23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult but Worthy (3.5 stars), November 21, 2009
The Bishop's Man was the 2009 winner of the Giller Prize which is Canada's top literary prize. Linden MacIntyre is an award winning Canadian journalist and this was his second novel.
The story centers on Roman Catholic priest, Fr. Duncan MacAskill and is told from MacAskill's perspective. MacAskill is the man brought in by his Bishop, the Bishop of Antigonish (rural Nova Scotia, home of St. Francis Xavier University), to deal with problems. These problems often center around indiscretions by certain priests and more specifically sexual abuse. MacAskill's job has been to protect the church by removing the abusers from their situation by usually by transferring them to a distant diocese. He also speaks to the families of the victims to ensure that the scandals never surface. He always begins his conversation with the family by indicating that he absolutely believes what their son or daughter is saying and that they want to discuss what is being done to rectify the situation. Behind his back, MacAskill is referred to by other clergy members as The Exorcist.
As we enter the story, Fr. MacAskill has been transferred as a parish priest to Creignish on Cape Breton Island just of the coast from mainland Nova Scotia. This is very near where he grew up and he knows many of the people. His transfer has been initiated to remove him from some of the controversy that's surfacing about some of the things he and the Bishop have done in the name of the church.
The story focuses on MacAskill's tortured conscience. Although he has disdain for the acts of the priests he has removed from difficult situations, he begins to see the pain that he has proliferated and the crimes that he has covered up. He is a good man at heart who has effectively condoned certain horrific events.
As a parish priest, he bonds with the people and suspects that abuse has occurred in that very place. His need to discover what has occurred is a major plot point in the book.
I grew up a Catholic on the east coast of Canada and was very affected by the material. I have often discussed the topic of abuse in the church with my father who is a devout Roman Catholic. As reprehensible as the actions of certain priests were, I am equally digusted by the actions of senior officials of the church in covering these events up. It is such a shame in that by far the majority of priests that I have met are good people who were motivated by the need to help people. The actions that occurred in real life did a great disservice to them as they were tainted by events that has nothing to do with them and their faith. So, this book brought out a lot of emotion in me.
In this story, clearly Fr. MacAskill and the Bishop have blood on their hands and the Bishop never really seems to get that. MacAskill gets it and seeks to atone for his sins. MacAskill plays the good soldier who is just following orders but the guilt nearly destroys him in the end.
This novel packs a very strong emotional punch. It's difficult to assess how much of that punch is intensified by my background in a Roman Catholic family.
I definitely recommend The Bishop's Man. It is well written and certainly deals with the issues from a different perspective. It does drag a bit in the middle of the book but it's a good choice for the Giller Prize.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good book needing better readers, December 26, 2009
I must say that this book challenges the reader. But shouldn't a book that is worth reading do that? Despite the universal themes and the Giller Prize award (by an international jury), 'The Bishop's Man' has been pigeon-holed as a Canadian "IMPORT" by Amazon.com . Why is it an import? It was published in Canada but by Random House which is a major American publisher. There are 9 customer reviews on Amazon.ca which do not appear here. Why? Aren't Amazon and Random House both multi-national corporate entities? This book deserves better. The few bad reviews are obviously from readers who want easy-to-read books. Some reviewers complain that the shifting around in time confuses them, and at one level I can understand that. The plot shifts around in location too. But having read the book, then re-read it to clear up some questions about "who was who and when and where", it is easy to see why MacIntyre uses such a plot device. It captures and intensifies the inbred inter-relatedness of the culture, and the personally difficult multi-layered life of the main character, a priest in mid-life struggling with many things - only one of which is his church's use of him to cover up child abuse. The themes are much broader and more universal than a Catholic Priest in the Canadian Maritimes dealing with child abuse. In my opinion this is a very good book that needs better readers, and perhaps better handling by the publisher and the marketer as well. I almost gave 'The Bishop's Man' five stars but I am rarely that generous. I do keep re-reading it, which I do only with very good books.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very deserving of the Giller Prize, December 29, 2009
This book was well deserving of the Giller Award. When I was reading the book I was enjoying it so much I never wanted it to end. I felt I had met these priests and knew these places. I don't know if someone who wasn't acquainted with the small town Catholic experience would like it as much as someone who was familiar with Canadian Catholic culture. I could almost smell the furniture polish in cleanliness & sterility of the rectory uncluttered with the chaos of everyday working class family life. The ordinariness of deeply tragic events is superbly written.
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