Monsignor Quixote

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I remember not rating it among my favourite books by Graham Greene and I wonder now if it demands a certain maturity (which I have in years, these days, if in nothing else!

Much of this small book, then, consists of the witty yet weighty theological/political dialogues between Catholic and Communist: sipping wine, they compare the relative evils of Stalin and Torquemada; they contrast faith in God with faith in Marx; Monsignor Q. Although a clever homage to Cervantes' work, this novel relies heavily on exploring Catholicism and theology. The last of Greene's religious novels, as mentioned above, it really conveys the meaning of his self-described "Agnostic Catholicism". All in all it’s a beautiful little book, perhaps not an Important Work by a man who is increasingly rising in my esteem with each passing book, yet perfectly executed nonetheless. Wonderful soft adventure, gallons of wine, and the talk is of purple nylon socks, Marxism, Roman Catholicism and onanism.One would be tempted to say that these two men would have been sworn enemies - belonging to creeds opposed to each other in principle and action. As I read it, it occurred to me that the two main characters, Father Quixote and the Communist mayor, Sancho, must have represented two sides of GG's personality. Father Quixote, who claims descent from his fictional namesake, is fortuitously elevated to a Monsignor and sets off on a short holiday with his friend the former Communist Mayor of the town, and whom he nicknames Sancho.

When they both move to Dublin for Trinity College, their positions are swapped: Marianne now seems electric and in-demand while Connell feels adrift in this unfamiliar environment.

The back of the book has states this as, Greene's last religious novel, "A whimsical meditation on faith and doubt and the varieties of human folly. Sancho is a communist whose faith in Marx, Engels, and Lenin is as strong as the Monsignor's in the holy trinity.

If some reviewers had trouble with the caper aspect of the novel or with the transformation of Henry, well, I would say that is the point.Richardson and Crowden have also appeared in other versions of the Quixote story – Richardson in the 1972 film Man of La Mancha, and Crowden in the 2000 made-for-TV version of Don Quixote, starring John Lithgow.

There are moments of comedy and they come as something of a relief because for much of the time we are listening to the author (disguised as Monsignor Quixote) thinking aloud, trying to resolve his own lifelong conflicts about religion and politics. Greene, a devout Catholic, always had a soft spot for the Latin variety of Marxism, whence his friendship with Fidel Castro and Omar Torrijos of Panama. He interrogates Father Quixote about religious violence and persecution; in turn, Father Quixote quizzes him on Stalin. And watching the film, I was reminded a lot of Emanuel Carrere's fascinating meditation on this subject of faith and doubt, The Kingdom. Easy to read, and the first time I've been tempted to say, a book that gave me vicarious pleasure (even though these are "fictional" characters, albeit ones that are based on Greene and Catholic priest he embarked on travels with).Like Cervantes’s classic, this comic, picaresque fable offers enduring insights into our life and times. Here also, like in the novel, the greatest asset is the conversations and discussions between the two vagabonds. A couple of light stain marks to the upper for-edge in no way affecting the pages themselves and therefore of no great consequence. It showed Greene's position cemented via transubstantiation (in a manner of speaking) of fiction into fact and of doubt into belief. Nostalgic meditations on faith and doubts and the varieties of human folly are often the recurring themes in his works.