Zivan reviewed La Catedral del mar / The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones (Novela histórica)
Review of 'La Catedral del mar / The Cathedral of the Sea' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This is a historical novel about Spain during the 14th century.
My problem with this Novel is that it is very Anachronistic, while the Novel deals with the problems of the middle ages, The cruel aristocracy, the horrible treatment of women, serfs, slaves and the Jews and the place of the Church in all this, the protagonist himself is a saint in Sodom.
Even when he does wrong, it is the people around him that arrange things and make sure his wrongdoing is kept secret from him.
I guess I would find it hard to identify with the protagonist if he was part of what we'd consider evil today, but the convoluted way in which the author jumps through hoops in order to keep our beloved hero from knowingly doing any wrong is a bit too forced for me. Other characters do engage in some despicable (but normal for the …
This is a historical novel about Spain during the 14th century.
My problem with this Novel is that it is very Anachronistic, while the Novel deals with the problems of the middle ages, The cruel aristocracy, the horrible treatment of women, serfs, slaves and the Jews and the place of the Church in all this, the protagonist himself is a saint in Sodom.
Even when he does wrong, it is the people around him that arrange things and make sure his wrongdoing is kept secret from him.
I guess I would find it hard to identify with the protagonist if he was part of what we'd consider evil today, but the convoluted way in which the author jumps through hoops in order to keep our beloved hero from knowingly doing any wrong is a bit too forced for me. Other characters do engage in some despicable (but normal for the times) activities despite their overall good intentions.
I come from the field of History, so I may not be the exact market for this book, I found "A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century" by Barbara Tuchman, to be a much better way to introduce yourself to 14th century Europe. Though, like this book it is also very long and sometimes tedious.
However it this kind of Historical Novel is what it'll take to introduce someone who'll never pick up an actual history book to 14th century Europe, well, that's better than nothing.
