Rating: 
Summary: A life changing book
Review: I first read 'The Power and the Glory' at the age of 19 when it was recommended to me by my sister who was studying it at school. Like her I immediatly fell in love with one of the main characters, and it has remained one of my favourite novels for twenty years now. It is also responsible for sparking a long-term interest in Latin American affairs. As usual, Greene writes beautifully - able to describe in a single paragraph all you need to know about a person in order to understand him completely, or to describe an entire landscape and climate with a few words. As for my favorite character - it's not the Priest but the Lieutenant who hunts him all through the state of Tabasco; an idealistic young man dangerously embittered by his personal experience of poverty and social prejudice. Those who think that this is a religious classic are missing the point that Greene's socialist views were at least as strong as his Catholic opinions. At the time in which the book is set, the Catholic church invariably sided with the forces of reaction against the mass of the people (the persecution of the church in Tabasco was sparked by the assassination of the Mexican President by a Catholic fanatic). It seems to me that it is this conflict of interests - religious conviction versus social progress - that gives this novel its tension and makes it so enduringly fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book
Review: I have read this book at least 4 times in the past 10 years and given it as a gift often.
Rating: 
Summary: Unique look into personal faith
Review: In comment to the other customer reviews, I do not think that Greene intended any of his books as Christian classics, or intended them to be champions of Christianity. On the contrary, it has been noted that his looks into religion come mainly through the religious conversion he undertook in order to marry his Catholic wife. This book carries strong echoes of this, as Greene creates a character of unique religious composites: a drunken priest, not always as charitable and good as one would expect. Greene investigates PERSONAL faith, not faith as spelled out in the bible, which makes it all the more interesting, and appealing to those of religious and non-religious backgrounds. As in The Honorary Consul, he subtly questions the notion of religion, but ultimately leaves it to the reader to understand what the priest's true beliefs are. It is a struggle and journey of a man who is a priest, and not a Christian classic. Greene undertakes an examination of one of the most f! requently discussed topics, as he does in his other books. Bolstered by an intriguing main character, he creates a stunning tale, but perhaps not as striking as The End of the Affair, in which Greene's love interest is torn away from him by religion.
Rating:
Summary: duality
Review: Yes, the priest has flaws, as do a few other humans, and while they are a part of him which we need to morally critique, I am unable to ignore his religious sacrifices for his people (due to comfort, pride, shame, whatever). This is Greene's strength - right when we're ready to call the killing lieutenant evil, we learn he's doing this for the children so they have a better world. No, this isn't Disney with a HERO and VILLIAN, this is verisimilitude which forces us to confront the truth that humans sin.
Rating:
Summary: Let me say this
Review: To whiting@tht.com from Boston, MA:Yes, the whiskey priest is deeply flawed and yes, sinful also. But Graham Greene never intended the whiskey priest to represent faith in the first place, as you seem to think, and I strongly disagree with you when you say the novel is "a poor description of faith." It never tried to be a description of faith in the first place. Blame the other reviewers who mistook Greene's characterization of the whiskey priest as a description of faith; don't blame Greene, who I believe clearly showed that the whiskey priest was fueled by pride, not faith. Greene still wants you to feel sorry for the whiskey priest - he is a tragic figure, after all - and he wants you to like him. But Greene's message with the whiskey priest is less about religion and more about being human. To A reader from America: The priest is overly predictable? I'm not sure what you mean, but I do know that the priest is complex and very well developed. Perhaps the novel doesn't "force" moral introspection upon readers like his other novels do, but the moral introspection is definitely there - moral themes and philosophies, they're all present here. The novel sweeps, okay? That's my view, anyhow.
Rating: 
Summary: What's the big deal?
Review: Graham Greene is a fabulous writer. But The Power and The Glory really falls short of being his "finest" novel, or even defining him as a writer. The book is good writing, but it lacks much of the moral introspection that Greene's other novels force upon the reader. The priest is a somewhat pathetic character; realistic, but overly predictable. Graham Greene is a MUCH better writer than this book might lead you to believe.
Rating:
Summary: one of my top twenty favorite novels
Review: This is undoubtedly a Christian classic, along with _The End of the Affair_. A wonderful illustration of how God selects the most "unlikely" characters to accomplish God's work. The gospel understanding of sainthood brought to light in this novel is an especially radical challenge to the denizens of 20th North America.
Rating:
Summary: A Poor Description of Faith...
Review: Although the book speaks with a great deal of realism that makes it an interesting novel, it misses terribly the point of faith. The "whiskey priest" is a person of certain professed principles who not only fails to live up to his principles, but, in fact, actively opposes them with his actions. I notice some previous readers have celebrated the redemptive work of God through this character, yet, there is no such redemptive work presented. The only faith the priest maintains to the end is in his supposed authority to call God materially into the mass and to actually forgive others for their sin in the place of God. These subjects of faith take no requirement of action on his part in terms of his personal relationship to God, and therefore, he is able to hold them against external opposition. The internal opposition of his sin nature against his other priniples triumphs over him again and again. Real faith, the faith discussed in the Bible (which book and faith he is supposed to represent) requires victory over the flesh through faith in the redemptive power of God to defeat our sin nature. The lack of such faith on the part of the priest, in fact, the lack of the Bible's distinctive place as a revelation from God, points up that he in fact, had no faith in God or the Bible (which is the ONLY source of our knowledge of God and therefore, true faith in God requires faith in the truth's of scripture, as Jesus said, "thy word is truth" "many will come to me in that day saying Lord...and I will profess to them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that WORK iniquity (or lawlessness)). The priest, in point of fact, worked lawlessness in his relationship to God and had no redemptive knowledge or answers from the Bible for the sufferers he met. Despite Graham Greene's beliefs, this novel is an example of sin and its destructive effect on people who will not listen to the call of God in its personal statement of our sin and his redemption. That, unfortunately, makes it a novel a! bout damnation, not redemption and it deceives people by leading them into a path of antinomian heresy when dealing with their own sinfulness. It was well written (but which of Greene's books isn't), so it rates a seven, but it must be read carefully, with reference to Biblical truth.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent dark read.
Review: The trials of a renegade priest during Mexican persecution of the Church after the Revolution. The battle of the spirit against despair and hopelessness, and the search for redemption in face of such obstacles. Nearly as dark as Conrad, but certainly memorable.
Rating:
Summary: Yes...
Review: I'm very happy to see the 10's. Graham Greene: in my opinion, one of the top three 20th C. writers in the English language. The Power and the Glory: extremely moving. The nameless whiskey priest - the "last" priest in Mexico - fueled by pride, deeply flawed, refuses to give up his priestly obligations, refuses to submit to the state as other priests have, becomes a fugitive. Connect with the whiskey priest as you read, witness Greene's cinematic ability, reach teariness.
|
