Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene: Day 6
Part I, Chapter V (pp. 57-64, through “They can see your socks.”)
“You can mock me as much as you like, Sancho. What makes me sad is when you mock my books, for they mean much more to me than myself.”
Ever since my first reading of the novel, this line has lived in my mind. I’ve often felt close to Father Quixote, but here I feel that I am he.
“Oh Sancho, Sancho, it’s an awful thing not to have doubts.”
Another line that speaks of my heart. The longer I teach, the more I think my job is to cultivate healthy and necessary doubts.
Sancho’s story about coitus interruptus: A traveling companion full of stories is a good companion. Father Quixote—though I adore him—doesn’t tell stories.
Join us on December 3 for a virtual discussion of Monsignor Quixote with Yiyun Li.
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"The longer I teach, the more I think my job is to cultivate healthy and necessary doubts."-- This is so beautiful! I feel that just in getting older.
I didn't think about how Father Q doesn't tell stories. Sancho's story felt like just the break--the lightening--I needed after the serious joust about faith and belief. And the kicker is when the butler ruse is deemed not, um, kosher, because it doesn't fit Jone's exact definition. "Oh, you can't beat those moral theologians. They get you every time with their quibbles."
"It's an absurd world or we wouldn't be here together." Perfect gloss on the road trip novel!