The Eunuch's shadow.

I have recently finished another exquisite novel by Jaume Cabre. "The eunuch's shadow", in a tradition of this Catalan writer's narrative technique, is replete with alternating timelines, shifting persons in the same sentence, uncountable allusions to all sorts of art and intellectual forms, and, between all those, discourse on the meaning of life, historic tragedies, memory and love. However, that description is applicable to any of Cabre's work. That puzzle and astonishing style makes them exceptionally appealing to me, especially his "Confessions".

But this novel, while being faithfully Catalan, reflects Spanish societal tensions during Francoist times - feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, tragedy. And that emotional colouring is delivered via the structure of the plot. The structure that mirrors the violin concerto of Alban Berg ( as intended by Cabre, as every chapter emphasises it) which was written in 1935 on the eve of the ideological vibration of the world. Never ever heard this piece of music before, but encountered it thanks to this novel. A very timely discovery.