Books: Conclave By Robert Harris (2016)

“The pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will gather to cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they are not immune to the human temptations of power and glory. And they are not above the tribalism and factionalism that consumes humanity. When all is said and done, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on Earth.”

I found Conclave a bit unputdownable, if that can be used. I’m not much of a Catholic anymore, or have much belief in God, but I approached this much more as a thriller than anything else. And it doesn’t disappoint, because we’ve seen in many books, TV, and movies what the acquiring of, the exercising of and the inevitable corrupting effects of what power brings. And we should not be shocked or surprised that in Universal Church, power and corruption is, well, universal. I’ve read only one other Harris novel, The Ghost, back in 2008, yet like that book, here he once again writes how easily things can be become undone. The idea of electing a new Pope seems easy, but here, those things become entangled like weeds in a garden.

Still, people are just people; they’re flawed, delusional, and filled with hypocrisy. They might be all dressed up in fancy dresses, but this is the only way a melodrama like can work. And work it does.

There is a movie version of this novel due in November, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes. It took me a while to figure out why Fiennes is playing Cardinal Lawrence in the film (I saw the trailer and looked up the details online), and not Cardinal Jacopo Baldassare Lomeli as in the novel. The Dean of the College of Cardinals is described as an Italian in the book and Fiennes is obviously English, so instead of him putting on would probably be a terrible accent, the producers chose to rename him. Also, I can assume Sister Agnes role will be beefed up a bit, because you don’t get Rossellini for such a small, yet pivotal, role in the novel.