Customer Reviews

No Other Life

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No Other Life is a vieled portrait of Jean Betrand aristide,told of course in fictionalised form.Told through the eyes of his fellow priest and discoverer,if you will, it tells the story of an activist priest,watching his people become further and further oppressed,until he himself decides to enter politics.{this book was written in the period that aristide was in exile}The descriptions of island life are pure Moore,as is the age-old moral ambiguities,the question of faithvs.politics.{Moore claimed to be agnostic,which wouold fit this book quite well} The books title comes from the narrators own soul quest,and his affirmation thereof.The ending is open-ended,as the aristide character becomed messianic,which,along with powerful colusion of military,corporate and religious powers leads to his downfall.Another moral, challenging novel form the late Mr. Moore.Excellent!

A very nice read from Mr. Moore. Well paced and well stocked with voices at once familiar and seemingly authentic. A good meditation on the rights of outsiders to interfere with the affairs of State, and on the split loyalties between serving man and God. This book is in a similar vein as Black Robe (also by Brian Moore) and Monsignor Quixote and The Power and The Glory (by Graham Greene).

Jeannot, a child born into poverty on a Caribbean island, is "rescued" by Father Michel and raised by the Church. But Jeannot, who is a dynamic figure, goes beyond the spiritual-only concerns Father Michel has invested in Jeannot's upbringing and becomes a revolutionary, concerned with the plight of the poor on his island.

He is elected president of the country, and institutes a series of sweeping reforms that put his own life in danger. Father Michel begins to question what Frankenstein's "monster" has been "created." Moore looks carefully at the three institutions fighting for power here: the Church, the military (representing greed and the "standard way" of doing business), and the "people" (Jeannot). Moore's writing is suspenseful and intelligent. Very well done.

Although Brian Moore is one of my favorite authors, I didn't much like this one. But the scene from which the book takes its title was for me unforgettable.