The Power and the Glory

I have finished The Power and the Glory today. Instead of just saying "twas great" I actually want to draw the setting for you.

I work in a newsagency were the daily Telegraph and Lotto are sale items number 1 and 2, so intelligent conversation isn't the forefront. I also lived with my parents and two sisters, one with two children, so the chances to read had been pretty slim previous.

At the moment I live with a mate, and usually need to bus into work, and I move myself an hour early, so I can visit the library and read. I'll take these books from THE LIST with my whenever I'm on public anything (bus/train usually), so I get an hour to half an hour for reading.

The library is humble, and small, but there's often people in there. There's a miraculous understanding that there should be no noise. This doesn't apply to the librarians, who are quiet as mice anyway, and it's excusable of anyone needing a book, provided they aren't loud, or too long.

In this airy cube, void of sound of deliberate talk, you open your book and you've "logged in" to the story. Forget the net, I'm a million miles away -- and better, not blasted by everyone else's idea of what makes a funny story.

So with a proper setting, I finished reading The Power and the Glory, and now comes the part where I finally say "twas great!"

It's great for many reasons, and deserving of it's spot on the list. The idea of religious persecution is one I'm not overly exposed to, or the idea of saints, or how they're made from the everyday bread version of priests and nuns, but this book really gives you an insight.

A few lines stuck out wondrously well, and I'd put money on these lines appearing in a movie adaptation. I was spot on with 1984's line "You do not exist" - O'Brien, as well as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, "I don't want to go among the mad people," - Alice, so I'm quite confident when I point out the line: "Hate is a failure of imagination."

It strikes at the heart of so many conflicts, ALL conflicts, going forward. From a young age I always rationalised everything I could, because when you're not given answers to life's events (why was I randomly beaten up at the park? I didn't DO anything...) you need a certain amount of imagination to figure things out from the other persons point of view.

Assuming you can do this, you'll find a reason or excuse or at least an explanation for why the "bad guy" acted how they have. And once you're certain you've figured it out, you can't hate them anymore -- you understand them.

That's the meaning of "Hate was just a failure of the imagination." I shared the line with my brother (he's also doing a course in English and such) and not knowing the context assumed that "was" meant that a time had passed, and now Hate was perceived as something even newer. I corrected him on the pretext of "when" this thought applied to hate, as the main character is rationalising to himself why a pious woman is disgusted by two lovers, instead of understanding them, hence meaning "her hatred in that situation" was a lack of imagination.

That itself is such a powerful line, and statement, and I believe points at the pure and absolute understanding any priest or nun would need if they had any hopes of becoming a Saint.

Regardless, the story goes through quite a lot, and it's a proper little traipse around Mexico. The descriptions of where we are, and the bugs they fly around and "detonate against the wall" really help to make the Mexico of the book feel real AND accurate, as opposed to a romantised place for this main character to live and act and finish the story.

There's also plenty of symbolism present, especially in the mestizo character with his yellow malaria ridden eyes and his two remaining teeth, yellow and fang-like. An obvious devil-stand in, but the devil isn't needed to be subtle in this - if we're reading a story about a whiskey priest and how pathetic his hopes and dreams and habits are then we're going to be seeing PLENTY of the Devil and his attempts to ruin and destroy the priest.

It's certainly one of the books from the list that I will read again, and probably many times. I imagine it would do even better in cold climates, simply because I felt hot and sweaty myself quite often while simply reading. Thems goods feels while reading a simple book!

My very original impression of the book was that it'd be about a priest and some troubles some where, and he makes a big difference and everyone dances and loves the church. I am more than happy to confirm that this is not the case, and thankfully so. How boring would that be?

No, it's a real book, about the hardest luck you'd ever find, with a man who simply can't believe there's any way to get better at things, but he never gives up.

9/10, if I must rate it.

PS.
For a similar sensation, if you've read LOTR and wondered how Frodo ever managed to complete the task of destroying the ring, you must remember that he had Sam with him too. Although our whiskey priest has "God" as well, he never has the physical incarnation of a buddy to help him.

Study Opportunity.
There is a family who is being read stories about Saints by the mother, and she relates of one's ascension immediately after being shot. The entire length of the novel bodies are dirty unwashed things, until the movie talks about this saint, who's body was "a mansion". What does this tell us about the difference between being a normal person and a Saint? What does it say, if anything, about Graham Greene's opinion of the matter? Is he being serious and supportive, or negative and sarcastic?

Class out.