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Publication
Barcelona: Rosa dels Vents, 2007 (5a ed. 2007), 443 p., 23,8 cm
Description
Barcelona, city of mystery, and Antonio Gaudi, its most famous exponent are the subjects of this gripping new thriller for all lovers of religious conspiracy. As the Grand Master of an ancient religious brotherhood nears death, he chooses to entrust to Antonio Gaudi a sacred object whose existence has been a guarded secret since the early Christian era. The great architect protects the artefact by hiding it where he believes it might never be discovered... A new century, and a new danger. The granddaughter of Gaudi's apprentice is now charged with finding the holy object. With the help of Miguel, her mathematician boyfriend, Maria unravels the clues Gaudí placed in his work. The prize, she believes, is the whereabouts of a sacred relic. But as mutilated bodies and sinister enemies follow in their wake, both realize that what's at stake is of far greater importance... and their survivial is the key.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member icedtea
There's a good feel for the city, as Maria and her boyfriend Miguel race around Barcelona under a deadline, visiting various Gaudi works to find what they're looking for. If you've read Dan Brown, it's not hard to spot some similarities. Some of the exposition I found dry and it didn't really hold
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my attention that well. I liked the flashback parts to Maria's grandfather's past more than a lot of the contemporary parts. Show Less
LibraryThing member tronella
This is basically the Da Vinci code, but set in Barcelona and with Gaudí being the guy who's hidden all the secret symbols in his work. It contains lots of architecture porn, which I enjoyed, but some parts (the torture scene, the protagonist's boyfriend just happening to be a fencing
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mathematician) bothered me a lot. Show Less
LibraryThing member vpfluke
I rather enjoyed this thriller, written somewhat in the style of "The DaVinci Code". Maria is the granddaughter of a person who worked with Antonio Gaudi. As he is in the last stages of life, she has been designated to carry out a mission involving interpreting the symbols found in Gaudi's
The story throws out a lot information for people who might prefer their thriller to be all action-paced. However, I thought of all the heavy detail in George Perec's "Life a users manual", so Martin's detail rather intrigued me. Perec's novel is based on the working out of a puzzle, and this one is based to a degree of interpreting riddles, which have obscure references to symbols. The book is both a paean to the work of Gaudi as well as the city of Barcelona, and fun to follow if a little extravagant at times. Gaudí was a devout Catholic and wanted his famous cathedral (still being finished), La Sagrada Família, to show that faith. This novel captures that.
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architecture in Barcelona. She is aided in the quest by her boyfriend, a mathematician.The story throws out a lot information for people who might prefer their thriller to be all action-paced. However, I thought of all the heavy detail in George Perec's "Life a users manual", so Martin's detail rather intrigued me. Perec's novel is based on the working out of a puzzle, and this one is based to a degree of interpreting riddles, which have obscure references to symbols. The book is both a paean to the work of Gaudi as well as the city of Barcelona, and fun to follow if a little extravagant at times. Gaudí was a devout Catholic and wanted his famous cathedral (still being finished), La Sagrada Família, to show that faith. This novel captures that.
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LibraryThing member Niecierpek
I can't judge the plot because I was skipping the pages more than I was reading them, but I really liked the analysis of Gaudi's work.
It finally explained to me his expansive popularity with the Japanese. It pointed out Gaudi's compositions connections to Zen through its imitations of the natural
The Japanese love Gaudi because his compositions are reminiscent of suiseki- art in stone created by nature. His work is full of symbolism: his rocks and trees are full of hidden meaning.
So, this was interesting, but as I said, I can't comment on the book.
It finally explained to me his expansive popularity with the Japanese. It pointed out Gaudi's compositions connections to Zen through its imitations of the natural
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shapes of cliffs, grottoes and plants, with the native stonecrop, Sedum acre, given quite a prominence. Gaudi turned birds' nests, anthills, stalactites, mountains, trees, rocks and plants into towers, vaults, pillars and cupolas in his architectural design. For him originality meant going back to the source, and natural beauty was the brilliance of the truth.The Japanese love Gaudi because his compositions are reminiscent of suiseki- art in stone created by nature. His work is full of symbolism: his rocks and trees are full of hidden meaning.
So, this was interesting, but as I said, I can't comment on the book.
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LibraryThing member thejohnsmith
An entertaining conspiracy/quest/thriller novel set in Barcelona. The characters and the plot grab your attention and the writing style makes for easy reading. Another enjoyable holiday read.
LibraryThing member ShriVenne
This book is about a secret kept by a artist or a architect called gaudi which is passed through jaun guivell and thereafter passed to Maria with his boyfriend Miguel try to reveal the secret and fulfill the prophecy. This book is originally written in Spanish and translation to English done by the
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author is very good but there are some words or sentences which are best referred in Spanish. There are few instances where I feel the book was being moved out of the story. May be due to the translation problem. Overall it was a ok Goodread Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
443 p.; 23 cm
ISBN
9788401387098