among today's many denominations and converted to The Society of Friends (Quakers). It has not been wholly fulfilling but it has not placed stumbling blocks in the way like the Club did. It did not require rote learning, unreasonable myths, dogma, and authoritarian laws - rather it gave me a way to connect with people also searching - as was the Jewish Jesus.

[Damian North · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book by Morris West that I read, and once I finished it I decided to read everything I could get my hands on that he had written. He is without doubt my favorite fiction writer and the inspiration behind my own Vatican Trilogy.

Eminence is a beautiful story about the human struggles of an aged celibate cleric who seeks the touch of love and to share his retirement with a woman in his little hideaway outside of Rome. The insight in his personal struggles along with politics of church is what makes this a great read, and a great introduction into the writings of Morris West if you have never read his work before.

What I felt I discovered about Morris West was that towards the end of his life, this novel being one of his last, he still had his own personal struggles with faith as this clearly emanates from his writing. This aspect will make the read much more alive and raw.

It is a book that will not disappoint.

Damian North

[Artie LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

As ever with West, a well-structured novel. Several of the plot developments are quite predictable, but nonetheless it captures the peculiar mix of life - in Rome but not really OF Rome - of the cardinals, as well as the sometimes suffocating milieu of the Vatican.

I would have liked to see more introspection by the main characters - in the hands of a writer like Patrick O'Brian, this would be a five-star read.

[Hugo Villaseñor Magallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro en suma impresionante, que sumerge al lector de principio a fin en la anciada aventura del cardenal Luca Rossini, en quien la visión profética de Morris West, convierte en el primer Papa argentino, o algo así. Un libro obligado para todo aquel que guste de las historias donde se maneja el poder, un libro sin precendetes, ampliamente recomendado.

[b interiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, it follows historical and religious traditions. Easy to read and interesting book. Follows Morris L West style. La version an espanol muy buena.

To read it many years after it was written can be applied to modern times and the present situation of the Church

[Feli O'Garran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comencé a leerlo y tuve que parar. Fue después de haber ahondado, por otros caminos, en el funcionamiento de la Iglesia como institución, que pude tomarlo con el bagaje adecuado. En esa "segunda oportunidad" tardé apenas unos días en leerlo del tirón. Es una maravilla total.

[Alex M. S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leer Eminencia es como chismear con tu amiga más intensa después de dos mezcales: te identificas, te cuestionas tu existencia... y al final solo quieres más. Moñirras West no escribe, dispara frases que te dan terapia y verdades al mismo tiempo.

[Pablo de Contreras · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je l’avais commencé avec la promise de trouver un livre plein d’action et des narratifs incroyables. C’est vrai que l’auteur a la capacité de créer des personnages super complètes et pleines de détailles, mais au delà d ça, l’histoire tourne autour le même évent.

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the storyline, however found some of the language was difficult to understand, and I ended up looking up words in the dictionary ...

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Não tinha lido esse livro. Acho que o único do Morris West que não li, na época.
Ótimo escritor.

[Steve Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another look at what goes on behind the scenes of a papal election. Interesting storyline with a sympathetic cardinal.

[Dulcie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalling, childish trash.

First and last West.

[Ricardo Gaitan · Rating 5 out of 5]

excelente libro

Es un libro Cautivador, muy Reflexivo que muestra cómo la naturaleza humana aflora en cada uno de sus personajes.
Recomendado

[JP Castaldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

never enough of Morris West.

[Katie King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still reading this, but it is so much better than I expected, I know I will reread this many times.

It calls to me as a psychological thriller that allows me to connect and perhaps identify but in a way that also allows me to imagine I am connecting across many strangenesses that matter.

I find it profoundly moving and intellectually compelling and as a story, one that seems to be something I already know and care about, when how could that be?

Perhaps that is why it so powerful.

It kept me company on a long difficult plane flight yesterday, and today I am keeping company with it too.

Finished it and started it all over again. More than enough to review in this....

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew right away Luisa's paternity, long before the scene of it emerged. Predictability is a comfort in Morris West's novels, rather than an annoyance as it would be with lesser novels.

That's not to say that Morris West's works are predictable, but rather than he writes with such strength, such conviction, such felicity of characterization and leaves room enough for readers to debate many facets of his characters and about the Vatican itself that we'll follow him anywhere. Time spent with his novels is always well worth it.

[Basu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eminence starts off very promisingly with hints of suspense but eventually drags into meaningless blabbering. The story is about a priest who was tortured in Argentina, under the oppressive military regime and now holds an important post besides the Pope. The workings of the Church are described well in this book, hence the 1 star. The story leads to no where, with the book full of boring and dull conversations and a wide range of characters whom you cannot remember.
"This book is absolutely not worth your time."

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cracking and believable tale with a strong central character. However, the intrigues of the Vatican machine are really the most interesting part of the story. Whatever your view of organised religion is, I suspect that most major religions work the same way and have the same problems. I have not read Morris West before but I will certainly read him again. I found him to be a consummate story teller.

[Богиня Книдска · Rating 1 out of 5]

Господи, три пъти проверявах дали авторът наистина е мъж Rolling Eyes - звучи като розов роман и то от най-сълзливите. За повече "драматичност" му е добавен лекия привкус на религиозно-папската интрига. Чак ме е яд, че изгубих цял ден за тази блудкава история.
Диалозите бяха просто отчайващи в своята нелепост.