Written by arguably the best author to have never won a Booker, Greene's story of two unlikely travelling companions is a fascinating read.
Set in post Franco Spain the travels of the eponymous Monsignor and his Communist, ex-Mayor sidekick serve as backdrop to a discourse between the heroes of this tale. A discourse that draws on the writings of Marx and Lenin on one hand and the teachings of the Catholic church on the other. A discourse that allows both men to build and strengthen a friendship built on mutual respect of intelligence, integrity and deed.
In addition to the philosophical discussion that runs throughout the book Greene draws parallels with Cervantes' epic story of the Knight Errant and his companion; so much so that the Mayor is nicknamed Sancho, the priest's battered old Seat car is named Rocinante, his ecclesiastical vestements become his armour, his books of Catholic academe are his books of chivalry.
Humour runs through this story as the friends find themselves in a number of adventures and scenarios that test their beliefs, their friendship, their respective mettles and serve to cast the men as outsiders in the eyes of the civil and church authorities. A night hiding from the Guardia Civil in the refuge of a brothel, a run in with an armed bank robber, causing a riot during a rural town's feast day procession, a kidnapping sanctioned by a Bishop, a case of mistaken identity and the priest's first ever visit to a cinema where the title of the film 'A Maiden's Prayer' is a little misleading for this man of the cloth.
Greene keeps the pace of the story lively and eventful with discussions of moral, social and political philosophy always accompanied by much consumption of the wines of the regions they pass through. Great questions of social justice, the nature of corruption, hypocrisy and power juxtaposes with a story that is part 'road', part 'buddy' and part 'parable'.
Oh, and there's a great description of the English in there that had me giggling.
Reviewed by Robert Hill
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