Synopses & Reviews
One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, in a new edition commemorating its 75th anniversary
Seventy-five years ago, Graham Greene published The Power and the Glory, a moralist thriller that traces a line of influence back to Dostoyevsky and forward to Cormac McCarthy. Named one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century by Time magazine, it stands today as his masterpiece.
Mexico, the late 1930s: A paramilitary group has outlawed the Catholic Church and been executing its clergy. Now the last priest is on the run, fleeing not just an unshakable police lieutenant but also his own wavering morals. As he scraps his way toward salvation, haunted by an affair from his past, the nameless whiskey priest” is pulled between the bottle and the Bible, tempted to renounce his religion yet unable to ignore the higher calling hes chosen. Timeless and unforgettable, The Power and the Glory is a stunning portrait of both physical and spiritual survival by a master dramatist of the human soul.
Review
"Mr. Greene's style is a model for economy of phrase. He is a master in the art of suspense. He seems to have the gift of understanding. Whether his character is a gringo dentist gone to seed, a brutal police lieutenant, a little boy reacting against pietist family pressure, a brave, resourceful little girl in a foreign land, or a truly humble 'whiskey priest,' it seems to make little difference. All speak for themselves convincingly; they are not easily forgotten. Graham Greene is a man to watch." Edward S. Skillin, Commonweal
Review
"In The Power and the Glory, as elsewhere, Mr. Greene is extremely successful in creating a squalid and painful world. He has a palette of sour colors, a repertory of of sickening suggestions, a talent for selecting and rubbing in unpleasant details of modern civilization, such as cheap panes of stained glass, inferior dental drills, and insipid correspondence courses, that make good writing and are entirely his own. But the trouble is, it seems to me, that here he has too little to set against them. The canvas is pretty well painted, but the picture is somehow dead....Dispensing with the excitement of the mystery story, Mr. Greene has not wholly succeeded in creating the higher kind of excitement. His priest who is merely a victim, who is merely pursued and executed, does not stir us with the spiritual passion that ought to be conveyed by the life of a saint." Edmund Wilson, New Yorker
Review
"Mr. Greene has told the story of a truly spiritual struggle, in the breast of a miserable sinner, who can yet do brave things, in a fashion that sets this novel of his a little above and apart from his others. Also, he has now proved himself one of the finest craftsmen of story-telling in our time." William R. Benet, Saturday Review
Review
"It is expertly done, and the curious thing is that a purposeful flattening dramatic effect and a trick of rather artificial phrasing both seem to help rather than hinder." Times Literary Supplement
Review
"This is a harrowing tale, but its relentless refusal of any substitute for goodness leaves the reader exultant rather than depressed and marks out its author as an imaginative critic of life." Manchester Guardian, Marriott
Review
"The priest in [The Power and the Glory] also knows that even heroes must submit to scrutiny. He has risked his life to perform his religious functions in an anti-clerical state, but he suspects that he has done it out of pride. 'I thought I was a fine fellow to have stayed when the others had gone.' The priest is Greene's most impressive character, just as [The Power and the Glory] is his most successful novel." South Atlantic Quarterly
Review
"Superbly told. And through the prosaic details runs a thread of mysticism, of something that guns and hate cannot destroy. This book is a splendid achievement, brilliant description, tense narrative and something else besides." Atlantic Monthly
Review
"A first-rate piece of storytelling." F. Marsh, New York Times
Synopsis
In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest strives to overcome physical and moral cowardice in order to find redemption.
Synopsis
In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest strives to overcome physical and moral cowardice in order to find redemption.
Synopsis
A stunning 75th-anniversary edition of Graham Greenes masterpiece Named one of the twentieth centurys 100 best novels by Time magazine, The Power and the Glory is Graham Greenes most popular and critically acclaimed work.
In a poor, remote section of southern Mexico, a paramilitary group has taken control. God has been outlawed, and priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little whiskey
priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.
Synopsis
"Graham Greene's masterpiece"
John Updike) In a poor, remote section of Southern Mexico, the paramilitary group, the Red Shirts have taken control. God has been outlawed, and the priests have been systematically hunted down and killed. Now, the last priest is on the run. Too human for heroism, too humble for martyrdom, the nameless little worldly whiskey priest” is nevertheless impelled toward his squalid Calvary as much by his own compassion for humanity as by the efforts of his pursuers.
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About the Author
Graham Greene (1904-1991), whose long life nearly spanned the length of the twentieth century, was one of its greatest novelists. Educated at Berkhamsted School and Balliol College, Oxford, he started his career as a sub-editor of the
London Times. He began to attract notice as a novelist with his fourth book,
Orient Express, in 1932. In 1935, he trekked across northern Liberia, his first experience in Africa, told in
A Journey Without Maps (1936). He converted to Catholicism in 1926, an edifying decision, and reported on religious persecution in Mexico in 1938 in
The Lawless Roads, which served as a background for his famous
The Power and the Glory, one of several Catholic” novels (
Brighton Rock, The Heart of the Matter, The End of the Affair). During the war he worked for the British secret service in Sierra Leone; afterward, he began wide-ranging travels as a journalist, which were reflected in novels such as
The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, The Comedians, Travels with My Aunt, The Honorary Consul, The Human Factor, Monsignor Quixote, and
The Captain and the Enemy. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, two books of autobiography,
A Sort of Life and
Ways of Escape, two biographies, and four books for children. He also contributed hundreds of essays and film and book reviews to
The Spectator and other journals, many of which appear in the late collection
Reflections. Most of his novels have been filmed, including
The Third Man, which the author first wrote as a film treatment. Graham Greene was named Companion of Honour and received the Order of Merit among numerous other awards.
John Updike author of Rabbit, Run and other celebrated works, is a preeminent American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet.