A few days ago I finished reading this book is quite interesting "The Last Cato" in Spanish Matilde Asensi. Win When my friend gave me intrigued me ever knowing what or who was the famous last Cato.
The thing is that my friend told me that if I liked the Da Vinci Code, this was for me and I was right.
The book itself is certain events that happen and that appear without explanation. One of the protagonists is Dr. Ottavia Salina, who is a paleontologist and works in the secret archives located in the basement of the Vatican. Work with valuable and unique manuscripts, documents, books that have not seen the light and are being decoded to decide whether to go or stay saved. Ottavia is the eighth child (hence the name) of a large Sicilian family in which in the course of the story know its affiliation with the mafia.
Dr. Salina is a nun, a member of the Order of the Virgin Mary Venturosa unused habits and life a little more relaxed than the cloister. On the other hand, has a personality distinctly feminist, does not tolerate the fact is submission to a man or a man considered inferior because they are women, a quality that I love the character. For example, this thought dismissively when asked why not use habits:
"The tone was deeply offensive, but I would not be intimidated. At this point in my life in the city, had passed many times through the same situation and was tanned in a thousand battles for my gender. "
Or in another passage in which the principle is excused from what they are required to develop or investigate and eventually let the pride and arrogance to act on it, as a means of defense against the machismo that surrounds it:
"Monsignor Tournier was the only one showed signs of being alive when I finished. While the others remained silent with surprise, he started with a sarcastic smirk that made me weigh his apparent opposition to use my services before I came into the cabinet. I could hear him saying dismissively "A woman ...?" So it was his sly and caustic attitude which made me a hundred and eighty degree turn and say:
- ... But on reflection, maybe I could do, provided they give me enough time to do so. "
On this occasion, Dr. Salina call to decrypt certain marks found on the body of an Ethiopian who died in a plane crash. Scarification are certain that presents and do not have much sense. These include crosses of various styles and number of seven Greek letters that if they manage to decipher see the word "STAVROS" which means cross in Greek. Next to the corpse, they discover a trunk which has spread mysterious wood chips. Only connoisseurs know they are against the cross pieces of Veritas, the True Cross on which rested the body of Christ after the crucifixion and discovered centuries ago by Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine.
The only condition imposed is not to make further inquiries about the case, just fulfilling the job he is mechanically and nothing else. But she, relying on a review of his brother and nephew Pierantonio computer expert, find the Internet is the Ethiopian who occupies it. Find out who has stolen the scattered pieces of the cross in several churches of various denominations around the world, with unknown purposes and not knowing who did the work.
Some time and having complied and finished the job, unexpectedly his Swiss companion watchman Head of Vatican's Swiss Guard, Kaspar Glauser Roister withdraws the case. And she in a waste of rebellion it faces revealing who knows what is cooking behind the deceased:
"- You realize - captain clearly vocalize to lose no detail of what he was saying that Abi-RUJ Iyasus, our Ethiopian can not be more than one small piece in a big gear, for some reason has been launched and has begun to steal the sacred relics of Vera Cruz? You realize, Captain - God, how desperation drove me to emphasize my words that way! Like an old Greek theater actor turning to the gods, that behind all this can only be a religious sect that considers itself a descendant of traditions dating back to the origins of the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium and the emperor Constantine, whose mother, St. Helena, besides ordering erect the basilica of St. Catherine in Sinai, discovered the True Cross of Christ in 326? "
After that it is banished as punishment for "miserable people of the province of Connaught where they would bury me?" In Ireland.
However, before he could record his admission to the place, suddenly returned to the Vatican is putting it back into the case. This time, apart from the Swiss cold she calls "The Rock", they added the professor of Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, an expert in Byzantine Paleography History and the Egyptian Coptic (Arabic religion is derived from the preaching of St. Marcos) Farag Boswell Kenneth Boswell's grandson who discovered the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, whose chemistry with Dr. Salina is in sight since you see.
And he explains that what he had stolen Iyasus are fragments of the Cross called Veritas Ligna Crucis and that most of shrines in the Orthodox Churches of the world that keep pieces, these are disappearing mysteriously. And they have asked for help to the Vatican to clarify the theft and what is behind.
Unorthodox manner and incredible, Farag and The Rock have won a codex of the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai and called Iyasus Code, which reveals to them after many days of tireless translation by Dr. Salina that there is a secret order called Staurofílakes who has been entrusted to care Verita Cross. The maximum or Archimandrite chief is named Cato and since it assumes, continue in his role until he dies and is replaced by another that continues the work. The manuscript tells the story of several Cato, featuring Cato of Utica, an admirable man who transcended the story of a historical event became a paradigm of freedom of shaping the pen of Seneca when he said "Neither Cato lived and died freedom , nor were there and freedom, dying Cato. " 36 Name the history of Cato and the fact that through the centuries beatitudes and woes were followed and that due to his public life, had been infiltrated by non-believers, so they devised a test system, a process of initiation that whoever I want to belong to the order, had to overcome. Thus, the three embark in search of the Earthly Paradise of Staurofílakes guided by the Divine Comedy and which are seven tests in seven cities (cornices or levels in the letter of Dante), the atonement of the seven deadly sins: "Rome his pride, Ravenna for his envy, anger Jerusalem, Athens for their sloth, avarice Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch by his greed for his lust. "
Just go through the difficult trials in July, moving from city to city using technology in their favor and surpassing them by exposing the vast scientific knowledge that have between the three, are solving puzzles and end of each test, are marked with scarification ( the same as Iyasus), with captain "The Rock" which is distinguished by a different scarification. They have put the ostrich feather, the feather of Maat, which symbolizes justice, while others have a cross ansata.
The ending is quite unexpected, since they reach the Garden of Eden which they call Paradeiser, described as a huge underground cave somewhere that they identify as in Ethiopia, which has settled three peoples who live in the old building maximum sensory activities and discover the secrets of the Staurofílakes because they belong to your order.
On the road to successful completion of tests, Dr. Boswell fall in love And this fact constitutes the romantic touch of the novel, my husband says that is a mixture of Dan Brown and Danielle Steel. Look at this passage more than one or some must have lived:
"I was afraid. My heart was beating so hard it seemed that I was going out through the mouth. He hit me in the chest like a scared little animal. "Do not, Ottavia, do not," whispered a voice in my head. There was still time to turn back. Why did it have to be that night? Why not tomorrow or around the surface? Why not wait until you receive the blessing of the Church?
- Why not leave it forever and ever? - I said to myself out loud in a tone of reproach.
"Now, Ottavia ', tried to cheer me up. "You're wishing for, you die by it, do you fear?" "
Poor woman! And when they left behind the fears:
"I lost track of time and lost my heart, which merged with yours forever. I stopped being me, I stopped being the Ottavia Salina that had existed until then, to become a blaze of passion and endless love. I let myself go to bed but can not remember how, because the taste of her mouth was so intense that I thought it was a taste of life itself, focused for me on the lips of Farag Boswell "
During initiation she realizes that her family, especially his mother is head of the Sicilian Mafia and that she and her brother Pierantonio were pushed to the religious life as a kind of expiation or purgation of sins being committed to activities of the mafia.
At the end Boswell Ottavia and decide to unite their lives and lead a normal life in the world and Glauser-Roister, well, had an unexpected ending, I assure you that if you read the book, apart who like to discover who the new Cato ...
Farag Ottavia and receive a letter and Kaspar and his words:
"The letter of Captain Glauser-Roister, written by Captain Glauser-Roister and the name of Captain Glauser-Roister on the envelope was signed by Cato CCLVIII."
It is particularly admirable in the fact Matilde Asensi relate historical facts with fiction, making them seem to fit so that the whole framework of a vast conspiracy that makes sense. The Divine Comedy relate to the process of initiation of Staurofílakes is exceptional. During my time in the classroom, obvious reading of that book seem tedious, sharing the opinion of Dr. Ottavia Salina. Never got to find out the secrets that were kept in it and now reading "The Last Cato" I think I missed a good thing. But I asked someone else if he ever read it, getting a positive response that I thought was going to embarrass me by my laziness, then asked if it was a readable and the surprise was that I said "Nooo, it was boring and tedious A total torture! "What a relief!
Greetings to everyone.
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This interesting we are going to put on a waiting list, since by now I'm stuck with Stefan Zwein.
Thank you for sharing Milady
Wirwin Thanks for giving me this book. You do not know the hours of recreation that brought me to my home while traveling to and from work. You should read it, though I know you like the story more real, "not the make believe ..." hahaha!.
Be well dear friend!