Would I recommend it? That is the question that I am asking myself after finishing the last page and plonking the weighty tome on the coffee table. Origin is the fourth (I think) novel by Dan Browne that I have read – though, now I come to think of it, I haven’t actually bought one of them. All loaned. And gratefully received.
Origin is one of those books which
you can read as if it’s a screenplay, so many of the set piece descriptions
seem purpose written for the cinema. It
makes much of its setting in Spain and Barcelona and, as someone living in
Catalonia within easy distance of Barcelona, I cannot deny the little frissons
of delighted recognition as major architectural landmarks like the Casa Milà
(La Pedrera), La Sagrada Familia, and even a mention of the small airport
in Sabadell that we sometimes pass when going to Terrassa are described.
Brown is a master at grafting further meaning onto the already significant, and he makes the most of the architectural backgrounds that he uses.
To say that his novel’s narrative structure is contrived, says little – of course it is, that is part of the reason that his work sells so much and so widely. We expect high tension action in his work, and part of the delight is seeing how he fabricates the excitement around settings and buildings that millions of people have visited. He finds a way to make your memory of the guided tour just a little more high-octane by sprinkling his narrative magic of mysterious codes and signs to be deciphered to make the ordinary, deeply fascinating.
Brown shares with Bryson the ability to make what appears to be complex understandable to the general reader. He is careful to give information so that we are not left behind so, for example, philosophers or painters or mathematicians may be cited in the text, but there will always be a little extra information so that the reader can place them, almost as if they are wearing a descriptive name tab. This is done unobtrusively, but constantly, so that you start noticing the ‘helping informative hand’ that you are given.
Did I enjoy the book? I have to say I did. Will I ever read it again? I have to say I won’t. But Brown as a safe pair of story-telling hands producing a rollicking tale, Origin works.
Where are we going to eat for Christmas?
In the UK, this time in November is too late to think about getting somewhere in a restaurant. All the spaces will be gone. And at a price that makes you wonder if it’s worth it just not to have to do the washing up!
Here in Catalonia, you can consider going out to a restaurant on Christmas Day for a decent meal, without paying a fortune. But even here, where you can leave booking fairly late, it is advisable to book early.
Family discussions have at least started and tomorrow we are going to try out a restaurant that has been suggested to see what the food is like. I have not seen the Christmas Menu but going out for Sunday Lunch seems like a good idea, and I am all for trying before eating – at least this lunch will not be as expensive as the Christmas meal.
I suppose we expect to pay something like 45 to 50 euros for the Christmas lunch and that will probably include wine and Cava and coffee. Not that the inclusion of alcohol means anything to me, as I am still true to my determination to drink nothing, if the only ‘something’ that my doctor allows me is “one small glass of red wine a day”. I would like to see any self-respecting Welshman stick to that!
And I am now, after a number of YEARS of alcohol denial, more and more convinced that cold, pure, water is unbeatable as an all-round drink. Honestly!
