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Monsignor Quixote

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As someone says on the cover of my edition, the dialogue between the Catholic priest and the Marxist mayor is really Greene talking to Greene. The wonderful Mr. Greene. Rather left leaning in his time and a converted Catholic, one might expect a little propaganda on the subject. But no, Mr. Greene has the honesty, and the intellectual insight, to describe both the strengths and the flaws of these two religions. And of course their common link: a strict, overpowering, bureaucracy. For Father Herrera and the Bishop are not unlike thousands of other aparatchiks, hungry for power and blindly following the faith.

On the other hand the Monsignor and the Mayor are a bit faithless, allowing for, in some cases thankful for, the existence of doubt. They are tolerant. And it is this tolerance that brings them together and allows their friendship to blossom. Tolerance....and a good deal of wine. In the end, of course, the bureaucrats win and both the Mayor and the Monsignor must escape.

This is one of Mr. Greene's lighter novels, lighter even than "Travels with my Aunt". The characters are relaxed, the scenes are picturesque and slow, and there is enough nice dry humor you make you laugh out loud. It's the Greene equivalent of Champagne, light, pleasant and mildly intoxicating. This compared to his other novels which are straight vodka. Highly recommend.

Graham Greene is simply fantastic. This is a novel I waited a long time to read. I actually read Cervantes' "Don Quixote" first, in the very edition Greene cites, J.M. Cohen's translation in the Penguin Classics, so that I could pay adequate respect to Greene, and the spirit of his work.

Persecuted by self-doubt at being promoted to the clerical rank of monsignor, Father Quixote, a parish priest of El Toboso, and 'Sancho' Zancas, the former mayor of the town, go for a holiday before undertaking the next phase of their lives. In a novel concerned with trying to differentiate between fact and fiction, certainty and doubt, the two must leave the shelter of comfortable, structured belief and challenge each other's resolve, as well as gauge the world's response to those beliefs. Over the course of their adventures, they drink bottle upon bottle of wine and talk about their lives and their belief systems, Catholicism and Marxism, respectively.

In "Monsignor Quixote", Greene does a marvelous job creating complex, realistic, and emotionally involving characters. His Quixote and Sancho are indeed what one might expect if Cervantes' characters had descendants living in the mid-20th century. The novel, like that of Cervantes, achieves its brilliance through dialogue, with little attention to physical descriptions, aside from what is absolutely necessary to form an image.

I do not recall the last time so short a work (it is barely over 200 pages) gave me such cause to laugh, weep, and think so deeply. Though Greene's tone may favour Catholic sentiment, it is far from orthodox, and fit for a literate and thoughtful audience. My only problem with the novel upon finishing it was that it was not much, much longer.

A small-town priest (Toboso, where Don Quixote's beloved comes from) meets an Italian bishop, who promotes him to the degree of Monsignor. Before assuming his new responsibilities, he and the Marxist ex-mayor of Toboso, "Sancho" decide to take the car and travel around Spain. As they go along, they have several adventures and discuss about their respective views on religion and life. Although it is not a pretentious or "profound" novel, it touches the subjects of tolerance and, above all, the possibility of people being friends even if they have disagreements on their basic views of the world and the humankind. Or, if not friends, at least people can coexist peacefully. It really surprised me how much this book reminds me of another fine literary work -in my view, superior to this one- which constantly and funnily elaborates on this same subject: "The world of Don Camillo", by Giovanni Guareschi. This one is about a small village in post-war Italy, where Don Camillo, the local priest, and Pepone, the communist mayor, interact through the years. I have reviewed it for Amazon.com, and I think the basic conclusion if similar to that of Monsignor Quixote. Summarizing, this novel by Graham Greene is really good, not so much for the "literature" it has, but for the meaning and significance of its subject. It is a pity that few people read it. Moreover, it is yet another proof that Cervantes' masterpiece is and will remain alive, with good writers going over and over to its central characters, structure and theme.

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.

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.

Listening to Monsignor Quixote, (unabridged on audio casette) I found myself instantly transported into the company of these remarkable characters. Green is a master of both dialogue and symbolism. This is the best G. Green work I have yet experienced.

A delightful meditation on friendship, as two unlikely heros traverse Spain to purchase Monsignor socks for a colorless priest. His companion is the Communist former Mayor of their small Spanish town, and their conversations and roadside picnics are comments on a Spain that was lost under Franco, impossible to restore under communists, but perhaps recoverable with the Catholic Church militant and incarnate. The story arc follows that of Don Quixote, with Rocinanante as a mercurial but faithful motor car. This is a light, but deep funny story, an "entertainment" yes, but also deeply touching the divine spark of humanity.

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.

"Monsignor Quixote," (1982), is a 250 page, novella length, yet powerful late work by the widely admired British author Graham Greene. It is gentle, charming, life-affirming, and very Catholic. It surely makes an odd contrast with the novel written immediately before, DR FISCHER OF GENEVA that is bitter, cynical, and angry.

The title character, an aging priest in the small Spanish town of El Toboso, on the main road to Valencia, persists in claiming descent from Don Quixote, protagonist of the Spanish author Miguel Cervantes' famous influential 16th century fiction of the same name (DON QUIXOTE). But Father Quixote's fascist-leaning bishop (the notorious 20th century fascist dictator, Francisco Franco is dead, but his followers still crowd Spain), finds that to be only one of Quixote's character traits that the bishop strongly dislikes. Even so, as a result of the fact that an Italian monsignor has been wandering around Spain, and Quixote has been unfailingly helpful, courteous and hospitable to him, the church hierarchy in Rome has made Quixote a monsignor (a higher rank in the church), without seeking Quixote's bishop's input or approval. The bishop is furious. So Quixote decides to take a time-out before taking up his new duties. He saddles up his ancient car that he calls Rocinante, after Quixote's horse, and loads up the back seat with the local "honest Manchegan wine." In a plot clearly meant to echo Cervantes's DON QUIXOTE, the priest sets out on his journey, accompanied by the Communist ex-mayor of the town, who has just been defeated at the polls. The priest calls the ex-mayor Sancho, after the squire Sancho Panza, who accompanied Don Quixote on his famous journey. (Both men bear Spanish surnames considered to be quite similar to those of their earlier fictional counterparts.) Their journey takes them around the back roads of Spain, where they are continually harassed by the local Guardia Civil--the police--who also, apparently, still follow the late Spanish dictator, the fascist Franco.

In these pages, the author continues his quest to explore moral and theological dilemmas through psychologically astute character studies and exciting drama on an international stage. Like most of Greene's prodigious output, I believe 56% or so, and many source novels and stories done more than once, this novel was filmed, under the same name, Monsignor Quixote [Region 2] as an all-star production, giving us Sir Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, Ian Richardson, Graham Crowden, and Maurice Denham.

Graham Greene (1904-1991) was one of the most illustrious British writers of the 20th century. He enjoyed a very long life, most of the century, and a very long, prolific writing career, during which he gave us THE POWER AND THE GLORY, THE END OF THE AFFAIR, and OUR MAN IN HAVANA, among many others. The author's books were very well-written, highly literate; much praised by the critics, and enjoyed a wide readership; they were frequently best sellers. The writer was also one of the better-known Catholic converts of his time; many of his thrillers deal with Catholic themes of guilt and redemption, as this book surely does. Greene, who also worked as a screenwriter, always created a tight thriller, in a lean, realistic style that boasted almost cinematic visuals. If you'd like just a little "tapas" (taste) of the man's work, you can't go wrong here.

A book I read before I read Cervantes' original, yet still appreciated greatly. The images are vivid, and the people are somehow funny and beautiful and profound at the same time. Graham Greene certainly is one of the best writers I have ever experienced