DCFA: Speak Now Or Forever Hold My Peace

Phew. This book is finally over. Like pulling teeth. Straight up. I have to say that as offensive as I found this book to be (within context of course), if a kid actually wants to attempt to tackle this 300 page nap, I say vaya con Dios. Because as an adult with an above average attention span and high aptitude for reading, it was a cornea scorcher. Any kid willing to endeavor on this thankless journey must welcome narcolepsy or really prefer the joyless aspects of Catholicism. This was like twelve years of Catholic school in a single book. So the Catholic school experience that I was thankfully spared from in my formative years, was mentally forced upon me when I read DCFA.
The end of the book has Bishop Latour reflecting on his time spent ministering to the Catholic people and 'heathens' during his lifetime and accepting that death would inevitably drive a wedge between him and those he cared about and who he worked with in the ministry. It would have tugged at my ol' heart strings, since the death of several family members recently has had me reexamining my own mortality, if it hadn't been for all of the repetitive racism and stereotypes. Sadly, Willa Cather spent nearly 300 pages trying to endear Father Latour to the readers and I'm sure I'm not the only reader who viewed his extremely drawn out natural demise at the conclusion without emotion. He meddled in people's personal financial affairs, only because it would benefit the Catholic Church not out of any real concern for the parishioners well being or quality of life. He played on people's religious superstitions and guilt to not only further the Church's agenda but more importantly and at the forefront, his own personal agenda. In my opinion, he was the least sympathetic character in the entire book. He possessed and exhibited all of the unattractive qualities of your average Joe and none of the redeeming humanistic qualities. There was little written in the book that made him human, likable, relateable.
Because in the end, he didn't see himself as a lowly mortal deigned by God to minister to the unwashed masses but equal to the unwashed masses in God's eyes. He saw himself as part of the French elite, almost aristocratically,sent on a mission from God (and tragically not as noble a mission as the Blues Brothers' either) to guide the swarthy miscreants of the New World. Once I understood that this priest was not willing to meet anyone half way, my mind was made up that this book wasn't a Mother Teresa-esqe tome. It was in essence the Catholic Church's Groundhog Day (as in Bill Murray). Their attitude remains the same and so identical events play out in identical fashion and it's 100+ years later and the same argument could be presented with today's Catholic Church.

And so ends my purgatory marathon through every aspect that makes Catholicism and period literature frustrating. My next dalliance in the literary realm will be The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

DCFA Ruminations

Although I finished reading the books a few days ago, I thought I would use this post to address an issue that has already crept up after dissecting two books on the Banned List which is the heavy weight of religion in the two books so far. To be blunt, it's been a pretty downer and a literature killer in my opinion. To dwell on the minutia of Christian factions is arduous for this reader. It almost makes me question whether religion has a place at all as a main focal point in literature. Because in DCFA it effectively stunted any growth or movement in the story. The plot never got off the ground and there was no development to any of the characters. The book was one dimensional religious gossip, and it was more about the observance of the faith than the story itself. And that isn't the goal of literature. Books no matter how old and devoted to a specific period in time are supposed pull readers out of reality and put them in another environment, surprise them, shock them, evoke some kind of emotion. DCFA created an antipathy in me. A yeah-so-what response. As in yeah, some priests are corrupt, using parish tithes for personal and material gain but so what? The book created no kind of moral concern in me, I found it inconsequential as I found the book in its entirety. The entire book, to me, could be summed up sufficiently in a elementary school shoebox diorama.

Next post will wrap DCFA briefly as the book is banal. I plan to select a more socially relevant book next.

Death Comes For The Archbishop/Willa Cather ~ Part Two

I took a semi-break from reading over the holidays, mainly because I was receiving so many books as gifts that it was a bit overwhelming. Kid in candy store effect. Anyhow I'm nearing the end of the book and about half way in, I realized (to a certain degree) why people want this book banned. Blatant racism aimed at racial factions and some very unpleasant (although probably true in any century) portraits being painted of how certain priests conducted themselves when drunk on the idea of absolute moral authority. Because the story is told from the Bishop's POV, his preconceived notions are most obvious.  Horse trading Yankees are crooks, Indians never fully accept Catholicism or the French priests (but act as their guides nonetheless) and Hispanics are theatrical in their practice of religion (Bishop Latour is French). Americans are dirty in general and the pioneers of the Ohio Valley are uncouth hicks who couldn't build a decent treehouse. I guess in the 1920s ridiculous stereotypes weren't passe yet but it is really annoying. And it's a two or three way street. The Mexicans don't trust the French, they certainly don't trust Americans and they have an unspoken understanding with the Indians. French priests fear Indians and view their dwellings as demon possessed or at the most generic, evil. Indians are guarded against everyone and pay lip service to Catholicism. They go along to get along because these priests, they're badgery.
What I enjoy most are the rows between priests and the Bishop. Each diocese/parish has their own priest who runs the local show. And the ones in the Southwest have a pretty long leash, no house mom. I kept putting it into today's smarmy vernacular: The Real Priests of Southwest Dio. One priest wants riches so he cheats some of his parishioners out of their farms. He likes pleasures of the flesh so he ignores the celibacy oath. Another doesn't like all of the masses and confirmations and baptismals so he does a one size fits all blessing at birth and sends them out into the world while he remains a cultural icon. Latour is sent in to clean house and crack skulls and hijinks ensue. He's not pristine either. He cajoles a Catholic subject (because let's be real with each other, that's what they are) into giving him his two prized white mules. The guy was set to give him one but one wasn't good enough, he coveted (ooh, I used one of the Big Ten words!) both so he pulled out the old 'God will respect you more if you do me this solid' line. Unbelievable. Or not.