The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene

Reviewing this book really seems a bit ridiculous. Who the hell am I to review this? If you haven’t read it, go, go now. It’s only 220 pages, won’t take you a minute… Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you.

It also didn’t occur to me that I was reading a ‘Catholic book’ over Easter weekend until I was nearly finished.

This isn’t a book about the Catholic sacraments, or about religion or faith. It isn’t even about persecution and martyrdom. The value and effect of all those is well understood. This is about something deeper: the moral ambivalence and ambiguities at the heart of everyone. All these characters fit together and draw so much from those around them — misinterpreting each others actions, intentions and clinging to the the symbolism of another person. Their individual actions are small. The overall result may be large, but often it isn’t. In the end though, it doesn’t matter. Labels are attached, conclusions are drawn, meaning is derived, and the world moves on.