The Seville Communion, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Last week was reading week at Uni, which bizarrely meant that I barely read at all (for pleasure that is, no lectures means no train). However, I have finally finished the last of the three Arturo Pérez-Reverte novels I received for Christmas, The Seville Communion.
I have to say I agree with caramel_betty's view that of this, The Fencing Master, and The Flanders panel, The Seville Communion is the much fuller read, and as a whole package it is certainly very satisfying indeed. That said, I think I like The Fencing Master best of the three. I'm fond of short and utterly complete stories, and besides, I prefer Madrid to Seville (even a Madrid of 100 years ago).
Unlike the others, there's no single, strong theme in this one (as Fencing and Chess were for the others), but to compensate (or possibly because Arturo had matured as a novelist by the time he wrote it) there are far more side stories running parallel to, and getting mixed up with, the main events.
As you might have guessed, I think it's a great read. A friend complained to me that Sonia Soto (the translator) sometimes translates literally instead of localising things, which makes for odd and annoying distractions from time to time (especially in speech). Personally, although it's true, I don't mind this. It reminds me of Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", which I think is written that way to make it deliberately disjointed. In this case it simply reminds you that the characters are foreign, and speaking a foreign language, which adds to the atmosphere. Somehow I think something would be lost if you were allowed to subconsciously let yourself imagine the characters as British or American.
Anyhow, there are other distractions and asides which nobody could complain about. As usual he makes frequent reference to other works of literature which would only be noticed by those familiar with them, and are simply colour for everyone else. This time (as well as others), I was amused to see the Fencing Master and the Flander's Panel among those discrete hat-tips, as was a mention of The Queen of the South, which was fascinating since he wouldn't actually write that for another seven years... maybe he already had the idea.
I have to say I agree with caramel_betty's view that of this, The Fencing Master, and The Flanders panel, The Seville Communion is the much fuller read, and as a whole package it is certainly very satisfying indeed. That said, I think I like The Fencing Master best of the three. I'm fond of short and utterly complete stories, and besides, I prefer Madrid to Seville (even a Madrid of 100 years ago).
Unlike the others, there's no single, strong theme in this one (as Fencing and Chess were for the others), but to compensate (or possibly because Arturo had matured as a novelist by the time he wrote it) there are far more side stories running parallel to, and getting mixed up with, the main events.
As you might have guessed, I think it's a great read. A friend complained to me that Sonia Soto (the translator) sometimes translates literally instead of localising things, which makes for odd and annoying distractions from time to time (especially in speech). Personally, although it's true, I don't mind this. It reminds me of Hemingway's "For Whom the Bell Tolls", which I think is written that way to make it deliberately disjointed. In this case it simply reminds you that the characters are foreign, and speaking a foreign language, which adds to the atmosphere. Somehow I think something would be lost if you were allowed to subconsciously let yourself imagine the characters as British or American.
Anyhow, there are other distractions and asides which nobody could complain about. As usual he makes frequent reference to other works of literature which would only be noticed by those familiar with them, and are simply colour for everyone else. This time (as well as others), I was amused to see the Fencing Master and the Flander's Panel among those discrete hat-tips, as was a mention of The Queen of the South, which was fascinating since he wouldn't actually write that for another seven years... maybe he already had the idea.