Mysteries of Madrid
Antonio Muñoz Molina - Mysteries of Madrid
Lorencito Quesada, poor rural journalist who ekes out living in a garment shop, is charged by the local aristocrat to secretly find a stolen religious relic; statue of Christ that was taken from a local chapel. So he has to travel to Madrid to find pop star Marias Antequera whose wig was found in the scene of crime.
Quesada, child of the Franco's era, is supposedly a good catholic and pro-aristocrat whose memories of Madrid are from a tour visit decades earlier. What Quesada finds in Madrid now is probably what a conservative Catholic rural man would expect to find in the City of Sin; strip joints, criminals, drug dealers, fake beggars, decrepit old friends, oriental assassins and surprises - including an attempt to sell the relic to the antiquities market.
I don't know Molina's work at all so I don't know what the themes of his other novels might be. However, I dont think he takes Spanish catholicism that seriously. Stolen relic is an obvious joke and many characters express their spirituality by selling, buying and collecting sacred items and their participation in public religious parades is mainly for purposes of social status.
Well, ending seems rushed - sudden turnabouts and revelations end the plot. However, for all I know, this could be intentional.
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Lorencito Quesada, poor rural journalist who ekes out living in a garment shop, is charged by the local aristocrat to secretly find a stolen religious relic; statue of Christ that was taken from a local chapel. So he has to travel to Madrid to find pop star Marias Antequera whose wig was found in the scene of crime.
Quesada, child of the Franco's era, is supposedly a good catholic and pro-aristocrat whose memories of Madrid are from a tour visit decades earlier. What Quesada finds in Madrid now is probably what a conservative Catholic rural man would expect to find in the City of Sin; strip joints, criminals, drug dealers, fake beggars, decrepit old friends, oriental assassins and surprises - including an attempt to sell the relic to the antiquities market.
I don't know Molina's work at all so I don't know what the themes of his other novels might be. However, I dont think he takes Spanish catholicism that seriously. Stolen relic is an obvious joke and many characters express their spirituality by selling, buying and collecting sacred items and their participation in public religious parades is mainly for purposes of social status.
Well, ending seems rushed - sudden turnabouts and revelations end the plot. However, for all I know, this could be intentional.
This entry was originally posted at http://elfbiter.dreamwidth.org/1984.html. Please comment there using OpenID.