2.5 stars.

Homer Smith is a black Baptist ex-GI. Carefree and wandering, he doesn't like to be tied down. He roves around and stops in towns, does an odd job here and there and moves on. But when he stumbles on the small town of North Fork he finds something more to stay for; a small group of nuns with a dream: to build a chapel.

Enter Mother Maria Marthe, the Reverend Mother of the order of Catholic German nuns. She has a mission and nothing is going to stand her way; be it financial troubles, lack of support, etc. She has faith in God that the chapel, be it God's Will, will be built. She takes Homer's arrival as a sign from God.

Homer is adverse, at first, to building a chapel all by himself, for no pay. But as he spends more time with the nuns and sees their faith and love for God, their willingness to sacrifice so that this chapel can be built, and their trust and friendship with Homer, he finds something worth working towards.

The chapel becomes Homer's goal. He wants to make it all by himself. He practically refuses to let the local townspeople help.

Though Homer and the nuns are different in personalities and faith, they share a common goal which brings them together.

As far as books read for school go, this was pretty good. And very short.

Though I hadn't heard of it before, I came across the small book in the classics section at my library. Based on the fact that obviously someone felt it deserved classic status, I took it home to read.

The Lilies of the Field is about a man named Homer Smith, a former GI, who now lives a nomadic lifestyle working odd jobs, enjoying the freedom of the road, and sleeping in his station wagon. However, all of this changes when he meets a group of German nuns. They give Homer a few jobs, and strike up an odd sort of friendship with him. Homer soon discovers, however, that the nuns have plans for him. They want to build a chapel - they prayed for a way to do this, and Homer showed up. Naturally, he will build them their chapel. Homer resists at first, but somehow the nuns convince him. As the chapel grows, Homer gains a sense of pride in his work. The building of the chapel is revered by the town as a miracle.

This book isn't exactly my type of reading. It's the type of storyline that I am highly unlikely to ever enjoy. I get the idea that this is the sort of book that would be assigned as religious literature in Catholic high school and included in church libraries. And so, due to my predisposed and entirely expected disliking for this book, I feel obliged to highlight some good points first.

For the most part, the writing of this book was pretty. It was simple and spare. Everything was stated in a factual and frank sort of way. I can see how some readers may find it charming, or even beautiful.

I also liked the nuns, especially Mother Maria Marthe, the leader of the band of sisters. Like the rest of the nuns, she speaks barely any English, so her character is left to be filled in by mostly tones of voice and facial expressions - which she carries in spades. She was a commanding, prickly, bossy old woman who was endearing in how stuffy she was. The scene where she tells Homer certain Bible verses to look up, in an effort to speak to him, was funny, and actually quite a creative idea on her part. I found it comical that she steers him toward the verses about about "not storing up earthly treasures" when he asks for payment early on in the story.

So now that I have come up with some things I liked about the book... I have to say that I couldn't possibly think of any other good points.

The character of Homer was extremely irritating, in my opinion. He was not all that bright, and his feelings were often muted by the story. Rather than have much of a character at all, he seems a mouthpiece for the story itself. The author obviously expects that the reader has a similar mindset to his main character: reluctant in the beginning, and inspired by the end.
I was not inspired to do anything at the end of this book except rejoice that it was over.

Something about this book that bothered me was the way that the nuns manipulated Homer.
When he does some small jobs for them in the beginning (mending fences and such), they practically refuse to pay him. Yes, they are poor, but shouldn't they have made it clear to Homer that he was working for free beforehand? Perhaps their English wasn't good enough for that, but after the matter of payment was made clear by Homer, shouldn't they have shown some regret, or apologies? The author doesn't seem to think it a very big deal, but it was practically stealing.
Homer also works tirelessly on the nun's chapel after this. He is their answer to prayer, and they can work him as hard as they like, for no pay.
I got this sense through-out the story, and it was not a comforting one.

In short, this was a book about religious institutions manipulating others to complete monumental tasks for them, with no payment, and then making them feel better about it by declaring this a miracle.

Beautiful little story about faith. Prose in a "Strunk and White" style--a very American voice with no extra words yet with simple, evocative beauty. Very touching moments and lovely, peaceful scenes--I especially loved the scenes of him teaching the German nuns English (so they learn to speak it without reproducing the phonograph noises of their recorded lessons) and spending evenings sharing music with them. Not quite sure what I think about the ending; I finished it with a slightly baffled sense of "That's it?", and I think I'd need a reread or two to fully synthesize the exact point of the story. But that'll be simple enough to do--it's a very short book--and something that I'd definitely look forward to doing.

A well written & beautifully worded story. The New York Times review expresses my thoughts on the book: "A contemporary fable... what joins these unlike forces in a plausible miracle is the vein of basic goodness that Mr. Barrett sees in all men."

Definitely an uplifting story with characters that make you smile. Now I'm ready to watch Sidney Poitier's portrayal of Homer "Schmidt" Smith.

I picked up this novella for free from an honour library because it had a captivating cover: a nun stands staring into the distance while a black man crouches beside her, pointing. It was a short, sweet and simple read with a deep message. Probably worth a second read.

It's amazing how such a little book can carry so much power in so few words. I didn't know what to expect from this book when I picked it up in the honor system section at the library. But I'm glad I did. If you haven't read it I recommend that you read this quick, simple story about faith and providence.

This is a very simple story. There are no complex sentences, no "innovative" structure devices. It is a story of a traveler who finds himself helping a group of German nuns build a chapel somewhere in the American Southwest. The time period and exact location of the story are deliberately vague. Faith happens in all times and locations.