Monday, July 26, 2010

Ten of the best nameless protagonists

For the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best nameless protagonists in literature.

One novel on the list:
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Greene liked to find unusual names – Bendrix, Querry – for his protagonists, so his refusal to name the alcoholic Mexican priest on the run from the anti-clerical authorities is significant. The protagonist's discovery of a religious mission through danger and suffering is made a Greenian parable about the need for religious belief.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Power and the Glory
also appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best episodes of drunkenness in literature. It is one of seven books that made a difference to Colin Firth.

--Marshal Zeringue