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.