The Priest: A Gothic RomanceKnopf, 1995 - 303 pages Since his work first began to appear in the early 1960s, Thomas Disch has proven himself, again and again, to be one of the most prodigiously talented novelist/playwright/poets of our time. In Newsweek he was saluted by Walter Clemons as "the most formidably gifted unfamous American writer." But in 1991, with the publication of The M.D., Disch's remarkably various gifts converged in a horror novel that propelled him into the mainstream even as it remade the genre in its own startling image. Now, in The Priest, Disch gives us an even more potent, darkly hypnotic, and fiendishly comic novel - a gothic romance like no other. At the center: Father Patrick Bryce, a Catholic priest with a present-day Minneapolis parish - and a pedophile past. He's spent time at a church-run retreat for priests of his persuasion and returned "rehabilitated": even better equipped to keep his vice active and hidden. Until the blackmail begins. It comes from three different sources (his own bishop being one), and each tops the next in imaginative proposals: Father Pat must head a militant (and probably illegal) anti-abortion campaign; Father Pat must apologize to each of his victims, face-to-face; Father Pat must read, and be ready to discuss, the work of a bizarre cult science fiction writer, and get the face of Satan tattooed on his chest. But the blackmailers and their demands are the least of Father Pat's problems. More dire is his increasingly incontrovertible sense that the nightmares in which he has been leading the life of a thirteenth-century bishop are not dreams at all. And that the Church, rife with corruption and scandal in both eras, is the only realistic sanctuary for him and his doppelganger, Bishop Silvanus de Roquefort, as they move - at once separately and together - through their own centuries-spanning maze of soul-killing horrors toward a distinctly hellish destiny. The astonishments, mayhem, and villainy they encounter along the way come brilliantly to life in an eerie and wildly populated narrative that builds at breakneck speed to its gripping, gruesome, and romantic finale. The Priest is a spellbinding confirmation of Thomas Disch's standing as a master conjurer of the most darkly compelling tales. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 5
Page 32
... daughter act in this manner in the delivery of his own son , and he'd seen his newly delivered son climbing up the chain by which the cook- ing pots were suspended . In terror at what he'd seen , the man insisted that his child at once ...
... daughter act in this manner in the delivery of his own son , and he'd seen his newly delivered son climbing up the chain by which the cook- ing pots were suspended . In terror at what he'd seen , the man insisted that his child at once ...
Page 33
... daughter and his wife before the Inquisition , and the two women , after a period of purgation , were burned at the stake . Did Madame de Gaillac feel the particular relevance of this tale ? Did she shudder within her dark veil ? Did ...
... daughter and his wife before the Inquisition , and the two women , after a period of purgation , were burned at the stake . Did Madame de Gaillac feel the particular relevance of this tale ? Did she shudder within her dark veil ? Did ...
Page 139
... daughter shipped off to limbo for the next many months — but because she had a feeling that Father Cogling was applying sales pressure . Her instincts as a consumer told her that if she showed a little resistance to his sales pitch , he ...
... daughter shipped off to limbo for the next many months — but because she had a feeling that Father Cogling was applying sales pressure . Her instincts as a consumer told her that if she showed a little resistance to his sales pitch , he ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abortion Albigensians Alexis Alison altar boy Anker Anyhow asked bats believe Bernardine's Bing Bishop Bishop of Rodez Blessed Konrad Bonamico Boscage called cell child Christ Church Clay Cogling's confession confessional Crispo Damon dark Delilah dome door eyes face Father Bryce Father Cogling Father Mabbley Father Pat Father Pat's feel felt flesh fucking Gaillac Gene Stratton Porter Gerhardt girl Greg hair hand happened head Hedwig hell heretics Holy idea inside Janet Jesus kind knew look Marquesia Mary Monsignor Montpellier-le-Vieux mother never nodded okay once pain pallium Patrick Peter priest Raven rectory reliquarium remember Roquefort Satan seemed shit Shrine Shroud Shroud of Turin side Silvanus sins smile someone St-Loup succubus suppose sure talk tattoo tell there's thing thought told took torture Trinitron trying turned wait who'd Wolf woman young