The Last Cato: A Novel
by Matilde Asensi
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Book Summary Information
Author: Matilde AsensiTranslator: Pamela Carmell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-03
ISBN: 0060828587
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of The Last Cato: A Novel
Book Review: Sister Ottavia Salina and the Search for the Protectors of the True Cross
Summary: 3 Stars
If I had one wish with regard to Matilde Asensi's adventure novel, "The Last Cato", it would be to have been originally composed in English. As I am not sufficiently knowledgeable regarding Ms. Asensi's ability to create the type of believable and natural repartee that she suggests is shared by the three main characters of this story in her native language (she hails from Spain, educated at the University of Barcelona), I am unaware as to whether the awkward feel that prevails whenever the protagonists attempt this form of teasing humor is due to a bad translation that cannot convey cultural particulars or a miscalculation made on the part of the author. Regardless, this pedestrian bantering subtracts from an otherwise well-planned thriller adventure that could have been a successful cross between a much more elaborately constructed Da Vinci Code puzzler and archeological Indiana Jones crusade.
Asensi's choice of characters is an unlikely triumvirate consisting of a Roman Catholic nun, a Vatican Swiss Guard and a Coptic Christian archeologist from Alexandria. Precipitated by the disappearance of splinters of the True Cross from the reliquaries of churches around the world, the Vatican commissions Sister Ottavia Salina, a doctor of paleography and art history to team up with the commanding Captain Kaspar Glauser-Roïst and the handsome albeit bumbling Professor Farag Boswell. Their mission is to discover the whereabouts of the strange fellowship entrusted with the keeping of Christ's cross since its legendary unearthing by the Empress Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine in 312 AD. Told from a first person perspective, the learned sister narrates the quest to find the Staurofilakes with a verve attributed to not only her thirty-eight years but her pride in her Sicilian family and her remarkable accomplishment as director of the Vatican's Classified Archives. Although Sister Ottavia seems grounded in her faith and her scholarship, her assignment to uncover the secret society shakes her to her very soul--the tattooed markings on one of the groups' members leads the players to explore bizarre initiation rites involving the seven deadly sins, their association with seven ancient cities of the Mediterranean world and Dante's seemingly parallel journey as specifically detailed in his Purgatorio. As Ottavia delves deeper into the mystery of the Staurofilakes, her general analysis of each of the sins transforms into a personal one where these aspects of her cloistered life are subjected to intense scrutiny leading to the investigation of the meaning of her own life and the questioning not only of the fundamentals of her faith, but of her allegiance to her family and of her soul's desire.
Asensi integrates all aspects of her ancient conundrum with commendable and believable scholarship--there are no pathetically simplistic puzzles employed here ala Dan Brown. Asensi explores her deadly sins with the same intensity as her erudite players. Unfortunately she gets bogged down with language; her action sequences wilt as she attempts to make them seem exciting. Along these lines, when a member of the investigating trio explains some aspect of their intellectual discovery, he or she seems to be reciting from an Internet site rather than explaining a bit of information with which he or she is extremely familiar. Ottavia's revelations regarding her own feelings of lust come across as adolescent--not in the sense that she as a celibate woman suddenly bursts into a newfound awakening but as an awkward voice of an author who has trouble introducing this psychological layer of a should-be nuanced personality. Again, I have no idea whether this difficulty is actually the failure of the writer, or that of the translator, but the story would have been served better if this had either been detailed more deliberately or completely omitted.
Nevertheless, "The Last Cato" does entertain. The plot itself is sufficient reason to continue reading even if the character development stumbles a bit and the climatic portions of each of the trials seems somehow lost in a downwardly rolling snowball of words and actions that simply lead to yet another routine Ancient World Ink along with its associated rite where Asensi's end result leads to a poor man's Shangri-la. Sadly, she employs neither the timelessness nor the psychological implications of Hilton's classic.
Bottom line? The plot of "The Last Cato," although a bit formulaic, will further the reader on to the novel's completion despite some loose psychological ends and plebeian explanations that seem more akin to the likes of Wikipedia than the prestigious Vatican archives. Author Asensi skimps on the character development and utilizes a rather immature and abrupt technique to recount the developmental epiphany of her narrating character, which hinders rather than enhances her overall excellent treatment of an ancient brotherhood's advent into the modern world. Could have been better but still recommended to those who like archeology mixed with legend and ancient mysteries.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"
Summary of The Last Cato: A Novel
A masterful blend of Christian scholarship and thrilling adventure, The Last Cato is a novel about the race to find the secret location of the Vera Cruz, the True Cross on which Christ was crucified, and the ancient brotherhood sworn to protect it.
Holy relics are disappearing from sacred spots around the world?and the Vatican will do whatever it takes to stop the thieves from stealing what is left of the scattered splinters of the True Cross.
Brilliant paleographer Dr. Ottavia Salina is called upon by the highest levels of the Roman Catholic Church to decipher the scars found on an Ethiopian man's corpse: seven crosses and seven Greek letters.
The markings, symbolizing the Seven Deadly Sins, are part of an elaborate initiation ritual for the Staurofilakes, the clandestine brotherhood hiding the True Cross for centuries, headed by a secretive figure called Cato.
With the help of a member of the Swiss Guard and a renowned archaeologist, Dr. Salina uncovers the connection between the brotherhood and Dante's Divine Comedy, and races across the globe to Christianity's ancient capitals. Together, they will face challenges that will put their faith?and their very lives?to the ultimate test.
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