Cathedral of the Sea

As it has been mentioned in several reviews, Cathedral of the Sea opens with a wedding and a rape of the virgin bride at the "hands" of the noble of the land exercising an alleged "right" called "prima noctes", which I had seen mentioned before in the movie "Braveheart". I had already done some research on the matter, only to find out that there are no historical records of this supposed "right." It is only first mentioned by Voltaire ("le droit du Seigneur"), who is well known for his hatred of the Church, nobility, and anything related with the Middle Ages.

But being critical to the middle ages and the Catholic Church, and inserting rape scenes, are "marketable" points, and no wonder this book acquired the dubious honor of being dubbed as "bestseller".

But this book includes other things that are not "marketable", like a total lack of consistency in the characters and situations. There isn't even an attempt at making events and actions appear consistent, or believable. I'm not of those who expect that every situation should be carefully explained. But the least you can expect is that you can "imagine" a possible explanation, like if the mother goes in the kitchen, you can imagine that it's because she is about to cook dinner. Or you don't need to imagine anything, since mothers usually go in the kitchen. But when a bastard boy falls in the habit of going an apparently long way across a very busy city just to climb a certain tree to spy on a certain group of kids, well, it's not very unreasonable to expect that the author will at least hint at some possible reason for such a behavior.

Having a black slave girl hung from a beam and then flogged to death doesn't seem like a total impossibility in medieval Barcelona, but one would expect that such atrocious scene would be justified by the argument of the book, and consistent with the characters surrounding the scene, in particular the respectable Catalan merchant that personally carries out such an absurd punishment. That the guy is sad for the death of his child and needs to find a culprit just does not fit with my understanding of human nature. I need something else, anything. I would be satisfied if the guy just snapped, and I get some minimal insight into such psychological abnormality. But nothing. The guy doesn't snap. He plans the punishment very calmly, during the funeral services for his son, trying to figure out how to kill the girl without contradicting a law that prohibits him from doing so. Then he continues life as if nothing had happened. Besides, there is not the slightest suggestion as to how this incident has any bearing on the characters or plot development. It's just another gratuitous gory scene, as uncalled for as the behavior of the flogger.

And these are just a couple of example out of the first 70 pages. I read in other reviews that the author did research, and includes it profusely later on in the book. But after this "wolf crying" in several episodes, I just won't believe anything he writes, no matter how much historical "research" he does to prove that this time the wolf is there.

Many comparisons of this book have been made to "Pillars of the Earth". Both novels take place during the Middle
Ages and the setting often revolves around the building of a cathedral. That, however, is where the similarity
ends. "Pillars" is an exciting mystery with many evil characters. This story is a beautifully written saga set
in Spain of a family's struggle to survive the times, eg, an evil feudal overlord, a nasty brother-in-law, a war,
the plague, the inquisition and a rift between the main character's adopted brother, WHEW!

I personally found the first half of the novel involving Arnau's father the most fascinating. After Arnau joins
the King's army, the story dragged for me a bit. Also, too much detail was spent on his moneylending career.
Arnau's adopted brother's reentry into the story seemed a bit contrived to me and his scheming against Arnau
was a bit out of character.

Finally, I honestly sometimes forgot that the story was suppose to take place during the 1300's. Yes, I
realize that Spain was quite advanced, but, really?!

For a novel of this length, the author seemed to me to skimp on some plot details such as the relationship
with Arnau's first wife and the devastation caused by the plague while embellishing other plot lines such as Arnau's money lending career and the war.

All in all, most of the characters were well developed and the story was beautifully written. On a personal
note though, I much preferred "THE HEAVEN TREE TRIOLOGY" which was also quite verbose or "A BRIDGE TO THE
SKY", a novel I wish would be reprinted!!

If you have read Follett's Pillars of the Earth, DO NOT READ THIS. Terrible, absolutely terrible. Bad writing, contrived plot, trite characters. Couldn't get past the first chapter. Unfortunate, because I wanted to read this to get me in the mood for my trip to Barcelona.

If you consider yourself a literary gourmet, this is not the book for you. It is akin to the books by Bernard Cornwell or even the Hornblower series --- a fast moving historical novel with accurate history of the time and a coincidence-driven plot. Since I like the Cornwell and Forrester books and got bogged down in Ken Follett's tomes, I loved this book!

The story unfolds linearly, almost as if it's a saga. We follow Arnau, the protagonist, starting with the circumstances surrounding his birth and follow him through old age. Other characters come and go and some of them reappear but there's never a doubt who is the protagonist. The one thing about the plot line that strikes me as true is that Arnau "pinballs" through life, advancing through his response to circumstances. It is one of those stories that is so outlandish, it could have happened!

The English translation is straightforward. The translator uses common Anglo-Saxon words and does not clutter up the translation with literary devices. True, there were shifts in point of view that may confuse. There also was author intrusion with historical data that slowed down the plotline but gave needed insights into a little known period of history.

In short, Cathedral Of The Sea is a great potboiler that was hard to put down.

My husband and I are going to Barcelona on a few months. I am looking forward to being on the streets and see churches that are described in the book. It takes place in the fourteenth century but the politics of the day could easily transfer to today's world. I really enjoyed it.