Thursday 3 November 2011

Ariza by Martin Cid e Isabel del Rio



Recently, I have seen that my beloved novel Ariza is being selling in Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ariza-Martin-Cid/dp/8496806529.
Ariza tells the trip of the Medina family through mirrors and shadows of a lost time, still present. A narrative that flies, like the smoke of the locomotive of those old trains that crossed the Spanish Nothern plateau in the 19th century, to descend to the enigmatic nameless city, near our ears and our feelings, home to the Medina's dreams.
PLOT:
Proud wheat fields, white factories and medieval houses greet Miguel Medina. He is hardly a child and he is scared. He gets to the train station hidden in a box of oranges, smelling sour. Eugenio Escudero projects new rail lines, thinking of progress. They meet a moment, outlining silences and blames... In the future, they will meet again and Miguel will marry Lucia, Eugenio's daugther, the silence will grow.
Lucia is the queen in Ariza, a magic farm, always in front of the enigmatic nameless city, unrelated to the wars and problems of the Spain in the next century. His son, Carlos, will look for answers abroad and he will return as a hero without booty, alone, with his music and paintings. But he smiles, slowly, in that Easter of 1930, when the nameless city is singing to the Virgin and waiting for the next train. Maybe this time arrives.
MY OPINION:
Ariza is wonderful. You could consider it an intellectual novel, as it deals with abstract ideas and it has mythological references, but it’s not in the least didactic or boring. Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry but you never remain indifferent because you identify with the main characters: deep, tender and smart... liars, fighters and losers. I recommend it highly. It’s one of those books which can change your life.