Devotion to faith, idealism and the sublime give way, over the course of a priest’s childhood through middle age, to a realization that service, duty and fellowship are not necessarily obstacles or hurdles, but rather can be the same pursuit.

Dryly funny and obviously written from the point of view of someone greatly irritated by - but with great love for - his fellow man.

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i should have been a priest. ( )

Powers' second and final novel, and much better than his pretty damn good Morte D'Durban. Wheat took forever to write, which is usually a very bad thing, but in this case Powers somehow makes it work, perhaps because the usual late style stuff (pessimism, grouchiness and so on) fits so well with the late stages of this book. Father Hackett watches his small world change with good humor and dismay; he might not admit it, but it's fairly clear that he himself is just as much to blame for those changes as anyone. The Walmart-style store takes over from the old mall, and takes over from the church as well. Everything centers more and more on money--which is precisely what Hackett's life has centered on. And his final pilgrimage is a beautiful end to the novel. As with all of Powers' work, it's exceptionally well written, funny and affecting. Is it innovative? No. Is it formally interesting? Not in the slightest. But it's exceptionally well done for all that. ( )

I've been a fan of the late J F Powers for probably thirty years. Have read his classic novel of the Church in the 1950s, MORTE D'URBAN, at least 2-3 times. And also read his three books of stories. Can't figure out how I missed this one, WHEAT THAT SPRINGETH GREEN, his only other novel, first published 25 years ago. In any case, I am most grateful to NYRB Classics imprint for reissuing all of Powers' work again. He was a writer much rspected by other writers, but often neglected and underappreciated by the general reading public, probably because of his never-changing, constant subjects: the priesthood and the Catholic Church. This novel is perhaps even better than Morte D'Urban, set in a midwest diocese at the height of the Vietnam war. Father Joe Hackett is a character that will stay with you for a long time, probably because of his very human faults, his utter 'humanity.' You will laugh and wince in recognition, not just at Hackett, but also at some of the other buffoonish priests and prelates depicted here, like Cooney, Mooney and Rooney. Or at the nicknames given: Shorty and Slug, Catfish, Arch (the Archbishop) and others. It is eye-opening and often a bit sad to watch Joe's gradual transformation as this tale of the modern Church spins out and winds down.

A favorite line, indicationg Joe's final loss of innocence - "... believing as he did that the separation of of Church and Dreck was a matter of life and death for the world, that the Church was the one force in the world with a chance to save it ..."

There is a kind of redemption for Joe, however, as, in the end, he takes up his "cross." I love this book and hope to find time to read it again some day. But then, "so many books ..." Highly recommended. ( )

The heroism of living a quietly desperate life. ( )