The Seville Communion

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read
Review: As one of Perez-Reverte's earlier novels, the characters are not quite as well fleshed out as they are in his later books. On it's own however, it is quite the entertaining read. The main character, Quart, comes across as a priest who doesn't think of himself as a priest so much as a 'soldier of the church' or a modern incarnation of a knight templar. As a result the reader experiences Quart's inner turmoil through his eyes as an unusual priest whose conscience seems to be lacking (or rather buried) so he can perform the 'dirtier' work of the church. Although not an inquisitor, he comes across more like a jaded detective focused only on his duty. Perez-Reverte's writing style is enchanting and draws you into the story creating rich visualizations of the church, it's parishoners, and it's custodians. Perhaps not as good as his later works, it still remains an intriguing story in which a careful eye can discern the emergence of a writer whose style is emerging and becoming more refined. A great read for anyone interested in church mysteries or a mystery set in modern Seville in Spain.

Rating:
Summary: Perez Reverte almost (but not quite) does it again
Review: For those who read The Seville Communion expecting to find in it the same amount of ingenuity and action as that in The Club Dumas, get ready to be dissapointed. Seville Communion does not hold its own when compared to Club Dumas. For those who have not have read the better of these two books, The Seville Communion might be an enjoyable read. The three cuasi-villains are simply charming, and the narration manages to capture the beauty of Seville and the status-conscioussness that so well defines Spanish society. But as for the action itself and the novel's central characters, they are more one-dimensional that one would hope, coming from the writer of The Club Dumas. To the author's credit, the narration and language are rich in allusions and share many intellectual winks with the educated reader. As amusing as this might be at times, it can also seem pompous and superficial at other times when Perez Reverte seems to just be trying to show off that he is wordly, well-read, and educated. The novel is inconsistent in pace, in that it starts off as a page-turner, and then fades into a monotonous and slow pace from which it never really recovers. You'll be lucky if you can muster enough curiosity or perseverance to finish it.

Rating:
Summary: Not a mystery book
Review: I bought the book because I enjoyed Flanders Panel. But this book is not a mystery novel. The whole plot really revolves around the church (Our Lady of Tears) that is bound to be demolished but is being defended by the parish priest and a rich duchess who has some rights to the church property. The subplot is a hacker who got into the Vatican computer and left messages to the pope asking for help to preserve the said church. At the end, we finally found the hacker called Vespers but it is more of a confession rather than by detective work. There are some funny moments with three characters who are being paid to destroy the church.

Rating:
Summary: Paints a pretty picture, but I can't give it 5
Review: I imagine I could have used the phrase "engaging portrait," rather than "pretty picture," but based on most reviews I've stumbled upon, there is already enough condescention and pomposity in here by wannabe literary elitists. Suffice it to say that, as in "The Flanders Panel," this novel does a beautiful job of describing the sights and sounds of its locations, and in turn creating an atmosphere. The only disappointments I found were ones of my own personal preference (i.e. - how Father Quart's inner struggle turned out, the comedy relief trio). I would not recommend any of the author's books to anyone who does not like spending time reading about the atmosphere, instead prefering their mysteries to focus on the matter at hand. If that was the case in this book, it would have been roughly 28 pages long and you wouldn't have needed half of the characters. As others have written, I was left wanting to know a little more about what would become of Quart, but don't think any sort of sequel is necessary. The mystery drew me in, the major characters were compelling, and you put the book down feeling certain you are being given an honest glimpse at the way certain aspects of society operate.

Rating:
Summary: Even his worst works are better that others bests
Review: In my opinion The Seville Communion (La piel del tambor) is the worst of Perez-Reverte novels. Nevertheless it deserves 4 stars because Mr. Arturo is playing in a different league and even his failures contain countless moments of magic.

The main handicap of the novel is his main character, Father Quart. The super-attactive, strong, charming priest working for a kind of Vatican Secret Service lacks credibility and his romance with the aristocratic lady is somehow predictable (remember the atractive symbology professor of The Da Vinci Code? It is the same kind of dull character).

So, how can a novel stand the weakness of the main character? Response: thanks to a fantastic pleiade of secondary characters: The three villians are simply wonderful, the old priest is touching, the banker is charming.

And then you have some pearls of Reverte's mythology, this peculiar mixture of History and adventure (better, this underlining of the adventures that History hides): pirates in the Cuban War, haunted barroque churches... this is the Perez-Reverte we love and this is what he is good at: treasures, war, puzzles and riddles. Reverte, leave the religious-love stories for those that lack your talent to tell a tale. The descriptions of Seville, its magic and charm, are also a good element of the book

In any case, it would be worth to read this novel if only for two magic moments: the conversation of the two priests about Astronomy and the hilarious moment were the vilians are "set on fire".

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: Ostensibly, this is the story of a hacker breaking into the Vatican computer system and appealing to the Pope to save a small, neighbourhood church in Seville from being shut down. Father Lorenzo Quart is sent by the Vatican to Seville to uncover just who this hacker, who goes by the code name Vespers, really is.

But really, the mystery is incidental. For me, the book's raison d'etre wasn't really to discover who Vespers was, but to present the reader with vividly drawn characters and situations. The scenes that portrayed the slowly unfolding relationship between Quart and Maccarena, or the funny-sad trio of would-be criminals, or Don Priamo, the aged priest who would sacrifice all for his simple faith were what kept me reading.

I will definitely read more by Perez-Reverte.

Rating:
Summary: This is more than just a ?whodunnit?.
Review: People who have never read Arturo Perez Reverte will be deceived when told "Seville communion" is a plain "whodunnit" thriller. Reverte's books are muchh more than that. What he usually does is imagine an unusual situation (the plot), and unusual characters, and these characters will relate to each other with the unusual situation as background. This is how he works, and we can notice it in "The Dumas club", "The Flanders panel" and "The nautical chart".

"Seville communion" follows the same pattern. The unusual situation is that someone named Vespers has hacked into His Holiness The Pope's personal computer. There, vespers leaves a message about how a small but ancient church in Seville is killing people who want it destroyed. Yes, it's a bit strange, but Reverte knows how to manage the bizarre plots he conceives.

The main character is Father Lorenzo Quart, a member of a "black-ops" branch of the Catholic Church in Rome. More like a soldier than a priest, he travels to Seville to see what's really going on. In the Andaluzian city he will find many of those unusual characters, like an ambitious banker who wants the grounds the church lies on, his ex-wife, beautiful, powerful, with a little crush on men who wear black, her old, Coca-Cola addicted mother, four small-time crooks who can't do anything right, an old priest who will do anything to save his parish, and other interesting people.

Reverte's characters are developed almost to exhaustion (the author's exhaustion, not the reader's). His story flows very well. Reverte writes in a way that doesn't offend the reader with idiotic paragraphs and chapters, and sometimes he deliberately hides one thing or another from the reader, leaving him/her to think. All these elements together make you forget that "Seville communion" `s genre is supposedly a mistery thriller. It's way more than that.

Although Reverte's books may seem strange (pointless) at a first glance, you have to get used to them to fully appreciate his kind of literature. Don't give after only a few pages.

Grade 8.8/10

Rating:
Summary: A Good Book, But not Better Than The Flanders Panel
Review: The first book I read by Perez-Reverte was The Flanders Panel. Instantly, I went out and bought this. I was not as impressed by this novel, although it was very good.

First off, the characterizations were not as rich, as pure. Some of the characters were poorly detailed. Don Octavio is a good example. I was never really clear on his importance in the story. He never played a critical role, seeming to be an unnecessary character. His role in several relationships was important, but as a character, he seemed lacking. The Three villains were another good example. They were largely one dimensional: The fat, old, hedonistic leader. The lost and lovely, but compromised, singer, young at heart, protected by the men. And the battered, punch-drunk, silly, and far too loyal boxer. They are one dimensional and at best, I simply wanted them to die so that I wouldn't have to read about them anymore. I almost got my hope due to their unflinching stupidity, but I was saddened to discover their return.

However, that is not to say the book was entirely bad. The story itself was a familiar one, from many a dime-store novel. But, as with all classic stories, the value is in the telling, not in the originality. Father Quart was interesting, and it was fun to watch him come of age. Yes, that is right. The story is largely a tale of the coming-of-age of a middle-aged priest. Many people call it a mystery, but it isn't really all that mysterious. I knew whodunnit, as it is so charmingly written, shortly after it was done. There were not a lot of surprises, certainly not enough to make it a mystery. Granted, it does follow that pattern of a story line, and none of the characters (including two of the priests central to the story) are sinless, but it really isn't about that. It is a tale of discovery, of hope, of love. That, my friends, is not a mystery. It is a coming-of-age story that is parading itself as a mystery, and in that role, it is excellent.

The technical details are a bit boring, so I have left them for last. The book is well put together, although the chapters could have been a bit shorter (like all of Perez-Reverte's books...is it possible that American's merely have a short attention span?). The translator was not as flawless, as there are some turns of phrase that are quite bizarre and discontinous. Twirling one's cigar in one's mouth is not an activity for which I would personally use the term 'voluptously', but that may be a matter more of style than translation. However, things like that were not in the last book, so I suspect that it is translational. The singing that oen of the three villains does almost always is a bit obnoxious, a trend I hope is reserved to this novel. Last, but not least, a few more translations of Spanish and Latin titles would be helpful. I have elementary knowledge of both languages, but there were times when I was completely unable to make out what was being said.

A good book, overall, and a fun read. I recommend it. It will join the ranks of my "Borrow to my friends" novels.
Harkius

Rating:
Summary: Vespers Strikes the Vatican
Review: The Seville Communion starts with a fascinating premise - Vespers, a computer hacker, has somehow gotten past the Vatican defenses and into the pope's private computer. The hacker leaves a message that leaves the Curia suspicious - that a church in Seville is killing to defend itself. The church heirarchy puts Father Quart, a member of the IEA, on the case, and lands him in Seville.

Father Quart, or, as he calls himself, the Knight Templar, finds Seville somehow different from the other places he has been sent to put out fires by the Vatican. Something in the history of the city, and the characters he meets, makes this a difficult place for the priest to maintain the discipline and objectivity which have made him so successful. Yet, in the face of a beautiful woman, an uncommunicative priest, and an unusual nun, he still attempts to do his duty.

While the plot was fascinating, and the characters well-drawn, I still didn't enjoy this title as much as others I have read by Perez-Reverte. Parts of the plot seemed choppy, and it was difficult to understand where the plot was going. Despite this, I still recommend the book. For nothing else, read it for its wonderfully evocative sense of Seville and this ancient Spanish city.

Rating:
Summary: religion, sex, and murder under the Spanish sun!
Review: This is a terrific intelligent thriller. Lorenzo Quart is a member of the Vatican thought police - handsome, stylish, slightly distant and aloof - think George Clooney in a dog collar. He is sent to investigate some mysterious goings on in a decaying old church in Seville. A major bank wants to buy the church for redevelopment. Against them are the church's old curmudgeonly priest; the sexy wife of the lead banker; and the American nun dedicated to restoring the church. Two people have died - accidentally or murdered? - in the church. Quart finds himself in deeper than he ever could have imagined. The book starts slowly but gathers pace. It isn't just a mystery. It also deals with the life of a cleric - the temptations of sex, and the threat to inner faith; and with the clash in Spain between the thrusting new European ethic and the traditional Andalucian values of church family and old money. It also is wonderful in evoking the beauty of Seville - you want to be there sipping a fino sherry in a cool bar and gazing deep into the eyes of Macarena Brunner (the beautiful bankers wife)/Lorenzo Quart (the handsome priest)(delete according to taste).