Morte D'Urban [Paperback]

 

 

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This book won the national book award in 1963 for fiction. Our hero Father Urban is a little quirky and self-centered; yet even with those faults it is hard not to sympathize with him. I approached this book with some regret. It was the last of Powers' works I would have the chance to read. So I took my time and slowly read chapter by chapter, savoring the book over a much longer period than I normally would. The book was both satisfying and a bit of a disappointment. It was satisfying in that I have now completed the published books of J. F. Powers. It was also sad because of this fact. It was a bit disappointing in that the story feels unfinished. Like a chapter was left out when it went to printing.

Some of the plot was inevitable, and predictable, but the characters you meet along the way make the book very engaging and entertaining. I am a post Vatican II baby. As such, I do not know the Latin Mass - have only read books, and seen films of what the church was like before that period. Powers is a master at creating characters, and characters that are believable. His priests, brothers, monsignors and even bishops are believable to anyone who has had serious interactions even with clergy of today. I know of a priest locally who could be an Urban walking off the page to take up ministry today.

Many segments of this book were previously published as short stories in a variety of sources. Powers was a master at the short story, but his creative genius was his ability to take those short stories and turn them into a convincing novel. He has done this with both his published novels - this book Morte D'Urban and Wheat That Springeth Green. Both books were nominated for the National Book Award and Urban won. That is the testament to Powers' power and prowess with the quill. It is also witness to his ability to transcend the short story, a genre that appears to be going by the wayside, and to compile books of great depth and insight. Modern author Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club, wanted to write a book of short stories, but his publisher, even with his popularity after Fight Club, would not allow him a book of short stories. Then Palauniuk wrote Haunted a collection of characters' personal stories told by a group of writers locked in a building. Powers achieves what Palahniuk does not in that his stories flow together seamlessly, where Palahniuk's are obviously individual stories.

This book is worth the read for anyone wanting a glimpse of insight into post World War II Catholicism, especially in the Midwest. But it is also a great study of people and why they do what they do - what drives them to achieve, their dreams and ultimately their failures and defeats. Unfortunately I have now read all of Powers' fiction. Fortunately the 2 books and 3 collections of short stories can be savored again and again. I can predict I have not finished with reading Powers, or Urban.

"Morte D'Urban" belongs to a long list of unfairly neglected works of the last century. As the Amazon review notes, perhaps anonymity is inevitable for a book whose cast is comprised 75% of Catholic priests and brethren. The book's jacket describes "Morte D'Urban" as a comic masterpiece, which I feel does some disservice to both the reader and the book. The book *is* funny, yes. But it's funny in a very dry and very subtle (for the most part) and ... very Midwestern way. Though Powers does, on occasion, paint his characters with too broad a stroke, they are by no means caricatures. Urban is a wonderfully complex title character--simultaneously worldly and devout, well-meaning but sometimes weak, humble yet proud. And the events of the book, though they occasionally have a slapstick feel (I won't, like the book's Introduction, spoil anything for the reader), the plot is really a series of well-crafted scenes building up to the final epilogue. Poor Father Urban. One cannot help but rue his fate, even as one can see it coming down the pike.

I couldn't help but compare this book to the numerous others I've read which (supposedly) take as their theme religious hypocrisy--particularly Sinclair Lewis's "Elmer Gantry." This book is infinitely better than any I've read so far. Powers humanizes his characters--he reveals their many flaws without condemning them; he does not stack his deck against religion, but shows how difficult it is to be truly devout in a world such as ours (and this book was written in the 1950s!). Check it out and let's keep this book in print!

Actually 3.5 stars. I am a tough customer, and grade harshly.

The characters of the work make up the book: Wilf; Mrs. Bean; Billy; Msgr. Renton; etc. I can find similarity with people I have met here in the east, so the mid-west setting is not a dominant factor. The characters are more dominant than the plot, even though the description on the book jacket of the old Image-Doubleday edition of the work put more emphasis on the plot. However, reading about Fr. Urban's travels reminded me a little bit of what little Walker Percy I have read thus far.

This little novel is a great human story. The foibles of all the characters are made visible in a way that points to them as human, wonderfully human! The Clementines (and the Dalmatians and Dolomites) are just like any Catholic religious community. Yes, they are human, and in their humanness is their holiness. I do agree with the reviewer that says that Fr. Urban seemed to outshine the other characters in a way that diminishes them. The narrator is a bit kinder to Fr. Urban. I also see this as a weakness in the novel. I was shocked at the event that brought on the end of the relationship as it was between Fr. Urban and Billy. Change is prominent.

But the humor is a big hit, the dry satire and irony, brought on many smiles and chuckles. It is a novel that touches the heart. I pass it on to a friend from Ilinois, and I wonder what he will say.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Hidden Gem
This is a wonderful book. I have an MA in English Lit and never heard about this book at school. I subscribe to the New York Review of Books and it is listed as one of their... Read more

Published on Oct 14 2002 by B. Cirelli

4.0 out of 5 stars Superficiality vs. Spirituality
To be honest, the only reason I decided to read this book was that it was chosen as the title for a book discussion group in which I participate. Read more

Published on Jun 21 2002 by Timothy Haugh

4.0 out of 5 stars READER BEWARE! Don't read introduction first!
I was stunned (and then just plain angry) when I discovered (too late) that Hardwick's "introduction" was little more than a synopisis of the novel's plot. Read more

Published on April 18 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars God and Mammon in the Midwest
This unduly neglected book won the National Book Award in 1963. It is the story of Father Urban, a Catholic Priest in the little know religious order of the Clementines. Read more

Published on Mar 27 2001 by Robin Friedman

5.0 out of 5 stars Bless me, father
One of the best books I read in 2000. "Morte" takes apart the pre-Vatican II Catholic church and puts it back together, complete with a compelling hero. Read more

Published on Jan 2 2001 by Richard LeComte

4.0 out of 5 stars Review
Well written book with interesting tone that (intentionally) stops short of full Waugh-like satire. Definitely worth a read.

Published on July 22 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Vatican rag on the prairie
The brilliance of this narrative is that it's hard to tell where J.F. Powers stands in his opinion of the Roman church. Read more

Published on July 5 2000 by Richard LeComte

5.0 out of 5 stars Pride Goeth Before a Fall
This is a book about a priest who thinks he has all the answers and feels superior to others around him. Read more

Published on April 5 2000 by Walter Clark

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