Conclave
Ratings36
Average rating4.1
Fantastically detailed and fascinatingly inside baseball about the political shenanigans of the Vatican viewed through the lens of a compelling main character navigating his own ongoing crisis of faith. I think I loved 95% of this book, but felt the ending was so abrupt. I literally sat there staring at the last pages saying, "Wait, what?" out loud for a beat. That said, still loved the twist, the intrigue, and the pageantry.
I read Harris' Cicero trilogy a few years ago, and those books remain some of my favorite novels set in the Roman Empire, even as I find them a little disappointing. Harris just doesn't care about Rome the way I care about it, and the political machinations exist only to further an allusion to British politics just before the Second World War. So it was to my great surprise how enjoyable I found this book, which engages with a Rome I care far less about– the Rome of the modern day. I'm not trying to damn with faint praise when I say it's a relief to read Harris putting his immense talent toward a subject he cares far more about than Ancient Rome.
This book is probably as close to ‘cozy' as I get– everyone is presumed to be an essentially good person who means well, and disagreements are resolved with sometimes tense but never violent discussion and debate. Nothing graphically violent, sexual or horrifying happens. The end is a paean to religious tolerance– and tolerance in general. I'm of two minds on the ending; while I feel it was written with the best intentions in mind, it does kind of turn a minority into a rug-pull twist. I'd like to hear more from the minority effected– hopefully the success of the movie will start this conversation, as the movie is extremely, extremely faithful to the book.
Wow simply wow. What an incredible twist near the end. I found this book a very easy read and one I could not put down. This book has reignited my love affair with history and the city of Rome, it's culture and it's people.
Having grown up in Rome and living through the city wide fervour of a couple of Conclaves I was curious on this one a RH does not disappoint, mixing research with plot. It is an easy and fascinating read
The writing was very good, but the story did not grab me like Harris at his best.
Un excellent thriller ayant pour cadre un événement exceptionnel : un conclave, l'élection du prochain pape. Robert Harris nous plonge dans les coulisses d'un Vatican plus ou moins fictif. Fictif par les noms des protagonistes, peut-être un peu moins concernant les préoccupations et les intrigues qui s'y déroulent. L'auteur nous offre quoi qu'il en soit un roman captivant du début à la fin, même si la résolution finale m'a un peu déçu.