Customer Reviews

The Cardinal

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In THE CARDINAL, Robinson tells the story of a young Irish-American priest on his journey from a naïve and slightly arrogant curate to his eventual promotion to cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. While often filled with the melodramatic elements that are common in these types of novels; THE CARDINAL makes an honest attempt to show what life was like for a Catholic priest in the 1st half of the 20th century. By examining aspects of a priest's spiritual and temporal life, Robinson creates a moving portrait of the difficult choices that are made by a man who chooses this life. Abortion, miracles, and the financial realities of poor and wealthy parishes are all dealt with in an evenhanded manner, but with a continued focus on the belief system of the Catholic faith. The book shows particular strength when it deals directly with the Catholic Church and its hierarchy; with an emphasis on how the church felt about its American brethren. The novel does slow down considerably when dealing with the protagonist's (Stephen Fermoyle) stereotypical Irish family and Fermoyle's crisis of faith when confronted with feelings for various women in his life. But the novel does provide an intriguing view of what a priest's life might be like in America between World War I and II.

This novel traces the development of one man's vocation from young Roman Catholic priest in New England through his elevation as cardinal in the early part of this century. Along the way, he faces many moral dilemmas and heartbreaks: a turn-of-the century version of partial birth abortion which his physician brother-in-law refuses to perform (and suffers professionally for his moral stand); the question of condoning a "charity" in his diocese which seeks to promote contraception among his flock; ethnic rivalries between the Irish and the Italians, and later, Polish immigrants. The book creates unassuming yet heroic and noble family members whose faith is integral to their lives. What I remember most about this book, years later, is that every moral issue that the Cardinal had to face personally, was presented to him initially as a more abstract issue, giving him the opportunity to think and understand -- and prepare to resist -- a temptation which assailed him later on. While obviously we are not always so prepared in life, it is amazing for me to think about the times that I actually have had a similar opportunity to prepare for a moral crisis.

I read this book year ago on the recommendation of a friend,
and just bought a used copy at a booksale. Although slightly dated(Bear in mind that the copywrite is the early 50's),it is a well crafted story of faith. Its the type of book that you would like to see a sequel to(I know how much time it covers!) One word of advise.... If you have never seen the movie,don't! Just read the book. I understand that it periodically comes back into print. If you can latch on to a copy as I did,go for it!

This book is out of print but I was able to buy it through Amazon's auction site. I highly recommend it if you are able to find it. "The Cardinal" is a very entertaining book to read, and I learned a lot about the way that the church and its dioceses are structured and the hierarchy of the various types of bishops, archbishops, cardinals, etc. The parts detailing the election of a pope and the internal workings of the Vatican were fascinating. Also, I found the moral dilemnas that the main character Steven Fermoyle finds himself in to be interesting and informative. I consider myself to be fairly informed about my faith, but I still learned a lot from this book. Plus, the fact that it's a novel makes it a fun book to read. By the way, "The Cardinal" was made into a movie and is out on video. It's good, but the book has a lot of stuff that the movie leaves out. Read the book even if you've already seen the movie.

The Cardinal cries out for negative criticism, but remains, despite its shortcomings, an enormously entertaining book, with a few flashes of religious insight. Though it tends to present faith in a context of very elaborate dramatics, the underlying story of Stephen Fermoyle's struggle with his pride and self-righteousness, and the mistakes made by well-intentioned and truly committed priests who fight such traits, is valid and insightful. Some of the "battles" the bishop fights seem quaint today: his "heroic" stance against contraception at a time when birth control was illegal and all denominations agreed, for example, seems more the action of a man who loves to hear his own voice. The book's constantly repeated theme that "if it is North American - be it idea, priest, violin, or politics - it not only is greatly superior but will keep the rest of the world in awe" is very irritating, but does show a prevalent view of the era which, in another form, was to have devastating affects on the Church in later decades. There also is a prevailing idea tha t those who stick to moral principles end up huge successes - the doctor who would not crush the babies heads is later tops in his field, the brother who sacrificed his law studies to finance a search for his lost sister is adviser to Al Smith! Yet the book does have a timeless appeal. It is rather pleasant and moving to remember a time when religion played a greater role in people's lives - when, even in America, there was more to life than a career. And one cannot help a smile, despite Stephen's mistakes, remembering an idealistic era when people would believe that a young woman who slept with her non-Catholic boyfriend was the worst problem a priest in the confessional would hear (not that this ever was true.)

This is the kind of book I would call an "airplane book." By this I mean it is so rich in detail, and easy to read, it makes time spent waiting in an airport, or sitting in a cramped airplane, pass quickly and painlessly.

I hesitated whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. It's not great literature (and doesn't pretend to be), and, as some other reviewers have noted, is somewhat dated on some points. However, it is chock full of interesting characters and incidental marks of its time and place. As a native of the Boston area, I found many of the descriptions of life in Boston and environs at the time of the First World War to be of great eprsonal interest.

I also couldn't help noticing the parellels in Stephen Fermoyle's story to that of Francis Spellman, the late Cardinal Archbishop of New York. I've heard that Fermoyle was modelled after Fulton Sheen, but he looks a lot more like Spellman to me.

This wonderful old read reminded me of the religious twin of Maugham's OF HUMAN BONDAGE: a historical soap opera which keeps you hooked chapter after chapter. Not only does the reader stay engaged by the Peyton Place roster of characters and situations, one also gets an insight into world Catholicism in the first half of the 20th Century. As interesting as it is entertaining! Makes me want to go back and take a look at the campy Otto Preminger movie version starring Tom Tryon and Carol Lynley!

Great book, I remember reading this many years ago!

Also, as far as I know, we are not related!