Customer Reviews

DEVILS ADVOCATE (Rei)

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It is a fascinating tale of suffering, human failings, redemption and above all faith, set in Southern Italy during World War II. Monsignor Blaise Meredith, who is dying of cancer, has been assigned the most important task of his life to be a Devil's Advocate for beautification of Giacomo Nerone. He is sent to a small town in Calabria to investigate the life and death of this martyr. The story unfolds as the Monsignor interviews Nerone's widow, Nina Sanduzzi, Nerone's friend, Dr. Aldo Myers, a Jew among the Catholics, a wealthy Contessa, who was in love with Nerone and Contessa's guest, Nicholas Black, an English painter. Nerone's character comes alive through Dr. Myers and his widow's narration of events leading to his death by firing squad by the partisan mob. Nerone's life in the small town is revealed gradually like clouds parting to reveal the sun. He is a British officer who disserts his post after a horrifying accident where he kills an infant and the parents. With a bullet in his shoulder he runs away to find love, peace and God. He eventually finds all three.

It is beautifully written with characters full of human follies, sacrifices and dichotomy of good and evil. Meredith, who had spent his entire life in Rome, closeted in the ridged environs of the Church, is suddenly immersed among ordinary folks with human failings, some with unbound love and devotion, and some who possess qualities of equal measure.

Why do we act the way we do? What makes us believe in God and yet commit horrible acts? When Meredith unveils Contessa's evil plan of seducing Paolo, Nerone's young son, he admonishes her and bares her soul. Contessa then blithely asks him to be her confessor. Monsignor replies people go to confessions as if visiting their psychiatrist, not to repent and ask for forgiveness, but to unburden themselves of their shameful act, so that they can go on to their next folly.

The human riddle has no answer. Even the good hearted dying Monsignor fails in his bid to save Nicholas Black. Meredith, a cold hearted bookworm from Rome, discovers for the first time true love, hatred, jealousy, revenge, the essence of human heart. He is so moved by the events in the small town, which tugged at his heart for the very first time, that he requests the Church in Rome to be buried there.

A MUST read in any body's list.

Morris West's--The Devil's Advocate--is a perennial literary classic thriller that is an intermixture of politics and religion, which explores the behind-the-process investigative scenes of Catholic saint making. But that is really only the backdrop to the totality of the story, for the real narrative deals with the world weary and cynical English devil's advocate, Fr. Blaise Meredith, a man who has been informed that due to an illness, his life expectancy has been shortened. With such a blow, he submissively complies to that which he can not prevent from happening: death. He passively waits for it, dismissing his environment and the people contained within it, thus causing a premature emotional death, stunting him before actual physical death seizes him. As such, his 'boss' Eugenio Cardinal Marotta, tries to get him out of his self-made rut, something created long before his illness came into the scene. And it is an observation duly noted by Marotta, when he states on page 37, "...Part of the problem is that you and I and others like us have been removed too long from pastoral duty. We have lost touch with the people who keep us in touch with God. We have reduced the faith to an intellectual conception, an arid assent of the will, because we have not seen it working in the lives of common folk. We have lost pity and fear and love. We are the guardians of mysteries, but we have lost the awe of them. We work by canon, not by charity..."

Over the course of time, Blaise Meredith lost something within himself, the mystery of what brought him into religious life in the first place, that spark of Divine influence which ignited his actions, the excitement, the possibility, the allure; what he clung to was a partial illusion instead of the reality, and so, bit-by-bit, he gradually crumbled until his feelings became ashes and dust rather than his body. Yet, that is the beauty of humanity, for we each raise each other up when necessary, and Fr. Meredith is no exception. But he is raised up not by a living soul, but a departed one, a martyred witness whose cause for canonization he must investigate. But for him, it is yet another albatross around his neck, for he is of the belief that the world could do with more churches and better attendance than another holy rollar saint. However, the man whom he must investigate--Giacomo Nerone--appears anything but saintly, which in its own right is quite refreshing. But his adherence to the doctrine of the Church, even onto death, is what elevates him to the possibilities of the honor of the alter. The story surrounding Nerone and those who knew him slowly and intricately revives the devil's advocate's own faith. And his soul is gradually restored.

West's novel can be dissected on many levels and the characters that are gradually introduced are by all accounts flawed in their own very unique manner, for nothing is held back. But no matter how reprehensible some of the characters and situations may be, there is corrective redemption that is available; some take it and others do not, but for those who do, one can not but sigh with a degree of relief. As noted in the author biogrphy, The Devil's Advocate was awarded the Royal Society's William Heinemann Award, the National Brotherhood Award from the National Council of Christians and Jews as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Award. And for me, upon completion of the book, an understanding of the universal acclaim that it has received since its publication.

I read this book over a weekend and it's helped me make some major changes to my attitude towards others and towards my own ambitions. It's a touching book - there are people at the extremes here- the Contessa living her life out in loneliness, decadence and revenge, the effeminate painter, the doctor torn between right and wrong, wanting to do good but not being able to reach out, the teenage son and beautiful and wise lover of Nerone - Nina, the "devil's advocate" dying with library dust on his lungs - he hasn't done any bad but he hasn't done any good either. He finds his peace among these peasants at last - in understanding others and living with them. The imagery is subtle but startling - Nerone grew from the muddy ground and blossomed into a tree, his fruits were the changes he brought in the characters in the book and the priest himself was the gardener! Nerone is the central character of the book - he loses God and then God brings him back to his own path. I particularly like the way Nina describes her lover. So, was Nerone a saint. I believe in "worship the creator, not the created"! Nerone was NOT a saint, but he found God and that's all that matters. A leader among men!!

I read this book ages ago and I remembered it was very enlightening about the methods used by the Catholic Church, in the process of accepting or rejecting individuals being postulated for sainthood. Then I recently attended a representation of G. B. Shaw's "Saint Joan" together with a Mormon lady I was dating. As said play finishes with a mockery of the process by which Joan of Arc was accepted among the Saints, I wanted this lady to read "Devil's Advocate", to realize that the Church is very strict in this process and doesn't just go around handing out sainthood to whoever, in order to further their goals. I believe she was as impressed with the book as I originally was. It is very clear, beautifully written, interesting as it is full of facts and data not easily become otherwise and also very entertaining, even for someone who's native language is not English, like me. I thank amazon.com for having searched for months for this book, as it was already out of print.

I converted to Catholicism three and a half years ago. The discussion in this book regarding Christianity and communism were the most powerful yet simple arguments I have ever read. It brought me to tears to realize how well this author could explain the essence of faith. I read an average of 50 books each year, and have a read a majority of the 100 greatest books in history and believe this book should be among them. The author has a unique way of making characters that you don't even like understood and appreciated for their failures. It brought me to tears to know that I have just discovered this author and he died in 1999. His death is all of our lost.

Without doubt one of the best books ever written. West succeeds in building characters who are real and also touches on relevant spiritual issues. Morris West must be one of the 20th century's greatest writers. This book is a "must read"

This is a story of love and hate, hope and despair, faith and non-belief. As one man attempts to uncover the sanctity of another man, he discovers his own humanity. Rev. Blaise Meredith is sent by the Vatican to begin a process of investigation. Was Giacomo Nerone a saint and martyr or merely a military deserter who had only the appearance of sanctity? As Morris West delves into the story of Nerone and those who loved and hated him, he brings to light the universal questions about who we are, what is our purpose in life, and what is our ultimate destination. This is a beautifully written story which evokes personal reflection and spiritual contemplation. Ultimately, this is a story of love, hope, and faith.

Morris West produced some masterpieces in his years on this earth, and it's sad to see his books largely gone from the shelves. "The Devil's Advocate" is an explanation for both his popularity in the past and his waning appeal in the present.

Set in post-WWII Italy, we are drawn into a tangled web of intrigue, politics, religion, and human drama--all of which are common fodder for a West novel. A possible Allied deserter has appeared in the mountainous regions of the Calabrese, and he's reached the level of sainthood with his martyr-like death. The Catholic church dispatches someone to determine the man's true standing before God and man, and he soon finds himself in the middle of lives that have been touched for better or worse by the dead man. There are effeminate men struggling with sexuality, a countess who longs for love and drugs, a woman who wants only the best for her son, and a Jewish doctor who feels out of place.

West ties these plot threads with slow, deliberate care, sometimes at a ponderous pace. The deeper we get into the story, though, the more we empathize with these flawed characters. That's a tribute to West's obvious concern for mankind and his relationship with God, but it comes across somewhat stodgy, even pedantic in places.

Nevertheless, there are lines here worth quoting, and the wisdom and grace of this novelist stands strong. For that alone, I believe his novels deserve to stand the test of time.

I read this book about 30 years ago. I wanted to read it again having just returned from Rome and the Vatican. It is as good now as it was then. Morris West at his best!

Excellent book, as are ALL Morris West books ..... I am an elderly Catholic man who has spent exact halves of his life in pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II eras. The picture West develops in post WWII Catholic Southern Italy is excellent ..... The layman's theology he presents brought long-lost beautiful memories of a stricter, easier religious environment in a story that I don't believe could take place in the current post-Vatican II world ..... Anyone, whether Catholic or not, will enjoy and appreciate the thought processes involving theology and the human spirit, among a group of characters that are superbly developed ..... The climax and ending are awaited anxiously, and are brought about in a truly West fashion ..... I read the book shortly after its initial publication in 1959, enjoyed it then, and after finding it on a used-book table, enjoyed it again, in a very different light of the world today .....