The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene (Review)

 

The Power and the Glory -Graham Greene

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

 

Haunting, poignant, tragic, noble, heroic, tender, heart-wrenchingly beautiful. Human, so very, very human and yet also about the power of God …

What words, what phrases of mine can possibly render justice to this masterpiece: Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory?

For here is true literature, in which one finds the most acute observation of the human condition, in all its frailty and fallen-ness.

Fallen-ness: One may draw the word from Christianity and Catholicism – and this is a book that is very, very Catholic.

By this, I mean to say that this is not merely a book whose subject matter is explicitly Catholic.

Although it certainly is that.

For it concerns the plight of an alcoholic Mexican priest being hunted for his life. He is being hunted to the death in a wretchedly poor 1930s’ Mexican state, which has outlawed the Church with the decree: “Kill all the priests” …

But no, by calling this book Catholic, I mean to say far more than the fact that its subject matter concerns the clergy or Church-State relations. I mean to say this is a book possessed of a deeply Catholic sensibility and vision.

Now, some have called this “The Catholic Imagination”, implying that the practice of the Catholic and Christian religion – with its Sacraments – bestows a unique way of envisioning the world.

‘A unique way of envisioning the world’: It is not easy to name all which that Imagination entails. But it is relatively easier to recognise it, when one sees it. And I certainly recognise it in Graham Greene.

Yes, I recognise it, as Greene bears witness to the tragedy of the human condition.

And I recognise it as he observes the human heart in all its ever shifting tinctures. Tinctures spanning a wide spectrum from malevolence, hatred, contempt and fear to tenderness, heroism, frailty, love and compassion – as well as sublime faith in and dedication to God …

All the little ways we human beings hurt each other are soberly realised indeed in this novel. A little lack of courage here; a little bit of autistic incomprehension and insensitivity there … and a little dash of sheer malice over there.

The result is an achingly poignant, honest confrontation with the fallen-ness of our condition.

graham-greene

Graham Greene

Now, if these human failures were all there was to this book, it might collapse under a weight of despair.

It is the joy of the novel that it is so, so much more, as well. For if Greene offers countless vignettes of fallenness, he also includes countless glimpses of heroism, compassion and love – the latter paradoxically intermeshed with the former. As in life …

There is then, the image of the famished, alcoholic priest, who spends his last remaining few pesos on wine – not to drink, but to consecrate: to bring God sacramentally present in a world where the Sacraments have all but been eliminated.

Then there is the haunting image of the priest-hunting lieutenant. This priest hunter who will stop at nothing to find his prey, including killing innocent hostages. Yet a priest hunter, who, then, mistaking his prey for nothing but a poor wretch, hands him a few more pesos out of mercy

And now I shall take a rather idiosyncratic digression in the midst of this review. For I would note that, whilst in the course of reading Greene’s masterpiece, I was asked to watch a very short film, Help Wanted, which lasted perhaps all of twelve minutes.

It was offered by something called the Spiritual Cinema Circle (http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com) which is a DVD club offering films, which, as one can see by clinking on the link, promise to:

  • Awaken your sense of joy and wonder!
  • Inspire love and compassion!
  • Evoke a deeper sense of connection with the universe around you!

Yes, the Spiritual Cinema Circle offers very New Age fare, it seems to me. And in comparison to what I had just been reading, Help Wanted seemed rather trite.

Its message concerned a bright and exuberant mechanic, who had recently lost his wife and child – at a single stroke. However, the young mechanic had learned to be ’upbeat‘.

Hearing of the young mechanic’s tragedy, his boss stares at him in wonder: ‘And every day you turn up to work with a smile on your face’ …

And New Age commentators on the video disc praised the film, for reminding us to keep appreciating life in the midst of adversity.

(If anyone feels drawn, brief clips of Help Wanted can be found at Youtube here.)

Now, one may agree with the commentators on this New Age disc. There is a glory in a life, which must never be forgotten. And Graham Greene´s book – as its title suggests – is all about glory.

Yet to remember glory is not to forget tragedy! It is not to close one’s heart.

And in Graham Greene’s masterpiece, one will find indeed that such a loss – the loss of lover and child – is handled very, very differently than in Help Wanted.

For the glory in The Power and Glory is very, very different than New Age glory.

It is different from the glory of apparent human mastery and imagined omnipotence, or at very least, imagined control of one’s emotions.

At least, this is what decades of direct experience with the New Age subculture have served to indicate to me – that this kind of ‘glory’ is so often at the root of New Age things.

And now nearly a decade after entering the Catholic Church, my Imagination has been honed to perceive a very different glory. A glory which Graham Greenes’ masterpiece  serves to render transparent

If you would like to buy this book from Amazon US, or Amazon UK click on the relevant link below:-

Of Related Interest:

A little more about Greene and his Catholic novels may be found at the Graham Greene sections either here at our Amazon UK Store or here at our Amazon US Store.

From Amazon USA:

These titles can also be found in our Amazon UK Store here. Each title is reviewed at these links: (Windswept House) (The New Faithful) (The Ratzinger Report ) (The Rise of Pope Benedict XVI) (The Splendor of Faith) (Salt of the Earth) (All the Pope’s Men) (Mother Angelica) (Ugly as Sin)

 

This entry was posted in Reviews and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

22 Trackbacks

  1. […] But from late 1930’s till the 1950’s, a notable exception to this trend could be found in the Catholic novels by one of the great literary figures of the last century: Graham Greene. I have already reviewed his 1940 masterpiece The Power and the Glory here at this site. […]

  2. […] places that are not always obvious. For example a personally significant piece here is my review of Graham Greene’s masterpiece about the Faith, The Power and the Glory. This is not only the greatest novel I have ever read, it is – as I have tried to say in a rather […]

  3. By Nobody Told Me … on 21 March 2011 at 18:58

    […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  4. […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  5. By Talkin’ Bout a (Counter) Revolution on 22 March 2011 at 18:52

    […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  6. […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  7. […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  8. […] also be found in our Amazon UK store here, as well as in in our Reviews. Links to each review here: (The Power and the Glory) (The Portal of Hope) (Meditations on the Tarot) (Marian Apparitions) (The […]

  9. By A Brush with Evil on 7 April 2011 at 07:29

    […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  10. By Pointing and Stammering: French Noël 2006 on 7 April 2011 at 18:56

    […] be found in our Amazon UK store here, as well as in in our Reviews. Links to each review are here: (Book Review: The Power and the Glory) (Book Review: The Portal of the Mystery of Hope) (Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot) (Book […]

  11. […] be found in our Amazon UK store here, as well as in in our Reviews. Links to each review are here: (Book Review: The Power and the Glory) (Book Review: The Portal of the Mystery of Hope) (Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot) (Book […]

  12. […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  13. […] Here are other books which like the above, have been very deeply meaningful for one or both of us at this site. These can also be found in our Amazon UK store here, as well as in in our Reviews (links to each review below advertisement). Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  14. […] Amazon.com Widgets Book Review: The Power and the Glory […]

  15. By Bleeding Heart Conservative on 10 October 2011 at 11:38

    […] (Marian Apparitions), (The Secret of the Rosary), (France and the Cult of the Sacred Heart) (The Power and the Glory). /* This entry was posted in Roger's Weblog and tagged About this Site, Capitalism, Catholic […]

  16. […] fallen-ness.Fallen-ness: it is a word one may draw from Christianity and Catholicism, and this is a book that is very, very Catholic.If you enjoyed For Greater Glory, then you will simply love this novel. I guarantee it.Incidently, […]

  17. […] be found in our Amazon UK store here, as well as in in our Reviews. Links to each review are here: (Book Review: The Power and the Glory) (Book Review: The Portal of the Mystery of Hope) (Book Review: Meditations on the Tarot) (Book […]

  18. By Her Heart Pierced by a Sword on 2 December 2013 at 20:29

    […] Links to each Review here: (Heart of the Redeemer) (Meditations on the Tarot), (Puritan’s Empire), (Life of St Margaret Mary Alacoque), (This is the Faith), (Marian Apparitions), (The Secret of the Rosary), (France and the Cult of the Sacred Heart) (The Power and the Glory). […]

  19. By Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (Review) on 4 December 2013 at 13:08

    […] I have also reviewed The Power and the Glory here at this […]

  20. […] Fallen-ness: it is a word one may draw from Christianity and Catholicism, and this is a book that is very, very Catholic. […]

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*
*

 
  • Books from Roger Buck

    Foreword by Roger Buck

    Support Our Work

  • The Gentle Traditionalist Returns!

    New Book from Angelico Press!

    "The Gentle Traditionalist returns with a vengeance in this stand-alone sequel ... this book skewers the modern malaise with the kind of sanity we have come to expect from this author” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    ”Buck’s latest foray is a grand success ... The story features the same singular combination of whimsy and surprise, keen social commentary, and deft argumentation as the first [book]. The Gentle Traditionalist Returns appeals to what is best and deepest in us, so that we will reengage with that which ultimately matters while there is yet time.” — PETER KWASNIEWSKI

    ”A brilliant diagnosis of the spiritual malaise of modern society, written with gentleness, generosity, humour, pathos ... and, above all else, love”— MAOLSHEACHLANN Ó CEALLAIGH

    buy-at-amazon Video about New Book here:

  • Books from Roger Buck

     

    The Gentle Traditionalist

     

    ”Roger Buck ... in the spirit of Chesterton and Belloc ... takes on everything—from the reforms of Vatican II to the New Age ... a wonderful book.”— MICHAEL MARTIN

    ”A tale of whimsical fantasy, melancholy realism, and supernatural joy ... Buck’s deftly-reasoned post-modern apologetic for full-blooded Catholicism—a Syllabus of Errors in narrative form, a rousing hymn to ‘meaning, grace, beauty, life’.” — PETER KWASNIEWSKI

    "As brilliant a guide for the perplexed as this age is capable of producing” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    buy-at-amazon

    See Reviews in Full Here!

     

    Read First Chapter Online Here!

     

    Cor Jesu Sacratissimum

     

    cor-jesu-roger-buck

    ”Buck goes to the heart of the problem paralyzing our broken-hearted world ... moving beyond the spirit of the age to the Spirit who moves all ages.” — JOSEPH PEARCE

    ”In this elegant feast of a book, Roger Buck ... expertly skewers the modern world ... without a drop of malice in his compassionate soul ... to reveal the bright, shining love and truth at the center of the universe—symbolised by the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and incarnate in the Catholic Church.” — CHARLES A. COULOMBE

    ”A great service to the Church ... Buck shows that the New Age is an attempt, however flawed, to escape the materialism of modernity, and that it is Catholicism in its traditional forms that can best reveal the immense reality of the suffering and love for all mankind of Christ’s Sacred Heart.”— JOSEPH SHAW

    buy-at-amazon

    See Reviews in Full Here!

     

  • EWTN Interview with Roger Buck here!

    TWO-part “Celtic Connections” EWTN  Interview!

    Part One here.

    Part Two here.

  • First Video from Kim Buck!