Waiting for Columbus (Review 2)

This is a modern day novel about a man who is found washed up in the Straits of Gibraltar and has no memory of his life, or who he is, but is claiming to be Christopher Columbus. He is therefore taken to an insane asylum in Seville where he forms a close bond to one of the nurses, Consuela, and proceeds to tell his ‘story' of how he sailed the seas five hundred years ago.....

This is a beautifully confused infusion of past and present, jumping from modern day time, to the 15th century as Columbus is telling his story. Although I like the concept of this style of writing, it was fairly confusing to begin with, especially as it incorporated modern day inventions into 15th century. I.e. Cars and telephones. Though ultimately, this just helped express Columbus's confused state of mind.

The more I read of this book, the more I was impressed with the author's precise, descriptive style of writing. When painting a scenario, he knew exactly which few key points to describe, so that you could clearly imagine the atmosphere, surroundings and characters.

The book also has multiple ‘side-stories', such as Consuela's personal life and her feelings towards Columbus, and the story of Interpol officer Emile, as he tries to track down a missing person in Spain.

This story over all is well worth reading, if you can bear with the initial confusion, then you're left with a stunningly romantic tale of loss and grief which made me both laugh and cry out loud. It makes you desperate to know why Columbus claims to be who he says he is, and what could have happened to him. The ending is very touching and joins up all the multiples story's nicely.

A great read.