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Monsignor Quixote.
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Manufacturer: Penguin 1983.
Author: Graham Greene
Publisher: Penguin 1983.
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Our Price:
You Save: $ ( % )
Manufacturer: Penguin 1983.
Author: Graham Greene
Publisher: Penguin 1983.
Average Customer Rating:
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Monsignor Quixote. Description
Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780140065978
Format: Import
ISBN: 0140065970
Label: Penguin 1983.
Manufacturer: Penguin 1983.
Book Pages: 256
Publication Date: 1983
Publisher: Penguin 1983.
Studio: Penguin 1983.
EAN: 9780140065978
Format: Import
ISBN: 0140065970
Label: Penguin 1983.
Manufacturer: Penguin 1983.
Book Pages: 256
Publication Date: 1983
Publisher: Penguin 1983.
Studio: Penguin 1983.
Editorial Review of Monsignor Quixote.
Customer Reviews of Monsignor Quixote.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Perfect
Review: Entertaining, quite easy to read, and profound. On the surface this is a short novel about about an unassuming village priest (promoted to Monsignor) and the deposed ex-mayor (the more "world-wise" of the pair) who take a road trip. It is set in post-Franco Spain of about the late 1970's. Monsignor Quixote is a devout Catholic, the ex-mayor (Sancho) a devout Communist. Their adventures include run-ins with the police, stops at a brothel and risque movie, an encounter with a robber, inciting a community riot, and so on. They have long talks, with hearts and lips loosened by much wine (which they revere). Monsignor Quixote loves his old car, which in a way becomes yet an additional character in the story. We can all identify with this pair to some degree, be ye Christian or Communist. The mayor is washed up politically. The monsignor has a jerk for a boss (his bishop). It's light and fun, and has many laughable moments, but . . . .
Deeper - the author explores issues within Christianity and (to a lesser extent) Communism. Issues of; the "trinity" and the Holy Spirit, prayer, elitism and insincerity in the church, loyalty and betrayal, "brown-nosing", police oppression, financial scandal in the church, sexuality, "moral theology" vs. righteous brotherly love, generosity and hospitality, comparisons and contrasts between The Church and The Communist Party, etc, etc. A thinking person's feast. Easy to absorb and digest, but dwell on points of interest as long as you like.
The monsignor, though portrayed as a simple man, is a talented wit, as is the mayor, and their exchanges are a joy to read. In his behavior and philosophy, the monsignor is given to "coloring outside the lines" so to speak, which keeps him in trouble with his bishop. But really . . . he is a humble, wise, lovable and loving man, who exercises and lives a pure religion much superior to his rule-abiding, judgemental colleagues. And he is persecuted for it (sound familiar?). Sancho, though more wordly, cynical, and having rejected the chuch, is not so bad a guy either and they play well off one another.
In the end, the monsignor is able to find some good in Karl Marx, as the mayor reconnects a bit with the God he left many years before.
One need not be Catholic to connect with and enjoy this book (I'm not). This is the second Graham Greene book I've read, the other being, The Power and the Glory. A wonderful author - most highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Delicious Road Trip
Review: A village priest and his friend, the (communist) mayor, drive throught their native Spain to Salamanca with many wine and cheese breaks and hillside siestas on the way. Both are having to rethink the choices they've made and will make. In this road trip intimacy they share their thoughts, question eachother's beliefs and make mild attempts at converting the other, always with warm regard. The wine helps. A tender, hilarious and heartbreaking book. Much happier than other Graham Greene.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: PEOPLE OF FAITH
Review: This is one of the funniest and cleverest novels I have ever read. It is also one of the deepest. Behind the clever adaptation of the Don Quixote story to a context in post-Franco Spain there is a dance of ideas, much as Shaw's plays are a dance of ideas, and the questions dealt with are the biggest and most fundamental that we all have to deal with.
An innocent and un-intellectual Catholic priest sets out on a holiday with a communist politician, and their discussions, always friendly and courteous and greatly assisted by wine, centre on their respective faiths. The communist faith is much the more straightforward - the ex-mayor, defeated at a recent election, finds the general outlook of Marx congenial, he finds that doubt shackles freedom of action, and that's about as far as his introspection goes. Catholicism is about bigger issues altogether, such as do we go to heaven or to hell for all eternity, and the concepts involved, for someone who really thinks about them honestly, are sufficient to unseat anyone's mind. There is no real alternative to thinking about them, so in the interests of peace of mind what people do is to think about them not honestly but either ingenuously or disingenuously. Graham Greene, like Muriel Spark, was a convert to Catholicism, and like Dame Muriel his treatment of it in his writing is wry and ironic. What he really `believed' is not quite clear and I'm sure not meant to be. Indeed he even casts some doubt around the question of what `belief' actually consists of, and rightly so in my own view. At one point Father Quixote admits that a certain doctrine is one that he believes out of obedience, an admirable attitude for traditionalist believers whether Catholic or communist - you believe x because you're supposed to believe it and you'll be in trouble if you don't. Greene quite obviously sees that Catholic doctrine evolved as a book of rules to keep people under control. What started as religious and ethical teaching developed rapidly into thought-enforcement and thought-policing, but the matter goes even deeper - behind it all there is supposed to be a God whose word the ecclesiastical power-structure dispenses, and this God is not, like Marx, someone who certainly exists but only a hypothesis. How much further Greene wishes us to pursue this line of thought I'm not clear, but for me two considerations follow - firstly what is supposed to be God's word is actually a human construct foisted on the hypothetical God, something that to me seems outright blasphemy; and in the second place we have a clearer idea these days what the Creator has created, and such a Creator is not likely to bear much resemblance to Jehovah in the scriptures having to assert his authority against Baal, Dagon etc at intervals. Indeed if there is one crumb of comfort in the contemplation of such a Creator it's likely to be that he will take little or no notice of our insolence in presuming to speak for his intentions.
Towards the end of the book Greene says something to the effect that in the absence of certain knowledge one goes for the next best thing. For him this is `faith', for me it's probability, as best I can assess that. Greene is able, as I am not, to find a sense of `believing' that takes in the soul as well as the mind. When I say that I believe something I mean that it seems to me true or probable, and considerations that bring me spiritual comfort are unrelated to belief in this sense entirely. Greene seems not to go so far, but I venture to think that he's nearer to my way of seeing things than to `faith' in the conventional sense. What is completely unmistakable is the irony with which he observes the way that the devout have of finding support in the scriptures and in philosophy built on them for convenient viewpoints and courses of action.
The book is not so much about the rival ideas, nor even so much about what people do with these as about what the ideas do with people who for some reason adhere to them, as if the ideas had taken on a higher life of their own, dominating and controlling the very people who create them and without whom they could never exist. This may indeed be what we call divine in them. What is divine in a more earthly sense about this book is the humour and ingenuity of it all. It is a simple story as well as a battle of ideas, and a touching one too, with emotion and human affection finally dominant over the intellectual side. A delightful book, a beautiful book and I would even say a great book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Fantastic.
Review: A really moving and thought-provoking novel. In this book, Greene brings up all kinds of interesting ideas, whilst maintaining a sense of humour. Unlike a lot of other books that deal with issues like religion, this isn't at all heavy-going, owing to the engaging style of writing.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Entertaining, likeable, engaging and startlingly beautiful
Review: MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE by Graham Greene was thoroughly enjoyable, and touched, as some of Greene's better works are, with a divine stroke of love and genius. And I do mean, divine. It's hard to find the words to praise Greene enough. His novels are so well executed, so elegantly written, so touching and so unexpectedly changing. They read easily, are very accessible. This book references DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes, so I was doubly engaged here, as I had just read it. This book is about a priest, Father Quixote, who lives in El Toboso, Spain. Through a happenstance act of kindness to a man in power in the Catholic Church in Rome, Father Quixote is made a Monsignor, much to his bishop's dismay. His bishop has never liked Father Quixote. Due to his "promotion" Father Quixote has some time to take for himself, and leaves El Toboso with the town's former mayor, who has lost his re-election bid, whose last name is Panza, just like the famous Don Quixote's squire, Sancho, so Father Quixote calls his friend Sancho. Like the first and second sally in Cervantes, Monsignor Quixote and Sancho go forth in the world and have adventures. What I found wonderful about this book was the discussion between these two men about Communism and religion. They trade books and references, and argue principles lightly and engagingly. What is true about both men as Greene writes them is that they are loving people. Sancho is more cynical, but he is kind and is genuinely friends with Monsignor Quixote, and the monsignor, for his part, is truly loving, naive and true. The end of the book is a surprising and stunningly beautiful apotheosis of the ideas expressed within. This is one of my favorite works by Greene, and reminded me in some ways of the life-changing END OF THE AFFAIR. I highly recommend it.
Review Summary: Perfect
Review: Entertaining, quite easy to read, and profound. On the surface this is a short novel about about an unassuming village priest (promoted to Monsignor) and the deposed ex-mayor (the more "world-wise" of the pair) who take a road trip. It is set in post-Franco Spain of about the late 1970's. Monsignor Quixote is a devout Catholic, the ex-mayor (Sancho) a devout Communist. Their adventures include run-ins with the police, stops at a brothel and risque movie, an encounter with a robber, inciting a community riot, and so on. They have long talks, with hearts and lips loosened by much wine (which they revere). Monsignor Quixote loves his old car, which in a way becomes yet an additional character in the story. We can all identify with this pair to some degree, be ye Christian or Communist. The mayor is washed up politically. The monsignor has a jerk for a boss (his bishop). It's light and fun, and has many laughable moments, but . . . .
Deeper - the author explores issues within Christianity and (to a lesser extent) Communism. Issues of; the "trinity" and the Holy Spirit, prayer, elitism and insincerity in the church, loyalty and betrayal, "brown-nosing", police oppression, financial scandal in the church, sexuality, "moral theology" vs. righteous brotherly love, generosity and hospitality, comparisons and contrasts between The Church and The Communist Party, etc, etc. A thinking person's feast. Easy to absorb and digest, but dwell on points of interest as long as you like.
The monsignor, though portrayed as a simple man, is a talented wit, as is the mayor, and their exchanges are a joy to read. In his behavior and philosophy, the monsignor is given to "coloring outside the lines" so to speak, which keeps him in trouble with his bishop. But really . . . he is a humble, wise, lovable and loving man, who exercises and lives a pure religion much superior to his rule-abiding, judgemental colleagues. And he is persecuted for it (sound familiar?). Sancho, though more wordly, cynical, and having rejected the chuch, is not so bad a guy either and they play well off one another.
In the end, the monsignor is able to find some good in Karl Marx, as the mayor reconnects a bit with the God he left many years before.
One need not be Catholic to connect with and enjoy this book (I'm not). This is the second Graham Greene book I've read, the other being, The Power and the Glory. A wonderful author - most highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Delicious Road Trip
Review: A village priest and his friend, the (communist) mayor, drive throught their native Spain to Salamanca with many wine and cheese breaks and hillside siestas on the way. Both are having to rethink the choices they've made and will make. In this road trip intimacy they share their thoughts, question eachother's beliefs and make mild attempts at converting the other, always with warm regard. The wine helps. A tender, hilarious and heartbreaking book. Much happier than other Graham Greene.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: PEOPLE OF FAITH
Review: This is one of the funniest and cleverest novels I have ever read. It is also one of the deepest. Behind the clever adaptation of the Don Quixote story to a context in post-Franco Spain there is a dance of ideas, much as Shaw's plays are a dance of ideas, and the questions dealt with are the biggest and most fundamental that we all have to deal with.
An innocent and un-intellectual Catholic priest sets out on a holiday with a communist politician, and their discussions, always friendly and courteous and greatly assisted by wine, centre on their respective faiths. The communist faith is much the more straightforward - the ex-mayor, defeated at a recent election, finds the general outlook of Marx congenial, he finds that doubt shackles freedom of action, and that's about as far as his introspection goes. Catholicism is about bigger issues altogether, such as do we go to heaven or to hell for all eternity, and the concepts involved, for someone who really thinks about them honestly, are sufficient to unseat anyone's mind. There is no real alternative to thinking about them, so in the interests of peace of mind what people do is to think about them not honestly but either ingenuously or disingenuously. Graham Greene, like Muriel Spark, was a convert to Catholicism, and like Dame Muriel his treatment of it in his writing is wry and ironic. What he really `believed' is not quite clear and I'm sure not meant to be. Indeed he even casts some doubt around the question of what `belief' actually consists of, and rightly so in my own view. At one point Father Quixote admits that a certain doctrine is one that he believes out of obedience, an admirable attitude for traditionalist believers whether Catholic or communist - you believe x because you're supposed to believe it and you'll be in trouble if you don't. Greene quite obviously sees that Catholic doctrine evolved as a book of rules to keep people under control. What started as religious and ethical teaching developed rapidly into thought-enforcement and thought-policing, but the matter goes even deeper - behind it all there is supposed to be a God whose word the ecclesiastical power-structure dispenses, and this God is not, like Marx, someone who certainly exists but only a hypothesis. How much further Greene wishes us to pursue this line of thought I'm not clear, but for me two considerations follow - firstly what is supposed to be God's word is actually a human construct foisted on the hypothetical God, something that to me seems outright blasphemy; and in the second place we have a clearer idea these days what the Creator has created, and such a Creator is not likely to bear much resemblance to Jehovah in the scriptures having to assert his authority against Baal, Dagon etc at intervals. Indeed if there is one crumb of comfort in the contemplation of such a Creator it's likely to be that he will take little or no notice of our insolence in presuming to speak for his intentions.
Towards the end of the book Greene says something to the effect that in the absence of certain knowledge one goes for the next best thing. For him this is `faith', for me it's probability, as best I can assess that. Greene is able, as I am not, to find a sense of `believing' that takes in the soul as well as the mind. When I say that I believe something I mean that it seems to me true or probable, and considerations that bring me spiritual comfort are unrelated to belief in this sense entirely. Greene seems not to go so far, but I venture to think that he's nearer to my way of seeing things than to `faith' in the conventional sense. What is completely unmistakable is the irony with which he observes the way that the devout have of finding support in the scriptures and in philosophy built on them for convenient viewpoints and courses of action.
The book is not so much about the rival ideas, nor even so much about what people do with these as about what the ideas do with people who for some reason adhere to them, as if the ideas had taken on a higher life of their own, dominating and controlling the very people who create them and without whom they could never exist. This may indeed be what we call divine in them. What is divine in a more earthly sense about this book is the humour and ingenuity of it all. It is a simple story as well as a battle of ideas, and a touching one too, with emotion and human affection finally dominant over the intellectual side. A delightful book, a beautiful book and I would even say a great book.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Fantastic.
Review: A really moving and thought-provoking novel. In this book, Greene brings up all kinds of interesting ideas, whilst maintaining a sense of humour. Unlike a lot of other books that deal with issues like religion, this isn't at all heavy-going, owing to the engaging style of writing.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Entertaining, likeable, engaging and startlingly beautiful
Review: MONSIGNOR QUIXOTE by Graham Greene was thoroughly enjoyable, and touched, as some of Greene's better works are, with a divine stroke of love and genius. And I do mean, divine. It's hard to find the words to praise Greene enough. His novels are so well executed, so elegantly written, so touching and so unexpectedly changing. They read easily, are very accessible. This book references DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes, so I was doubly engaged here, as I had just read it. This book is about a priest, Father Quixote, who lives in El Toboso, Spain. Through a happenstance act of kindness to a man in power in the Catholic Church in Rome, Father Quixote is made a Monsignor, much to his bishop's dismay. His bishop has never liked Father Quixote. Due to his "promotion" Father Quixote has some time to take for himself, and leaves El Toboso with the town's former mayor, who has lost his re-election bid, whose last name is Panza, just like the famous Don Quixote's squire, Sancho, so Father Quixote calls his friend Sancho. Like the first and second sally in Cervantes, Monsignor Quixote and Sancho go forth in the world and have adventures. What I found wonderful about this book was the discussion between these two men about Communism and religion. They trade books and references, and argue principles lightly and engagingly. What is true about both men as Greene writes them is that they are loving people. Sancho is more cynical, but he is kind and is genuinely friends with Monsignor Quixote, and the monsignor, for his part, is truly loving, naive and true. The end of the book is a surprising and stunningly beautiful apotheosis of the ideas expressed within. This is one of my favorite works by Greene, and reminded me in some ways of the life-changing END OF THE AFFAIR. I highly recommend it.