A pastiche on the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote with moments of comedy and also reflection on matters of dictatorship, Communism and Catholicism. A book of moral complexity that explores deep theological themes in a light-hearted, accessible way. In the subsequent course of events, Quixote and his companion have all sorts of funny and moving adventures along the lines of his ancestor's on their way through post- Franco Spain. Rosalie Crutchley also makes a great performance as his house-keeper, but there is no Dulcinea here, only Rosinante. It showed Greene's position cemented via transubstantiation (in a manner of speaking) of fiction into fact and of doubt into belief.

He has imbibed all that Communism can sell; he has lived through the years of Franco; can he, through his friend, the priest who learns to read Marx, discover grace?The younger people did have trouble with the scrapes Quixote gets into and said it was unrealistic and suggesting he was evil or an anti-hero in some way. But beyond all these qualities as well as its gentle, mesmeric pace, Greene's gift for evoking scenery superbly in just some words (better than Maugham and Hemingway, in my opinion), its understated but exquisitely enjoyable sense of humour and its rich feeling of universal compassion, is one thing that lifts "Monsignor Quixote" head and shoulders above its genre of pastiche. Which book, I wish to know most earnestly, would foster such a feeling of warmth and assurance today? Don Quixote's delusions are here transformed into Alec's catholic faith and belief in the holy trinity, which Leo mocks, persisting that Marx is more real. Quixote here is Father Quixote, a Spanish village-priest and a supposed descendant of the original Don.

Reread for an upcoming episode of A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast and found it just as delightful this time around.The dust wrapper, bright in magenta to both major panels, has some very slight surface scratching and light edge wear.

Original green cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; top edge stained green; dust-jacket by Michael Harvey; pp. To be sure, there is more than glib wisecracks going on here with respect to Greene’s challenges to Catholicism, but all of the questioning feels sincere, more a result of concern than bitterness. And there he was, right at the top, right at the end of the shelf, looking fat and companionable, just waiting for me to discover how the windmills led him to find “the truth on his deathbed”.Leaving with him on his holiday was Mayor Enrique Zancas, also known as Sancho, an open communist and fresh from his defeat in the recent election in the village.