(book review)

“Real art is born out of frustration. Happiness is fruitless.”
(D.Chirkova)

A unique, complex work that is not given immediately, immediately – this is what you need to think about.

The main character – Adria Ardevol, the son of a collector, grew up in a strict and aristocratic family. The father sent his son to study where the boy did not want to, forced him to learn ten languages. The subject of a cold relationship with his father is raised throughout the book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

So, from an early age, the boy studied, read, and studied languages. He saw his father’s collections and helped out at the antique store. The most valuable thing in their family home was an eighth-century violin, created by the famous master Lorenzo Storioni from Cremona. Ever since Adria took the magic Storioni in his hands, his life has changed forever – he would learn all the secrets of the family and lose a lot because of the precious violin.

As a child, the boy met the two main people of his life – his best friend Bernat and his love Sarah, to whom he wrote this book. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Growing up, Adria became a collector, a respected writer, and a University teacher. All is well, but only the mysterious history of the violin and the death of his father associated with it did not give him peace.⠀⠀⠀⠀

It is worth saying about the story itself: the biography of the main character is intertwined with a distant history – for example, the date of manufacture of an expensive violin, the Middle Ages or the WWII. Sometimes these jumps in time are very sharp, the author breaks off the hero in the middle of a word and transfers to another world. At first it is difficult and incomprehensible, but in the second half you relax and start to watch such turns with amazement.

And, of course, the language. Stock up on a marker and diligently highlight quotes as you read. For me, Cabre in this book is a kind of fusion of Nabokov’s language and meticulousness in the details of Eco. A dramatic, complex plot intertwined with such artistic language makes goosebumps run through the body. You only need to read, it is difficult to tell about the book. My rating is 10/10.