![]() ![]() I would say a working knowledge of Quixote’s original adventures is vital to fully appreciating this one, though you can probably skip the Unamuno which is depressingly esoteric. I love the references to Don Quixote and Miguel de Unamuno’s Quixote essay, both of which I read over the summer (see my reviews here and here). (Quixote is much like Scobie, really, with similar doubt and despair - I imagine that both of them are probably autobiographical in this respect.) This is, frankly, much more comprehensible and engaging for a non-Catholic. We don’t see one man struggling with a specific dilemma of absolution, but rather a similar man struggling in general with his faith. Here, rather, he examines Catholicism holistically and much less personally. ![]() ![]() It’s actually just as Catholic a work as what I consider his most Catholic so far, Heart of the Matter, but here Greene doesn’t deal with his religion in a mystifying, perseverating and in my opinion tedious way, one that is largely inaccessible to non-religious readers like me. It was breezy and nostalgic, with a great touch of tender affection between the two protagonists. So this is “light Graham Greene” huh? Quite a change of pace from the others I’ve read, ( The Power and the Glory, The Quiet American and The Heart of the Matter), but I liked it a lot, maybe even because of the tonal and stylistic change-up. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |