Reviews

The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala

rackuhn's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Not for me but still interesting

lauralhart's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 One day the pigeons will take over the unfinished cathedral, they'll smother it with their wings, and when that day comes, I'm going to be in Cienfuegos to see it. Then time will pass, I will die, and with me everyone who lived in this time, but the photos will remain. Then the photos will die, along with anyone who can decipher a human face; later on, the heat will rise, and all of Cuba will end up underwater, and with Cuba, the cathedral; but later, when everything dries up and nothing remains, and the extraterrestrial voyagers find it, how will they know that this cathedral was never finished? They will think that it was once the main temple of a city of a happy beings and that the parishioners' children once ran down its aisles, and over the course of time, will it matter that it wasn't like that?

Filled to the brim with extreme violence, which slowed my reading significantly, and which made the reveal at the end—what each of the characters had been referring to as a singular, horrific event—disappointing, pale in comparison to acts committed previously in the book. The characters’ sexism and homophobia were particularly difficult to continue reading. I also wanted the characters’ voices to be more distinct—there were only 2 or 3 that stood out—but perhaps that wasn’t the intention. While not a novel I will return to, this was overall an interesting look at the effects of hate, corruption, and religion on a modern Cuban town.

alhead32's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was such a fascinating read for me. Not for everyone with multiple narrators, time jumps, death and violence, and an unforgiving neighborhood full of racism and homophobia. It is somehow the lightest dark book I have ever read. The themes are hard to stomach at times and the cruelty is unsettling. It is a story of how many different paths a life can take depending on a person's reactions to the reality they are handed. Fictional crime with a slice of fantasy that reflects on the world around us may just be my favorite type of book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Cannibalism, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Drug use

chillcox15's review

3.0

Marcial Gala's not afraid to get nasty, I'll give him that. I don't know if I really love the overall structure of the novel, though, switching between the different characters in ways that feels a bit more jagged than I would want.

abarkmeier's review

4.0

Impressive translation and compelling story. The neighborhood POV didn’t do that much for me personally.

katherinechase's review

2.0

The vibrancy and fluidity of the writing does not make the novel worth two stars, rather, the lack of purpose among the characters garners the low rating. I found when I finished the book—which, coincidentally, contains addicting prose—I felt unable to tell others what the book was about. Not the plot or the storyline, but the purpose and meaning and broader trope of the novel itself. Does anyone learn their lesson, so to speak? What does the cathedral represent? Perhaps the translation makes the work less impactful, but I found the importance of the cathedral lacking and the characters bland and identical.

cmstavy's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The writing style was super interesting. Poetic prose sprinkled throughout some gruesome content. While the multiple POVs could be confusing at times, I found that it was not all that important to recount all the different people specifically being brought forward, but rather to see a situation of a town through a collective lense. Great read.

tammy_sometimes's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

lernstreads's review

4.0

Interesting format. POV changes every section and time frame bounces often as well.

franklyfrank's review

1.0

Characters are thrown at you and most of them I couldn’t tell them apart from one another. They were mostly forgettable, sadly because I was really looking forward to reading this book.

Most of this vignettes had a few interesting people, that didn’t go anywhere. It was really disappointing.