However the book has been swirling around in my mind for over a week, even though I had started on a new book. That is why I originally only gave it 2 stars. While the characters and settings are three dimensional, believable and well presented the plot just does not seem to develop. well thats just it, thats the whole plot basically. He is ruthlessly pursued by an anti religeous officer who wants to protect the peasants from what he sees as the exploitative ways of the catholic church and…. Giving clandestine confession, holy communion and baptisms he travels around the country, in a destitute state, meeting a variety of characters. Priests are either shot or forced to get married and renounce.Īgainst this back drop our priest goes on the run for numerous years. It takes place in a region of mexico where there has been a cultural revolution and the catholic church is now banned. The plot centres around an alcoholic, catholic priest who is also the father of a child from a relationship with one of his flock. Wanted to read a “modern classic” and had not read a Graham Greene before so 2 birds, 1 stone. It’s a book that grips you and keeps you thinking. It was rich and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since finishing it. The Power and the Glory had a similar feel to Blood Meridian and Twilight (William Gay). There are a number of examples of these types of opposite situations where you’re able to view something in a new way by looking at it in an almost grotesque or unaccustomed way. He confesses to a group of criminals in a prison cell, with a bucket of crap nearby and a couple making love in the corner. He finally ends up confessing, but not in the way I expected. In some sense, he doesn’t want to, but he needs to for his soul. He hears other’s confession, but is never able to confess to another priest. For example, since he is the only priest, there is no one to hear his confession. This book is so powerful because it presents the priest in a number of situations in which the opposite of what should happen occurs.

The Whiskey Priest continues to take confessions and administer communion while running from the law. The law, represented in the character of the Lieutenant, is hell-bent on killing this final remaining priest. He lives in an area of Mexico in the 1930s that is trying to rid the world of the impact of Christianity, Catholicism, God, etc.

This priest, called The Whiskey Priest, has a penchant for strong drink and also has a daughter (highly frowned upon in priestly circles). This book follows a flawed outlaw who happens to be a priest. Greene kept the narrative moving at a rapid pace with these word bursts that explained multitudes. The Power and the Glory had the musical feel of staccato – rapid spurts of notes with a little air between.

The power and the glory book