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Title: Conclave by Roberto Pazzi, Oonagh Stransky ISBN: 1-58642-066-6 Publisher: Steerforth Italia Pub. Date: March, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: Stay to the end, the ridiculous turns sublime
Comment: Conclave is a perfect story. The prose moves fluidly: I read it in about half a day (kudos to the translator). It is also wonderfully original, without being self-consciously experimental. It is full of magical realism, and entertaining enough to make it worth reading even superficially; but for readers who reflect at all, Pazzi's irreverent antics become a kind of sacred clowning, illuminating some of the most profound theological questions.
Following the death of a long-serving, popular and influential pope, 172 cardinals are cloistered together in the Vatican with the difficult mission of electing a worthy successor. While some of them give lip service to waiting for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and some actually mean to, the truth is that politicking, strategizing, and self-promotion are as rampant in this conclave as in any other throughout history. All are beyond middle age, accustomed to power and prestige, and looking forward to making quick work of the election.
The inspiration of the Holy Spirit doesn't come. Not only does God seem to be staying away, the Devil seems to be firmly in charge. The Vatican is infested by successive plagues of rats, scorpions, and bats, whose supernatural quality is made evident by the selectivity of their destruction of artworks - including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - always sparing the images of Christ and His Mother. The cloister cannot be broken by calling in an exterminator, so animal predators are brought in: cats for the rats, hens for the scorpions, owls for the bats. To this horrifying menagerie are added a couple of incidents of inadvertent witchcraft, in one case causing all the old men to leave their beds and dance all night long in their pajamas through the halls and stairs of the Vatican.
The cardinals are desperate to get out, and a couple of Americans even attempt an escape, but the twice-daily voting never brings them close to a majority for any candidate. An old Estonian monk suggests that erecting a Turkish bath would give their old bones comfort and help them to accept the cloistered experience. The bath is duly built and enjoyed, but tragically, it turns out to be more than one proud and repressed cardinal can handle. For others, it has the salutary effect of (literally) stripping away the trappings that make them Princes of the Church and reducing them to humbler men.
It is not until the very end of the book, when the ridiculous has completely overwhelmed the sublime, that the depth and beauty of Pazzi's vision becomes apparent. His is the God of Job, Master of both Good and Evil. Out of the crucible that is this conclave comes not only a worthy Pope, but a golden College of Cardinals.
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Title: Vatican Gold by Tom Stern ISBN: 0970305613 Publisher: AEI/Titan Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Our Fathers : The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal by DAVID FRANCE ISBN: 0767914309 Publisher: Broadway Pub. Date: 20 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca De Queiros, Margaret Jull Costa ISBN: 0811215326 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities: A Treasury of Trivia by Nino Lo Bello, Nino L. Bello ISBN: 0764801716 Publisher: Liguori Publications Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Voice of the Violin: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery by Andrea Camilleri, Stephen Sartarelli ISBN: 0670031437 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 06 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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