The Shoes of the Fisherman Paperback – 1 Jun. 2004

This book sets the scene for a great trilogy. The theological and political thinking is really inspiring.

West is the only writer I know who can turn Canon law into intriguing and readable fiction. A classic on the machinations of the Vatican

An amazing book which I last read years ago and wanted to read again as it actually foretold the election of an Eastern European Pope.As I wasn't a Catholic the first time I read it I wanted to now read it through Catholic eyes and I wasn't dissapointed.

this was a book group book and I found it heavy. There was an enormous amount of information on each page and more like a study book for schools.

Brilliant 1st book of the trilogy, flew through it.

As advertised and arrived promptly. The election of the new pope reminded me of this book and I enjoyed reading it again

Excellent

Great Product and all round service thank you.

This book was very interesting and was extremely well written however I feel the movie adaptation was magnificent, given the depth of research required to produce it properly. The depth of character to portray was eminently well done by Athony Quinn and I believe it was one of his least credited works.

A master of the English language, West captures the essential meaning of faith and mankind's need for a reason for existence. However the work seems incomplete, ends abruptly and left me wanting more.Those with religious faith and lapsed Catholics will find this book worthwhile.

I first watched the movie, staring Anthony Quinn when it came out on television. I was impressed with the movie and the plot. The music score dramatic-I like even though I was listening a mono sound color TV. The production scenes of the vatican and St. Peter's and the sistine chapel were the first I had seen. I am a Lutheran and not a Roman Catholic but I was fascinated with the with the whole background. I grew during Pope John 23 and Pope Paul IV and Vatican 2. After watching the movie I picked up an old paperback and started reading it but stopped because the material was dense for me at a younger age. After the election Pope John Paul II, everybody felt that the Pope Kiri l was the story almost of the new non -Italian western Pope.So Later, I decided to go and re-read the book on my Kindle after the election of Pope Francis. I finally read this book from cover to cover and I am glad I did. and I was amazed that even for non roman catholic how all topics Morris West wrote in 1962 are lime coming even now. After reading this book my assessment that Pope Kiril I is not not manifested in Pope John Paul II, but in the Present Pope Francis.Morris West was and is a great and masterful story teller trying to resolve the spiritual and theological l issues that was layman try to grasp and deal with everyday. I went and bough is other trolley series on this subject.

“We elected him in the name of God and now suddenly we’re afraid of him. He has made no threat, he has changed no appointment, he has asked nothing but what we profess to offer. Yet, here we sit weighing him like conspirators…” (p67)This is the earliest of the three books in Morris West’s so-called “Vatican Trilogy”. The first two, this book and “The Clowns of God“, are stand-alone full-length novels with characters and plot independent of each other. The third, “Lazarus”, which I just started, looks like it’s going to tie the three books into a unified whole. I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.In the brilliant “The Clowns of God” (1981), written thirty-two years before the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Morris West describes a Pope who steps down from the Papacy. In this book (1963), published fifteen years before the election of Polish Pope John Paul II, he writes of a Slav elected to the Chair of Peter. West’s prescience alone makes these two books worthwhile. But West is more than just a visionary. He’s a solid storyteller, and he has the political, historical, cultural, and theological chops to deliver the goods.In this book, several storylines converge in ways that held my interest. But this isn’t quite the page-turner that “Clowns” is. Instead, it’s more of a meditation: a relatively quiet and powerful reflection on what it means for the Catholic Church to be genuinely universal (small “c” catholic in the original sense). There are numerous hints of important insights he develops more fully in “Clowns”, ideas that are clearly part of the foundation of his worldview. For me, this all made reading “Shoes” a rewarding experience. But if you prefer action-driven plots, this one may not be your cup of tea.

This novel remains as wonderful as it was when I first read it many years ago. But this Toby Press edition is sloppy. It's littered with typos, and the cover picture is a transparently retouched photo of (I'm pretty certain) John Paul II, with a beard and mustache added---a blond beard and mustache, though the pope's facial hair is described as "dark" in the novel. Annoying.