A Corner of the Veil

by Laurence Cossé

When Father Bertrand Beaulieu stumbles upon a handwritten document that proves the existence of God, his discovery has a profound impact on the church and the nation as both institutions move to suppress the news, fearing the repercussions of the document in terms of their own power. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction, France, Religion, Literary Fiction, Thriller

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 7, 1996

About the author

She was first a journalist in the French newspaper Le Quotidien de Paris and then at the French public radio France Culture. Most of her novels have been published by the French publishing house Gallimard.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah! A book I just randomly grabbed at the library that turned out to be good! That hardly ever happens. Finding a book like this kind of makes me depressed. I think about all the other books out there that I am missing out on and will never know exist. Anyway, this is about a few priests who find proof that God really exists. Nothing much happens but it is still interesting. Very clean. Kind of funny too.

[Evgenia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Όλα ξεκινούν όταν μια περίεργη επιστολή φθάνει στο γραφείο του μοναχού Μπέρτραντ. Η επιστολή περιέχει τις αποδείξεις για την ύπαρξη του Θεού. Αμέσως ξεκινά μια μεγάλη κινητοποίηση στη θρησκευτική ιεραρχία, για το πως μπορεί να αντιμετωπιστεί το γεγονός και τι συνέπειες θα έχει. Ποιες θα είναι οι επιπτώσεις στον κλήρο, αν ο Θεός αποκαλύπτεται χωρίς ενδοιασμούς;

Ταυτόχρονα ενημερώνεται και η πολιτική ηγεσία, η οποία καταγράφει τις καταστροφικές για αυτήν συνέπειες. Μοναδικό ερώτημα στα χείλη των πολιτικών: "Κι εγώ, τι θα απογίνω εγώ σ' αυτήν την ιστορία;".

Η συγγραφέας εξετάζει το ζήτημα της ύπαρξης του Θεού, περιγράφοντας με χιούμορ, την αντίδραση καθενός από τους εμπλεκομένους.

Τελικά η επιστολή θα κοινοποιηθεί, ή θα είναι προτιμότερο για το συμφέρον πολιτικών και κλήρου, τα πράγματα να συνεχίσουν ως έχουν;

Ένα έξυπνο και συναρπαστικό μυθιστόρημα, που συνδυάζει το χιούμορ, την αγωνία, την πολιτική και τη θεολογία.

(5/5)

[DROPPING OUT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fifty years ago I remember seeing on television last on Friday nights classics of 19th and early 20th French drama, especially the farcical bedroom comedies of Geroges Feydeau.

This brief book reminded me of them, except instead of men and women tripping and stumbling into one another's bedrooms, these were priests and secular politicians falling all over themselves as they deal with a revelation that threatens their comfortable lives.

I read it in one sitting, on my front porch, on the afternoon after the heat wave broke, accompanied by a bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon.

Perhaps it was the cooler temperature, or perhaps its was the bourbon, but there were individual lines that had me roaring. I only wish my French were up to reading it in the original, appreciating the subtleties a native speaker of French would catch.

The ending is predictably a bummer.

Re-reading the reviews, I see where this was described as a "thriller." Perhaps only the French can lace their "thrillers" with theological subtlety and humor.

[Katie Kempski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel disillusioned. The premise of A Corner of the Veil and the (spoilers?) arguments each side presents for releasing/not releasing the proof of the existence of God are intriguing, but the book is just... boring. It'd almost be better as a short essay/story rather than a novel. The novel ends the way you'd expect, of course, but the book almost begs for a little Deus ex Machina (pun intended).

[Kostas Terzanidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laurence Cossé : Γαλλίδα συγγραφέας
1ο μυθιστόρημα: "Η απόδειξη" : Τι γίνεται όταν στο γραφείο ενός μοναχού φτάνει ένας φάκελος, που περιέχει την αδιάσειστη απόδειξη της ύπαρξης του Θεού;
2ο μυθιστόρημα: "Στο καλό μυθιστόρημα" : Τι γίνεται όταν κάποιος αποφασίζει να ανοίξει ένα βιβλιοπωλείο, όπου θα πωλούνται μόνο αριστουργήματα; Ποια βιβλία θα μπουν στα ράφια του; Ποιοι συγγραφείς θα αποκλειστούν;

Ή αλλιώς: όταν έχεις μία (ή και δύο) γ@μάτη ιδέα...

[Faith Flaherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read "A Corner of the Veil" by Laurence Cosse with much frustration. The story begins with a religious order priest opening his mail. One frequent writer was always sending him proofs of the existence of God. And the good priest patiently answered all the letters.

One letter from the frequent writer left the priest trembling. This time, again, the letter gave proof of God's existence. However, this time the proof wasn't arithmetical, physical, esthetical, or astronomical. It was irrefutable!

But the reader isn't told what the proof is.

Whatever it was, left the priest trembling and the urge to prostrate himself on the floor. He was joyous. He needed to tell someone. He called his friend and told him.

We still don't know the proof.

The two men go to their superior. He won't even look at the letter, but promises the priests that he will ask the advice of others.

The reader is getting frustrated.

Everyone who reads it hesitates to spread the proof due to speculation of the ramifications. One civil authority quits his job and speaks of a mystical existence. One of the priests becomes a hermit; another a monk.

What! What is affecting everyone so dramatically?

The letter travels up the ecclesiastical ranks and shakes everyone. But no wants to make it public.

Why? What is this proof?

Finally, the letter makes it to the Vatican, not the pope, himself, don't be silly. He's the Vicar of Christ. One of the pope's secretaries, handles it. And he decides to suppress it and extracts promises of secrecy from everyone.

We never know what the proof was.

The novel ends with the postscript:

What is a pontifical secret?
A piece of information the Holy Father must not learn under any circumstances.
Vatican Chronicle, Summer 1995

[Claire Binkley · Rating 1 out of 5]

"You know how theologians are. Nobody touchier. Can't bear the slightest reservation about their work."

I took this up in an attempt to better understand this uncomfortable world. I've been trying, for the past three and a half years. This book doesn't even have an interesting smell any more, like many other religious artifacts do.

The various parts of the story are separated out very cleanly by time stamps, all within a week.

All right, I got paranoid people are going to get mad at me for what I wrote, so I'm marking that the entire review has spoilers.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, humorous and yet sadly pathetic statement on the beliefs or non beliefs of those who should believe.
A priest gets proof that God exists. This book tells the story of where all went from there. I sure hope that if this happened, what happened in the book, would not happen. tee hee

[Brittany Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective, had to read for a college philosophy class and thought it to be just fine. I would not recommend this, however

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Histoire divertissante qui marie la philosophie et la satire.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen were we to obtain indisputable proof of God's existence?

Answering this question is the premise of A Corner of the Veil. It's an inherently fascinating notion, and that's what drew me to this book.

However, A Corner of the Veil did not really unfold as I had expected. After reading a brief review, I had thought that the novel would be about how organized religion and the entire world would react to an undeniable proof of God's existence. Instead, the story focuses on a tiny handful of church and government officials and how they react when they either read the proof or hear the news of the proof, and all the action in the novel occurs within a one-week time period. Although A Corner of the Veil was not really what I had expected and hoped to read about, it was still most interesting.

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*****SPOILER ALERT*****
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One of the items I was most curious about was whether the book would reveal the ostensible proof. For most of the novel, the author skirts the issue entirely. Towards the end, however, a rough sketch of the proof is outlined in a conversation between two church officials, though even here the author does not pretend to give us the full-fledged proof. Basically, from the author's perspective, a key hurdle to belief in God is the problem of evil, and this proof--or at least part of it--overcomes this objection. How? The proof contends that God subsumes both good and evil, that God participates in our joys and suffers with our evils, that God--as the source of all being--is the source of both good and evil. Now, this is not really anything new philosophically, nor does it in any way prove God's existence, nor does it really solve the problem of evil: instead, it just admits that God is not omnibenevolent. Now, for traditional Christian theists, God is, omnibenevolent, with no taint of evil, so this God is not really the Christian God, though the author here contends that this is the Christian God. Moreover, this serves to provide no definitive proof of God's existence, but then again, the author makes, in the relevant section, no claim that this is the otherwise mysterious and unrevealed proof.

With regards to the story itself, the most powerful officials in the church as well high-level members of the French government (the novel is set, for the most part, in Paris, and the priest who discovers the proof is French) decide that if knowledge of the proof were to become public, it would be disastrous for the world: people would either retreat to contemplative lives (thus destroying the world economy) or, with the knowledge that God is essentially amoral, began behaving amorally themselves, and so the world would be thrown into chaos. Thus, the proof is kept secret from the entire world, and the priest who discovered it, we are told, commits suicide, though it seems possible that he may have actually been murdered.

All in all, A Corner of the Veil is an intriguing read, especially some of the debates between Father Le Dangeolet, who is wary of making the proof known, and those who want to reveal it to the world at large.

[Cat. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Translated from the French, this is a strong indictment of the Catholic hierarchy as a whole. A minor French priest is given total proof of God's existence, proof that is so convincing that anyone who even looks at the words (without reading them, even) immediately is convinced. It doesn't matter if one is "religious" or not. The French government gets involved too on the basis of economic collapse. Ultimately, the Pope is not allowed to even know about it, there is a giant cover-up and people who know and can't be silence are suddenly dead. Sad book.

[Kay Huck · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if there is real tangible proof that God exists? How would that impact society? That is the major premise of Cosse's novel. A priest, Father bertrand Beaulieu, receives such a document. The illumination proof changes each person who reads or hears of it. Steadily progressing through church hierarcy it affects people personally and theorectically. Would widespread knowledge capsize the balance between good and evil, collarpse economies or eliminate free will? Would people cease working? These are explored in beautiful language with humor and intelligence. Highly Recommend.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

French novel, translated.

The proof of the existence of God is discovered, disturbing the "powers that be" (on earth, anyway). Interesting how the people you'd think would be most interested in making this known (high-ups in the Catholic church and such) work actively, if for differeing reasons, to suppress the news.

God exists and, even with absolute proof, people are still people, struggling for/with their own power.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing - with the simple premise that scholars of a religious order have finally discovered the "proof that God exists," the author takes us on a journey that reveals how a society might react to such a revelation. At times whimsical, at times serious, the text reads cleanly, efficiently, with no superfluous material at all. Really a novel about an idea, while at the same time, Cossé manages to stick in a few jabs at contemporary French society, both religious and political.

[Mandi Waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an incredibly quick read, but made me ponder a lot. It's the story of a priest who is delivered proof that God exists. The whole book shows how various people react to the proof and/or merely the news of the proof. I had some differing of opinion on some points, but overall it was an interesting idea.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book by the author of The Good Novel....who has my copy of that anyway?????? A society of intellectual priests in Paris is given documentation that God absolutely exits. You'd think they would be overjoyed, but what happens to the world if that is proven? I raced through it in 2 days and then reread it. GREAT BOOK!

[Robert Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

At one level, a quick and enjoyable read. At another level, a marvelous exposition on the relationship between church and state, sacred and secular, and faith and reason. At the highest level, a remarkable insight into the nature of secrecy.

[Barrita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aunque no es un tema que me interese mucho y la acción de este libro es mucho menos acelerada de lo que esperaba, debo confesar que no me aburrió.

Suena horrible poner eso en la reseña, pero aunque es un libro decente no se me ocurren cosas concretas que decir.

[Melissa Brading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! It was witty, sad, and funny. It shows the truth of human nature.

[Lee Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a book group. Interesting concept. I kept getting the characters mixed up, which made for slow reading. What would happen??

[Louvaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry read, with some sarcastically funny parts. Overall, was ready to be through with it.

[Kate S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about God and the lengths religious men will go to.

[K.B. Hallman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting work. This farce plays with the following question: What would happen--would anything happen--if God's existence were proven?

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little gem of a book, especially for those of us who attended Jesuit institutions. Drole, and yet provocative.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fine provocative, short novel.