• The Power and the Glory

  • By: Graham Greene
  • Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
  • Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (538 ratings)

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The Power and the Glory  By  cover art

The Power and the Glory

By: Graham Greene
Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
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Publisher's summary

Graham Greene explores corruption and atonement in this penetrating novel set in 1930s Mexico during the era of Communist religious persecutions. As revolutionaries determine to stamp out the evils of the church through violence, the last Roman Catholic priest is on the lam, hunted by a police lieutenant. Despite his own sense of worthlessness—he is a heavy drinker and has fathered an illegitimate child—he is determined to continue to function as a priest until captured. He is contrasted with Padre Jose, a priest who has accepted marriage and embodies humiliation.

A Christian parable pitting God and religion against 20th-century materialism, The Power and the Glory is considered by many, including the author himself, to be Greene’s best work.

©1940, 1962, 1968 by Graham Greene (P)1990 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“As brilliantly written as it is magnificently conceived.” (Chicago Sun)

What listeners say about The Power and the Glory

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lousy recording quality of bad narration

What disappointed you about The Power and the Glory?

It was difficult to listen past the distortion of the recording and the awful voice of the narrator. Sounds like it was recorded in the 50's with a cheap microphone. Turning down all the bass and mid tones and turning up the high eq made it a little more bearable. Need to stop trusting audible and always preview the recording first....

What did you like best about this story?

The book itself is amazing have read it any times

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bernard Mayes?

Anyone with a more human sounding voice. Mr. Mayes sounds like a dying frog.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Hard to hear

What didn’t you like about Bernard Mayes’s performance?

I found this performance difficult to hear. I could not enjoy the story while straining to hear the words.

I like listening to audiobooks in the car, which is admittedly a poor acoustical environment. However, I can hear all the other audiobooks i have purchased. If you are listening to in a quiet place it might be fine, but for my purposes it was not functional.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Horrendous narration killed my interest

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better narrator. I could not get past the first 30 or 40 minutes.

Would you ever listen to anything by Graham Greene again?

Yes.

Would you be willing to try another one of Bernard Mayes’s performances?

NO WAY.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Power and the Glory?

I have to pass on answering this as I didn't finish the book. I'll probably have to read it by the traditional method!

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Impossible to understand

What disappointed you about The Power and the Glory?

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes. Impossible to understand the narrator.

Would you ever listen to anything by Graham Greene again?

Love Graham Greene. A real disappointment

Any additional comments?

Getting a refund. I hope.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mr. Greene would be rolling in his grave

What disappointed you about The Power and the Glory?

The narration is deadly. No energy or dynamics, mid-Atlantic accent is stilted and inappropriate for the content.

What other book might you compare The Power and the Glory to and why?

With a realistic novel dependent on character and dialogue (accented) the narrator needs to be able to bring this to life in a naturalistic style.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Since Greene was British, the British accent itself would not be inappropriate, but this narrator's style is stiff, cold and monotone.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was very disappointed and dismayed that Audible would offer such an inferior production of a classic set in America. I could not finish it.

Any additional comments?

Wasted a credit.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

at last!

I've been waiting years for this to come to Audible and wondered if it would succeed as an audiobook - it does.

The product description calls this novel a Christian parable-- and it is, but don???t expect a cute or motivational story, with a Joseph Girzone Christ-figure hero and a happily ever after (although there is an implied hope for faith enduring at the hands of materialism). The ???power and glory??? allusion is meant ironically . The novel describes people trapped in a country who ???were not hard hearted; they were watching the rare spectacle of something worse off than themselves??? in the whiskey priest hiding more rat-like than conventionally heroicly in the countryside. The characters' and their dialogue are more about internal struggle than the political struggle surrounding them. The style is more like Greene s Confidential Agent (individual trapped by impersonal forces of revolution struggling with metaphysical good and evil) than his more overtly political works which name political actions and forces as evil in themselves.

I think the narration very appropriate for the novel --a kind of British narration style (even though few characters are British) It's more read than narrated with many varied voices BUT that style suits the novel well. Green could use 5 colons in a paragraph when describing internal dialogue of alienated characters, so be prepared for a slow start to the listen.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Garbled reading of a classic

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better recording! Duh! How did this make it into Audible?!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Power and the Glory?

I was struck dumb on page 1 when listening to this exceedingly POOR audio quality.

Would you be willing to try another one of Bernard Mayes’s performances?

NO WAY!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Please, someone, make a new recording!

I think I would enjoy this book. I like Graham Greene - I recommend The Third Man.

On this recording, the narrator and the sound quality are amongst the worst I've ever heard on an audiobook. I can't rate the story because the recording is unlistenable. Please, Audible Studios - make a new recording!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Examination of Evil

This is one of Greene's novels that examines evil.

A "whiskey" priest repeatedly escapes a lieutenant who is part of the regime suppressing Catholicism in Mexico. The priest questions his own worth, and towards the end comes to terms with God as he faces his execution.

I've seen many movies based on novels by Graham Greene, but this is the first I've read.

Based on the presidency of Plutarco Elías Calles. Calles' regime was known for its represive anti-Catholic phase.

Quality of the audio book was horrible. I listened at 1.5x speed, which seemed to help.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow! I love this book!

I keep listening to this book over again something always gets to me that I didn't fully get before. The image of the nameless Father being continually pared down to his essence, which is so pure, is compelling and strangely comforting. The narration is striking and quite funny in parts. Mr. Mayes has unusual voice that drew me in right away. I highly recommend this book.

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4 people found this helpful