I have just finished reading this book. It followed on from another; A Burnt-Out Case. Catholicism features very strongly in both books. I found the latter disappointing; the story just fizzled out in the end. The first book is better. I understand Greene hated it and wished he had stuck to an earlier draft. If you have not read it, I wont spoil it for you, but, be warned, it is not a "happy" story. Today I am going to watch the film version (1953 I think) with the great Trevor Howard playing the part of Scobie, the book's main character. The book came out in 1948 and won at least one prize. It was one of the best sellers around that time and is highly regarded by aficionados of the English novel. It is, of course, beautifully written. Like many of Greene's books we are left with a theological conundrum at the end. Apparently, Greene was fed up with people asking about this. He said that he wrote the book to deal with pride and argued that pity can be the expression of a terrible pride. The Catholicism in the book is well-used and well described. However, the book is not about Catholicism or about the difficulties of having a Catholic conscience - it's about....well, why not read it for Lent (it might be a good form of penance)
Its a while since I read Graham Greene. I read both of the novels you mentioned but don't recall the details. I've read 'The Power and the Glory' a number of times. One of the things that always struck me in that novel was that the 'whisky priest', who didn't hold himself up as a model for anyone, nevertheless went off on what he was almost certain was a trap to give the last rites to someone - and the priest doesn't have a name.
ReplyDeleteA novel I read every Lent now, not as a penance but as a call to renew my commitment to the priesthood, is 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' by Willa Cather. It is set in New Mexico and places further west as they opened up to Western settlers from 1851 onwards. Will Cather wasn't a Catholic but is remarkably sympatica with our faith. Each chapter is a complete episode in itself. The re-telling of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a gem.
I don't know that book...I'll look it up. Thanks
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