Cathedral of the Sea: A Novel

I haven’t started the book yet but I really like the series. I know the book will be good and will give more details. This is a great storyline.

I probably wouldn’t have even heard of this beautiful story, had it not been for a review that I saw on Trip Advisor of all places. I was looking at places to visit for our upcoming trip to Barcelona, deciding on whether or not to visit Santa Maria del Mar, a cathedral in Barcelona. One of the reviewers highly recommended reading this book first. I’m a sucker for reading travel-related books and I have to say that I’ve been hard-pressed to find much that truly interests me when it comes to books that are set in Spain. I am becoming a bit more selective and no longer want to read a travel-related book just because we’re headed there. It has to be good also. Anyway, I am so grateful to that reviewer and I wrote and told him so.The story, set in 14th century Barcelona, is well-written with some edge-of-the-seat turns. If you enjoy medieval fiction, such as “Pillars of the Earth”, you may like this one. I enjoyed “Pillars of the Earth” more, but this was lovely also. The story was compelling. Like most historical fiction, you love some of the characters and hate a few others also. There were some parts that bored me, but those are easy to skim through.One word of warning for those who may be a bit on the conservative side, it does get a bit graphic at times, but not too often.Finally, the book is thoroughly researched. I really enjoyed the final pages of the book, where the author explains the parts of the story that are true. I hope that we have time to visit this fascinating cathedral during our short stay in Barcelona.Some of my favorite quotes:"The past does not exist. There is nothing to be sorry for. Today is when we start to live. Look ... look at the sea. The sea has not past. It is just there. It will never ask us to explain. The stars, the moon are there to light our way, to shine for us. What do they care what might have happened in the past? They are accompanying us, and are happy with that; Can you see them shine? The stars are twinkling in the sky; would they do that if the past mattered? Would not there be a huge storm if God wanted to punish us? We are alone, you and I, with no past, no memories, no guilt, nothing that can stand in the way of ... our love. "“From the beginning, Santa Maria de la Mar church was built by and for the common people.”“Santa Maria de la Mar is without doubt one of the most beautiful churches to be found anywhere. It may lack the monumentality of others built at the same time or later, but its interior is filled with the spirit with which Berenguer de Montagut sought to infuse it: the people’s church, built by the people of Barcelona for Barcelona, is like an airy Catalan farmhouse. It is austere, protected, and protecting, and the light of the Mediterranean sets it apart from any other church in the world.”“According to the experts, the great virtue of Santa Maria is that it was built over an uninterrupted period of fifty-five years. This means it benefits from a unified architectural style, with few elements added on, making it the leading example of Catalan Gothic.”

The historical context is compelling; the personal history surrounding the protagonist is a journey through caste and class and occupational detail that provides the readers 360-degree view of contemporary life.

Excellent presentation of characters at a fascinating point in ancient time. I think it is interesting to see how similar they are to people who are with us today, like them or not. Very well written.

I traveled to Barcelona in 2014 and fell in love with the city. In looking for novels based in that city, I first read "The Barcelona Journal Murders" by J.C. Daifuku, a romance and murder mystery set in the early 1900s, which I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish. I was then suggested “Cathedral of the Sea” which is set much earlier in medieval 1300s. I couldn’t relate to it as well, despite the many well-researched historical references and the intricate plot with many characters, sometimes difficult to follow.Though the author did a lot of history research and the book is a great learning experience, it often feels like the plot is forced into the events of the period, which is a long time ago; this gives it a slightly contrived feeling. Also the frequent depictions of medieval cruelty, the mistreatment of women and other dramas seems a little sensationalist and at times is almost like a caricature.The book is written in a very straightforward manner but doesn’t have the layered feel and delight of the other book.

What a great story to also learn about the history of Barcelona and the regional commerce and religion, as well as the leadership levels of power. The lesson is the application of your local community can be your greatest reward.

“Cathedral of the Sea: A Novel”,by Ildefonso Falcones, is a historical novel set in 14th century Barcelona, Spain, and its environs. This is a monumental work build around the life of Arnau, who started out life on the brink of death. Due to unfortunate circumstances according to customs of the time, his mother was not able to care for him and left him to die; his father -also a victim of customs of the time- found him and raised him. As a young boy, he and his father lived in poverty in Barcelona. He found comfort in visiting the statue of the Virgin at a local church, where he befriended a young boy, Simon, whose mother was confined to a small cell, also due to customs of the time. As Arnau matured, he became a “bastaixto” (sp?), a stone carrier, those who carried stones that often weighed as much as the carrier, to construction sites. Life, love, and death continue on, and ultimately, Arnau finds his fortune with the help of a Moorish slave. Not all goes smoothly in Arnau’s life: there’s love complications, betrayals, the Plague, the Inquisition. At one point, he is incarcerated in the dungeons of the Church due to his supposed heretical beliefs. And therein lies one of the great contradictions of religious belief as exemplified in this novel: Should believers continue to abide by their faith, be it Christian, Muslim, Jewish et al, or should one be appalled by the horrors of events like the Inquisition, so frighteningly described in this novel? Description of the Plague was so reminiscent of the present day coronavirus; that too was horrifying to read about. My only complaint with the novel was that the prose was too elementary, but that only means a middle-aged student could read the novel and learn from it; I would have liked some more poetically descriptive prose. Otherwise, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about Spanish history. And, by the way, Santa Maria Del Mar, the cathedral that symbolizes the heart and soul of this novel, still stands in Barcelona after many centuries of building, destruction, then rebuilding, just as our lives are.

The book is in better condition than the seller had said. I was very impressed and also very impressed with the fast time it took to get here. I have been attempting to get this book for a couple of years now, for a good price.I started reading this on a cruise ship about four years ago and did not finish. So I’m very excited that I got this book because I always remembered the story. And wondered how it would end.

Buch gefunden mir sehr. Bin mitten drin…

Es un libro brillante.

The book was in line with the expectations: five stars

A fantastic and inspiring read about a slave’s rise in medieval Spain.