Bev’s Comments (group member since Jan 20, 2016)

Bev’s comments from the MidCoast Libraries Better Reading Bookclub group.

There's a natural eeriness to country life - that's why so many producers use these settings in suspense or horror movies. So like many of you, I don't normally go for this genre (perhaps because I live in the country).
But I do love Australian novels and I particularly liked Jane Harper's writing style. She uses the contrast of city and country to emphasise the setting. Falk was born and raised in the country but he preferred the city because he could 'walk down the street without people noticing him'. He wanted to be 'left alone, not judged or harassed'. He could 'work with his brain rather than his back'.
Conversely, Jane Harper describes the desire of city 'natives' who visualise the country with a 'wholesome glow' - fresh air, home-grown veggies, and friendly neighbours; only to discover a 'disturbing' vastness, 'reluctant soil', and neighbours who are too busy to greet you.
But her picture of Kiewarra was of an even more dismal place. I felt sometimes like I was choking from the dirt and dust and grime. It seemed like the place was cursed with fear. Fear of neighbours, fear of failure on the farm, fear of family breakdowns, and fear of financial loss. The very location and its residents magnified the issues so much that it seemed both crimes would have been solved a lot more easily in any other town.
Loved the main character.
Enjoyed the whole story.

Loved it. And like Julie, I will revisit the book to gain a deeper understanding of its very rich messages.

The heavy persecution of the church in Mexico in the late 1930's sets the scene for the ugly horror that all fugitives or refugees must face. Add to this the character of the priest: Initially a prideful, greedy and fearful man, he has lost all his possessions, his family (though illegitimate), and his health (through alcoholism and starvation). But because he is so affected by his upended world, he changes before our eyes. We see him evolve into someone who is humble, selfless and brave.

I agree with Chris about the powerful quotes within the novel. For example "Hate was a failure of imagination": just a sample of the humaneness that surfaced as the priest became more aware of his fellow man.

Written in 1940, when much of the Western world paid unrealistic reverence to 'sanctified' spiritual leaders, Greene portrays the whiskey priest realistically- as a human with weaknesses and shortcomings like everyone else. He COULD be anyone else. He remains nameless throughout the story, so he could be you or me. The other main characters - the Lieutenant and the Mestizo - also remain nameless. Symbolically, the priest becomes more Christ-like, the Mestizo is a Judas who betrays the priest, while the Lieutenant mirrors the legalistic Pilate. (?)

It was the Lieutenant's relentless hunt that gave the priest martyrdom, because it caused the fugitive's many sins to be overlooked by the people. They not only protected him from his pursuers, but they trusted him to continue in his faith, and he returned the favour by putting them before himself.

At every turn I found myself empathising with the priest because Greene shared the
Priest's evolving and sometimes mixed feelings with the reader.

However, at the end, Greene purposely changed his narrative style to exclude us from the priest's innermost thoughts. So we are left to ask ourselves: "If I had been the priest, how would I have felt immediately before my execution? At peace or fearful?"
Instead of the usual firsthand account, we witness the execution as a distant observer, leaving us to reflect on this story and its application for quite some time.