Conclave: A novel by Robert Harris (Epub)

Description

The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next seventy-two hours one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth.

User’s Reviews

Review “Harris has written a gripping, smart book. . . . This could become the Catholic version of The Satanic Verses.” —Vanessa Friedman, The New York Times Book Review “Splendid . . . Harris does not disappoint. . . . Whether you have faith in God, the Church, or neither, Conclave will keep you richly entertained.” —Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post “Triumphant . . . I am about to use a word I have never knowingly used in any review of any book ever. During my 25-odd years of writing about books I have done my best to avoid clichés, slipshod summaries, oracular pronouncements and indeed anything else that might appear emblazoned on a book jacket. Nonetheless, there is only one possible word to describe Robert Harris’s new novel, and it is this: unputdownable.” —Ian Sansom, The Guardian “A gripping read in the authentic Harris mould . . . Conclave, though, is more than a crime novel, it is also a psychological and political thriller . . . The more one looks, the more cunning the book seems. Conclave is a triumphant addition to Harris’s acclaimed output.” —David Grylls, The Sunday Times “A gripping read. There are plenty of plot twists, revelations and high politicking to hook readers in. . . . An ecclesiastical version of House of Cards . . . Conclave is admirably brisk—and its final twist is great fun.” —Robbie Millen, The Times “A slick and fast-paced thriller . . . This entertaining and satisfying page-turner tells the tense story of the Machiavellian machinations of ambitious men, locked in a power-struggle that can only end in a puff of white smoke and power.” —Huston Gilmore, The Daily Express “Ambition and intrigues are familiar ground to a former political journalist . . . gripping.” —Rachel Cooke, The Observer “Fast-written and suspenseful, it’s elegantly written entertainment from a first-rate storyteller.” —Simon Humphreys, The Mail on Sunday “Despite papal fiction being such a crowded church, Harris, in Conclave, contrives a twist involving the number of cardinal-electors that seems to me completely new.” —Mark Lawson, The Guardian “The novel begins to grip like a vice and manages to convey all the drama of an election without resorting to melodrama. He pulls off the difficult trick of making his cardinals seem no less holy for all their human foibles and, although this ruminative and low-key novel is very different from Harris’s other books, it is well up to their standard.” —Charlotte Heathcote, Sunday Express “The smartest bestselling author at work today . . . [Conclave is] a modern-day story that explores the power, glory and skullduggery behind the process of electing a new pope.” —Richard T. Kelly, Esquire (UK) “Another high-class Harris thriller.” —James Walton, Reader’s Digest (UK) “An impressive outing from an extremely versatile author.” —Publishers Weekly”Robert Harris, creator of grand, symphonic thrillers from Fatherland to An Officer and a Spy, scores with a chamber piece of a novel set in the Vatican in the days after a fictional pope dies….An illuminating read for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Catholic Church; for prelate-fiction superfans, it is pure temptation.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I especially loved the author’s Cicero trilogy and his novel on Pompeii so was expecting a well researched read on the inner workings and politics of a conclave. What I got was a #MeToo rendition of “How the Catholic Church Elected a Transgender Pope”.A sign of the times, perhaps, that such a fine author has to get on the politically correct bandwagon to sell books. What a disappointment!

⭐ Though not a Catholic, I have long been fascinated by the inner workings of the church, and have read any number of novels in which those workings constitute the central theme. Among these are Morris West’s “Shoes of the Fisherman, Henry Morton Robinson’s “The Cardinal” and Greg Tobin’s novel with the same name as the present novel under discussion. I have also read many of the posted reviews of Robert Harris’ “Conclave” and I find myself somewhat perplexed by a few of those reviews. Obviously, each person reading a book is entitled to their opinion, and it is therefore unreasonable to expect uniformity. I do. however, find myself wondering if some of the negative reviews were the result of the reader(s) not knowing what they were getting themselves into. All that, however, is largely beside the point. I found the book thoroughly enjoyable, with each character extremely well developed. The writing was well paced and kept my interest throughout. If I had any criticism at all, it would be that I had a suspicion from fairly early on about the papal election which proved to be accurate. There was, however, a bit of a “surprise” thrown in, but no spoilers here! Do read this book if you have the slightest interest in the subject. Highly recommended!

⭐ Robert Harris is a good writer, his prose is great, the story flows, and he has a great knowledge of theintricacies of the Church and even Christianity.However, he sacrifices everything for a “shocking ending” and secularists will probably love it, as it is ends with a slap in the face to the church, but I found the ending appalling. This is a recipe to get Hollywood to call, so I’m sure they have.Harris is like a skilled pianist who plays beautifully the entire book, and then sacrifices the entire performance byending with a loud crass commercial jingle. If you like books that bash the church, you will probably love it. But I could have lived without the final slap.

⭐ Having recently reviewed the author’s magnificent Cicero trilogy, it was quite an adjustment to jump to the present day and focus upon the selection of a new Pope by the college of Cardinals. But Harris is such a fine writer, who so thoroughly does his research, and skillfully can explain concepts (whether the Roman Senate or the Church’s Curia) to the uninitiated, that this was an easy transition. While I don’t believe the current volume is as strong as some others Harris has written, there is no question that this man can spin a yarn that will entrap the reader, and maybe educate him a bit as well.The pluses are many, including those identified above. Few writers are as skillful in building suspense while explaining procedures in this setting unfamiliar to most of us. He is particularly effective here in showing how the Cardinals were “politicking” while they were supposed not to engage in this very practice. He concisely explains through the characters what the Curia (“the heart and brain of the Church”) is and how it functions in selecting a new Pope. The reader comes to understand such terms as “apostolic constitution” and “in pectore” or secret selection of a new Cardinal. I found the disagreements between the progressive and traditional wings of the college, which has been going on since at least the papacy of Pope John XXIII in the 1960’s, and which has prompted fears of an eventual “Great Schism,” to emerge with some clarity from the story.However, even an author as skilled as Harris faces tremendous difficulties in rendering the election of a Pope as an exciting event. As one Cardinal mentions, it is “a laborious routine.” Vote after vote occurs, each one virtually identical to the others. There is also a lot of praying going on which is not too stimulating to read. Basically, the action is limited to the Sistine Chapel and the Cardinals’ dorm. So the basic story is not too exciting, though interesting.Apparently to liven things up, Harris resorts to what I shall term the “surprise” and the “really big surprise.” While the surprise (that involves terrorism) works well I think, given what Europe has recently experienced (especially France), the really big surprise right at the end I thought highly ill-advised and verging on sensationalism. It also immediately ends the novel so the reader is left to construct his own final conclusion to the story. These are just my personal reactions, but they do play a role for me in dropping to four stars rather than five. Nonetheless, a fine thriller well worthy of reading.Once again, a fine job by Berryville Graphics in Virginia in producing the book.

⭐ As I have come to expect from Robert Harris, he stays true to his droning-style narrative. Conclave is an interesting story and I found myself fascinated by the archaic ritual and pomp of the modern day Catholic church. SPOILER (?) ALERT: Rather early in the book Harris gives a not-so-subtle clue to how it all will end, and it did. Though hardly a masterpiece, I enjoyed the book. It’s not a 1000-page brick like so many authors today seem compelled to write. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel in this not-so-rollicking romp and Robert Harris is still on my reading list.

⭐ A Pope dies suddenly, after discovering serious failings in some important Cardinals. It is now up to Cardinal Lomelli, Dean of the cardinals who will vote, to conduct the election for the next Pope. The strength of this novel is its insight into the soul of a the most sincerely and deeply religious Cardinal Lomelli, and into the governance procedures of the Church. Its weakness is the plot contrivances, where each contender for the papacy is shown to have at least one of the cardinal sins (no pun intended). For me the ending was the most contrived turn of the plot, and the least credible.

⭐ Harris is a talented wordsmith – and that’s about the only redeeming feature of the book. The basic plot – a Papal conclave with lots of plotting and scheming has been done many, many times before. As for the “surprise ending(s)”, I figured out the “surprise” winner as soon as he appeared in the book, and the “surprise” about the winner is laughably unrealistic, unfeasible, and essentially impossible. Add to all this the fact that Harris lets his liberal politics come through loud and clear the book is a letdown.

⭐ I’ve read several of Harris’s books and count Fatherland among my all-time favorites. For some reason, I had put this one off for a while and started it reluctantly. I was very pleasantly surprised. As always with Mr. Harris, I learned a lot and was entertained. In a way, it serves as a counter to Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons. In that book, Brown seemed to portray every person of faith as evil, or at least no good. In Conclave, Harris paints the characters as human beings, with moral failings and ambitions, but also as worthy children of God.Recommended.

⭐ Robert Harris has written some pretty darn good historical fiction. The Roman series is about as good as the genre gets frankly. The Dreyfus book was also quite good of his recent works.This book about the politics of the election of the pope is sort of a mixed bag and is sort of like his book about the internet and quants. The book is a good read, but somehow misses the mark. This isn’t a failure, and I still enjoyed the read, but it isn’t his best. However, I still found the book totally plausible in many ways (hmmm) and entertaining.So where so I stand? A kind if more than 3.5 stars kind of mood. It is not his best, it isn’t the worst. I was entertained, I found the boom had some really good twists. The end left me stunned but somehow kind of empty after the buildup. Worth reading, but not katy bar the door all night trying to finish like others has written.If you understand the above, then you won’t be disappointed. Still, a good read and a good thriller

⭐ Very enjoyable read. Some understanding or connection with the Catholic Church might help appreciate the story line and the idiosyncrasies of the Vatican, but otherwise I felt the story flowed at an easy pace while getting towards the end, you were keen to see what happened. I did not think it was pro, or anti, Catholic by any means and I thought it dealt with some very prominent issues facing the church, now and historically, very evenly. Maybe some of the characters were too good to be true, while with others you found you could resonate with their particular flaws. Probably depends on your own take on the good and bad of the church. In the end, a very easy read. This was the first Robert Harris book I have read and I will certainly look at others in the future.

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