This ormaster teacher of José Luis Sampedro It is a novel that everyone should read at least once in their life, as they say for the important things.
Each character, starting with the woman who centralizes the novel and who happens to be denominated under several names (let's stay with Glauka) transmits the eternal wisdom of one who could have lived several lives.
A youthful reading, as it was in my first reading, gives you a different perspective, a kind of awakening to something more than the simple (as well as contradictory and fiery) drives of that period prior to maturity.
The second reading in an adult age transmits you a beautiful, pleasant, touching nostalgia, about what you were and what you have left to live.
It seems strange that a novel that can sound historical can transmit something like this, doesn't it?
Without a doubt, the setting of a splendid Alexandria in the third century is just that, a perfect setting where you discover how little we are today humans from then.
I don't think there is a better work to empathize with its characters in an essential way, down to the depths of the soul and the stomach. It is as if you can inhabit the body and mind of Glauka, or Krito with his inexhaustible wisdom, or Ahram, with the balance of his strength and his tenderness.
For the rest, beyond the characters, the detailed brushstrokes of the sunrise over the Mediterranean, contemplated from a high tower, or the inner life of the city with its smells and aromas are also extremely enjoyed.
If you haven't had the pleasure of reading La Vieja Sirena yet, you can easily find it here: