Cathedral Of The Sea
This book is a good example of why one shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. The HB borrowed this book from a friend and my first reaction when I saw it was :O It is over 600 pages you see.
Out of sheer curiosity, I flipped the book open and read the first page, and from then on, I could hardly stop. Cathedral Of The Sea was originally written in Spanish and then translated into English. It is a good historical novel set in 13th century Barcelona.
The story centers around the construction of the Santa Maria Del Mar cathedral. The author describes the construction in such detail that you can’t help but imagine the real thing. The protagonist in this story is Arnau Estanyol, born a serf, survives numerous ordeals and is made a baron. He is portrayed as a great man, and his devotion to the Virgin Mary is unwavering throughout his trials in life. One has to wonder though, can an individual actually go through THAT much trials in life?
Arnau’s benevolence is to a fault. His lifelong kindness towards his fellow bastaixos, his generosity towards clients, outcasts and peasants; I could almost see a halo on his head 😛 Arnau does have his share of enemies though. They plot to bring about his downfall, and they suceed. All is not lost however. You have to read the rest of this book yourself to know what happens. I am no storyteller, but all I can tell you is that this book left an impact on me. I think it was the details in the book that made it stand out. War, threat of starvation, anti-Semitism, the injustice of the Inquisition and politics of the church; this book was written with A LOT of research put into it.
The price tag on the book reads EUR19.20, so I’m guessing it’s gonna be really expensive to get in Malaysia or Singapore, but if you can, get your paws on it. What else can I say, it’s just “one of those books”.
Whimsicaljottings 