Eminence

Rating:
Summary: A "must read"
Review: I have always enjoyed Morris Wests novels. His grasp and understanding come from an insiders view of how the church operates and its relationships with people and governments. He is wonderful at developing great characters so this book will not disappoint you. He makes two significant assumptions in trying to make this a " real " (in his eyes) portrayal of the church, namely that the present pontif regrets his stronghanded conservative stance on the church and that a church, riddled with conservatives will entertain the choice of a moderate for the next pope. These are big jumps that I am not sure everyone is willing to make and thus the ending is somewhat unreal. Most readers are probably not this critical nor are they knowledgeable of the running of the church as West is and therefore might make the jump easier. Neverthrless, it is a good read and will certainly keep your attention to the last page.

Rating:
Summary: An Engaging Look What If On the Next Papal Election
Review: Morris West's new book, Eminence, finds the prolific author returning to the theme of the Roman Catholic Church, a theme he has written about intermittently throughout his writing career. As a result of his former life as a Catholic priest assigned to the Vatican, West is very familiar with Rome, the Vatican and the politics of the Church. Although West left the priesthood many years ago, he has maintained his interest in carefully following Vatican politics and the developments of the Church -- presumably maintaining some, now very old, contacts in Rome. His latest novel is set sometime in the future, opening at the final days of illness and death of the Pope. Although never stated outright, through various pieces of dialogue and a few other factors, the reader can safely presume that the timing is upon the present Pope, John Paul II. The story quickly unfolds by introducing a rather mysterious prelate escaping to the solitude of his retreat house just outside Rome. Shortly after his arrival, he receives a call to return to Rome. We soon learn that the pope has suffered a severe brain trauma, is still alive, but he has not been hospitalized because a protracted life, virtually a vegetable would be the most likely result -- and the cause of a great dilemma in the complications of replacing a "living" Pope. We learn the "mystery man" is a rather high ranking Cardinal (Eminence) in the church who has been close to the dying Pope for many years.The story moves with the Pope soon dying and is followed by the intrigue associated with every Papal conclave up until the election of a new Pope. The story visits the Press Pool gathered in Rome to frequently gather the local media gossip and intermixes this with an inside look at the the preparations for the security of the conclave, to the various arriving Cardinals holding private dinners in small groups to "strategize" their political leanings (in a process which is actually not to have any politicking or discussion among the electors.) West does a fine job of leading the reader into their own speculations by weaving together the stories floating through the inner circles of Cardinal electors to the external word the Press is tactically gathering in order to narrow down the likely outcome of the conclave. The story keeps the reader interested to the very final page -- with a very interesting turn of events and ultimately, veering us into a sharp and quite unexpected U-turn, at the very end.Probably Morris West's most familiar work on the Catholic Church is "The Shoes of the Fisherman" which began a trilogy over subsequent years. I believe that none of his Church writing compares to the excellence of that early work. Yet, West has always been a very engaging storyteller. His other church works each quickly involve readers interested in Vatican and general church politics in his story. In "Eminence," West does a good job of weaving fact, (i.e., the recent construction of Saint Martha's House to host the cardinals in future papal conclaves -- instead of the historical tradition of sealing the cardinals inside the confines of the areas immediately surrounding the Sistine Chapel -- living quite primitively in order to keep conclaves from becoming too lengthy,) with the fiction of his story."Eminence" is a worthwhile read for those interested in the Vatican's politics and some of the quite likely factors which will be weighed in the election which will indeed follow John Paul II's death. A well paced interesting story!

Rating:
Summary: Church and power - once again
Review: Once again, Morris West brings to life a clergyman with a troublesome past. Cardinal Luca, burdened with old memories of being molested by Argentine soldiers, comes to town - THE town, La Citta. So does the love of his life, an ambassador's wife. West weaves an elegant web of love and politics (churchly and worldly). As the Pope dies, Luca has to cope with his love's fatal illness, the election of the successor of St Peter - and his own past. Of course, the election turns out more exciting than anyone could guess, with an unexpected turn at the end. As usual, West gives us a thoroughly researched background - this time on the pulling of strings behind the scenes: Maybe this is the way popes are elected; we can not really know. West has a flair for telling about live people in odd circumstances. And he does not let us down.

Rating:
Summary: Can you hear the tune?
Review: The emotions and struggles of West's characters are real, heartfelt, and dated to the beginning of mankind. In this way, I always relate to his stories, tantalized and drawn in by his graceful style and--often un-American--sense of dignity. On the other hand, the dialogue tends to flow from pre-ordained scripts, rather than from the down-on-the-street world most of us live in. I usually overlook this stilted quality because of the seductive narrative. His words nearly hum a tune of honor and the quest for truth in a world gone mad. West is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed this story of Luca and Isabel and the political jockeying within the Vatican, but I wouldn't rate it among his best. I hope he has one more truly original premise to vent in his latter days. Meanwhile, try his nonfiction offering "A View from the Ridge." This man truly attempts to reconcile faith with the darkness of the world around us--and for that he sits high on my list of influential authors.

Rating:
Summary: Can you hear the tune?
Review: The emotions and struggles of West's characters are real, heartfelt, and dated to the beginning of mankind. In this way, I always relate to his stories, tantalized and drawn in by his graceful style and--often un-American--sense of dignity. On the other hand, the dialogue tends to flow from pre-ordained scripts, rather than from the down-on-the-street world most of us live in. I usually overlook this stilted quality because of the seductive narrative. His words nearly hum a tune of honor and the quest for truth in a world gone mad. West is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed this story of Luca and Isabel and the political jockeying within the Vatican, but I wouldn't rate it among his best. I hope he has one more truly original premise to vent in his latter days. Meanwhile, try his nonfiction offering "A View from the Ridge." This man truly attempts to reconcile faith with the darkness of the world around us--and for that he sits high on my list of influential authors.

Rating:
Summary: A real sad story
Review: This book is a real sad story, it keeps you reading almost all the time, is not exactly a thriller but is very sad, reading this book you will see how live the people in the Vatican and how they feel.
The story of Isabel and Luca is sad since the beginning of the book, also is the story of Piers Hallet and is only written once, but the childhood of Stephanie was awful.
I won't comment anything of how Luca and Isabel met because I will tell you part of the book, but it was terrible, if you are not in the mood of "crying" while you read, don't read this book.