Comments on: Of Books and Fear and Friends and Whiskey Priests

By: Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 23:58:59 +0000

Ditto what Anamaria stated. This is my favorite article I’ve read here so far, and I emailed it to friends.

By: Anamaria

Anamaria — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:03:08 +0000

Though this and similar posts are less commented upon, it is not because they are less appreciated but rather that they provoke more inward reflection instead of controversy.

By: J.D. Salyer

J.D. Salyer — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:47:37 +0000

The End of the Affair is my favorite of Greene’s, but I do admire The Power and the Glory for being — like most of his stories — remarkably multidimensional. Even though the subject of Catholicism being persecuted by an aggressively secular humanist government lends itself to simplified didacticism, Greene never approaches that pitfall.

Instead he focuses on how God not only doesn’t need especially wise or strong instruments in order to accomplish His will, He doesn’t need particularly upright ones, either.

If I recall correctly, Greene goes out of his way to portray the lieutenant as a genuinely more devoted character than the priest (albeit devoted to a twisted cause) and hence a more admirable character, at least from the worldly perspective. I believe that near the conclusion, the priest — anxious about the prospect of dying unshriven — suggests that the zealous officer’s soul is in better shape than his own.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:08:18 +0000

Dear Jason,

While I know not where you teach, I must say, I hope your students realize how truly fortunate they are!

I have printed your article and have added two books to my reading list.

Thank you for sharing the wonderful person you are with me.

With best wishes and gratitude,

Steve

By: Tony Sorci

Tony Sorci — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:32:37 +0000

I couldn’t help but attest to the power of the Power and the Glory, and the deep-reaching journey of the Whiskey Priest. Even as a secular atheist, Greene managed to bring me back to the sacred meanings which can be found in the ontological experience of life with this perfect novel. Now, I’m not very interested in supporting that this novel is actually perfect by any universal criterion, but as far as I am concerned it is, whatever meaning that will have anyone else.

It’s almost futile trying to explain the spiritual genius behind this novel, simply because it corresponds with our* aesthetic experiences in an intense, meaningful way. Greene is capable of finding beauty in piles of trash, starving dogs, and Lutherans, however improbable beauty is in these things. In a way, he both highlights the most particular and universal aspects of Catholic art, in that he carried on the wonderful Catholic tendency to scour for the beautiful wherever humanity laid it’s mark, and at the same time allowed for the rest of us to experience it at the same time. In the end, he’s even capable of making the reader sympathize with the secular, violent atheistic antagonist, even after he has our beloved protagonist executed. I think this wonderfully corresponds with his own political/social views. Here, I’m referring to his sympathies to the humanitarian possibilities of secular humanism (in his case, Socialism) while criticizing the worst aspects of it from a well-tempered religious point of view.

Ultimately he is an extremely Catholic writer is somehow able to offer just as much to any non-Catholic reader as a Catholic one. Truly a mark of amazing creativity if you ask me!

*By our, I mean anyone who shares whatever sensibilities which allow us to enjoy Greene’s novel.