Rating: 
Summary: A "must read"
Review: EMINENCE is a breathtaking journey through the political fabric of the Vatican during a crucial period, set in the near future. The hierarchy wrestles for direction in the lead up of the election of a new Pontiff. Morris West's novel is clearly a "must read" for anyone enjoying a well written, compelling novel.While you are masterly entertained by the author, he uses skilfully a highly accomplished structure of the novel as his Trojan Horse to present compelling argument to sketch out the fundamental problems facing the Roman Catholic Church, and Christianity at large, everywhere. West's insight and maturity takes you on the path to new thinking on essential questions on spirituality, traditional faith, and illuminates our own search for God, and life's meaning in a new age. I hope it becomes compulsory reading for high office bearers of the Roman Church, as they soon might need to wrestle with the election of a successor to the ancient throne of Peter. As to the wisdom of a great writer, we ought to be truly grateful.
Rating: 
Summary: About Eminence
Review: Few novelists have written about the Catholic Church with more drama, insight, and prophecy than Morris West. His new novel centers on Luca Rossini, once a young priest savagely tortured by the Argentinean military in the 1970s. To cover up the scandal, Rossini was taken back to Rome and kept in exile. Under the patronage of the reigning pontiff, he has become a cardinal, one of the Church's most efficient diplomats, and a member of the electoral college. When the reigning pope dies, Rossini loses his patron--though not his power or his iron will--and his faith, already shaken by his past, is tested anew. On the eve of the papal election, the woman who saved his life and for whom, even in exile, he has nourished a deep and abiding love, comes again into his life. The wounds of the past are reopened, and Rossini finds himself in a new crisis of political responsibility and faces the turmoil of his own spirit. This compelling drama of love and passion, political intrigue, and heady suspense shows once again why Morris West is one of the greatest novelists of our time.
Rating:
Summary: A "must read"
Review: I have always enjoyed Morris Wests novels. His grasp and understanding come from an insiders view of how the church operates and its relationships with people and governments. He is wonderful at developing great characters so this book will not disappoint you. He makes two significant assumptions in trying to make this a " real " (in his eyes) portrayal of the church, namely that the present pontif regrets his stronghanded conservative stance on the church and that a church, riddled with conservatives will entertain the choice of a moderate for the next pope. These are big jumps that I am not sure everyone is willing to make and thus the ending is somewhat unreal. Most readers are probably not this critical nor are they knowledgeable of the running of the church as West is and therefore might make the jump easier. Neverthrless, it is a good read and will certainly keep your attention to the last page.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing / Insightful novel about Vatican Politics
Review: I have always enjoyed Morris Wests novels. His grasp and understanding come from an insiders view of how the church operates and its relationships with people and governments. He is wonderful at developing great characters so this book will not disappoint you. He makes two significant assumptions in trying to make this a " real " (in his eyes) portrayal of the church, namely that the present pontif regrets his stronghanded conservative stance on the church and that a church, riddled with conservatives will entertain the choice of a moderate for the next pope. These are big jumps that I am not sure everyone is willing to make and thus the ending is somewhat unreal. Most readers are probably not this critical nor are they knowledgeable of the running of the church as West is and therefore might make the jump easier. Neverthrless, it is a good read and will certainly keep your attention to the last page.
Rating:
Summary: Passion, love, shame & hate, set in a backdrop of religion.
Review: Morris West has produced a novel of great detail, passion and intrigue. It is an immensely enjoyable read, although I found not as a profoundly religious book as he has previously written. You would expect to be shocked by some of the revelations of the Catholic church at its hierarchy, however you are not. Morris West brings his focus to Luca Rossini, showing the shame and struggle he endured as a junior cleric. Abominations suffered during the "Dirty war" in his country strip him of all feeling, manhood and potentially faith. The passion and love that Luca experiences as a young Argentinian priest is paramount to the story. His love is with his rescuer, and throughout you don't seem inclined to pass judgement on his actions. Instead yout feel for his situation and ultimately that of the world as they wait for the election of the new pope. The election for a new pope being the backdrop of the novel, is wrought with political intrigue and often, leaves you forgetting they are within the confines of the Vatican City. A deeply enthralling novel that creates its own drama as you read, and think and presume to know what actually does go on in the Vatican and its surrounds!!
Rating:
Summary: An Engaging Look What If On the Next Papal Election
Review: Morris West's new book, Eminence, finds the prolific author returning to the theme of the Roman Catholic Church, a theme he has written about intermittently throughout his writing career. As a result of his former life as a Catholic priest assigned to the Vatican, West is very familiar with Rome, the Vatican and the politics of the Church. Although West left the priesthood many years ago, he has maintained his interest in carefully following Vatican politics and the developments of the Church -- presumably maintaining some, now very old, contacts in Rome. His latest novel is set sometime in the future, opening at the final days of illness and death of the Pope. Although never stated outright, through various pieces of dialogue and a few other factors, the reader can safely presume that the timing is upon the present Pope, John Paul II. The story quickly unfolds by introducing a rather mysterious prelate escaping to the solitude of his retreat house just outside Rome. Shortly after his arrival, he receives a call to return to Rome. We soon learn that the pope has suffered a severe brain trauma, is still alive, but he has not been hospitalized because a protracted life, virtually a vegetable would be the most likely result -- and the cause of a great dilemma in the complications of replacing a "living" Pope. We learn the "mystery man" is a rather high ranking Cardinal (Eminence) in the church who has been close to the dying Pope for many years.The story moves with the Pope soon dying and is followed by the intrigue associated with every Papal conclave up until the election of a new Pope. The story visits the Press Pool gathered in Rome to frequently gather the local media gossip and intermixes this with an inside look at the the preparations for the security of the conclave, to the various arriving Cardinals holding private dinners in small groups to "strategize" their political leanings (in a process which is actually not to have any politicking or discussion among the electors.) West does a fine job of leading the reader into their own speculations by weaving together the stories floating through the inner circles of Cardinal electors to the external word the Press is tactically gathering in order to narrow down the likely outcome of the conclave. The story keeps the reader interested to the very final page -- with a very interesting turn of events and ultimately, veering us into a sharp and quite unexpected U-turn, at the very end.Probably Morris West's most familiar work on the Catholic Church is "The Shoes of the Fisherman" which began a trilogy over subsequent years. I believe that none of his Church writing compares to the excellence of that early work. Yet, West has always been a very engaging storyteller. His other church works each quickly involve readers interested in Vatican and general church politics in his story. In "Eminence," West does a good job of weaving fact, (i.e., the recent construction of Saint Martha's House to host the cardinals in future papal conclaves -- instead of the historical tradition of sealing the cardinals inside the confines of the areas immediately surrounding the Sistine Chapel -- living quite primitively in order to keep conclaves from becoming too lengthy,) with the fiction of his story."Eminence" is a worthwhile read for those interested in the Vatican's politics and some of the quite likely factors which will be weighed in the election which will indeed follow John Paul II's death. A well paced interesting story!
Rating:
Summary: An Engaging Look What If On the Next Papal Election
Review: Morris West's new book, Eminence, finds the prolific author returning to the theme of the Roman Catholic Church, a theme he has written about intermittently throughout his writing career. As a result of his former life as a Catholic priest assigned to the Vatican, West is very familiar with Rome, the Vatican and the politics of the Church. Although West left the priesthood many years ago, he has maintained his interest in carefully following Vatican politics and the developments of the Church -- presumably maintaining some, now very old, contacts in Rome. His latest novel is set sometime in the future, opening at the final days of illness and death of the Pope. Although never stated outright, through various pieces of dialogue and a few other factors, the reader can safely presume that the timing is upon the present Pope, John Paul II. The story quickly unfolds by introducing a rather mysterious prelate escaping to the solitude of his retreat house just outside Rome. Shortly after his arrival, he receives a call to return to Rome. We soon learn that the pope has suffered a severe brain trauma, is still alive, but he has not been hospitalized because a protracted life, virtually a vegetable would be the most likely result -- and the cause of a great dilemma in the complications of replacing a "living" Pope. We learn the "mystery man" is a rather high ranking Cardinal (Eminence) in the church who has been close to the dying Pope for many years.The story moves with the Pope soon dying and is followed by the intrigue associated with every Papal conclave up until the election of a new Pope. The story visits the Press Pool gathered in Rome to frequently gather the local media gossip and intermixes this with an inside look at the the preparations for the security of the conclave, to the various arriving Cardinals holding private dinners in small groups to "strategize" their political leanings (in a process which is actually not to have any politicking or discussion among the electors.) West does a fine job of leading the reader into their own speculations by weaving together the stories floating through the inner circles of Cardinal electors to the external word the Press is tactically gathering in order to narrow down the likely outcome of the conclave. The story keeps the reader interested to the very final page -- with a very interesting turn of events and ultimately, veering us into a sharp and quite unexpected U-turn, at the very end.Probably Morris West's most familiar work on the Catholic Church is "The Shoes of the Fisherman" which began a trilogy over subsequent years. I believe that none of his Church writing compares to the excellence of that early work. Yet, West has always been a very engaging storyteller. His other church works each quickly involve readers interested in Vatican and general church politics in his story. In "Eminence," West does a good job of weaving fact, (i.e., the recent construction of Saint Martha's House to host the cardinals in future papal conclaves -- instead of the historical tradition of sealing the cardinals inside the confines of the areas immediately surrounding the Sistine Chapel -- living quite primitively in order to keep conclaves from becoming too lengthy,) with the fiction of his story."Eminence" is a worthwhile read for those interested in the Vatican's politics and some of the quite likely factors which will be weighed in the election which will indeed follow John Paul II's death. A well paced interesting story!
Rating: 
Summary: The worst book I Have ever read on this subject
Review: Mr. West writes about the Vatican not about the Roman Catholic Church. If he had not been a priest i would have understand some of his descriptions about Catholic Church. Since he has enouph information on the subject it seems he wants to "reprove" some of the Church's institutions by providing information he knows not beeing totaly correct. Saying half a true it is the better way to say a lie Maria Santos
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the paperback version
Review: On the plus side, West raises some very important and highly relevant issues in his new book: What would happen to the Church if a pope suffered a severe stroke (or some other sudden, disabling illness) that left him physically and mentally incapable of communicating? Should the Church now develop a process to replace a pope in the event of such an emergency? (With John Paul II visibly suffering from the effects of Parkinson's disease, these questions need to be addressed openly and soon.) Also, West knows the Vatican well enough to give the reader a pretty good feel for how the place operates and the kind of people who populate it. Now, the bad news: the plot is rather farfetched. We're supposed to believe that the College of Cardinals elects as pope a man who admits to having had an adulterous affair while he was a young priest and fathering a child. . . .oh, and he's also an admitted agnostic at the time of his election to the papacy! Another annoying feature of this and West's other Vatican novels is that every character is always witty, pithy and urbane, which, of course, is not the way real human beings speak in normal conversation. The characters' dialogue just doesn't have the flavor of real life. Anyway, for lovers of West novels and those (like myself) who enjoy an occasional dose of Vatican intrigue, read the book when it comes out in paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Church and power - once again
Review: Once again, Morris West brings to life a clergyman with a troublesome past. Cardinal Luca, burdened with old memories of being molested by Argentine soldiers, comes to town - THE town, La Citta. So does the love of his life, an ambassador's wife. West weaves an elegant web of love and politics (churchly and worldly). As the Pope dies, Luca has to cope with his love's fatal illness, the election of the successor of St Peter - and his own past. Of course, the election turns out more exciting than anyone could guess, with an unexpected turn at the end. As usual, West gives us a thoroughly researched background - this time on the pulling of strings behind the scenes: Maybe this is the way popes are elected; we can not really know. West has a flair for telling about live people in odd circumstances. And he does not let us down.
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