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Sto caricando le informazioni... The Eight (originale 1988; edizione 1997)di Katherine Neville
Informazioni sull'operaThe Eight - Il segreto del millennio di Katherine Neville (1988)
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Bulletin of Metropolitan Museum of Art Enjoyed reading this book. The plot is intricate, or should I say labyrinthine? It has plot within a plot. Story within a story. Flashback with in a flashback. This novel though enchanting (like the Arabian Nights), it is by no means an easy read - it demands ample time and concentration. What makes the novel interesting as well as complicated is the timelines. The novel has two timelines 1) late 1700s during the time of the French revolution 2) 1970s. This timeline is narrated in the first person. I love history, especially the medieval history. The plot revolves around a horde of historical personalities - Napolean, Catherine of Russia, Volatire, Rosseau, William Blake, Wordsworth, Marat, Czar Peter, Alexander, Isaac Newton, Fourier, etc.,Every character has a story to tell! The plot centers on alchemy, elixir and Philosopher's stone. Cryptograms and symbology kept me really hooked. In these aspects, the book scores better than Da Vinci Code. However, a few portions of the novel are painfully stretched, repetitive and confusing. But this novel was published way back in 1988. I assume people had a lot more time back then. Catherine Velis, una alta ejecutiva experta en ordenadores, se ve atrapada sin quererlo en la búsqueda de un legendario ajedrez que perteneció al emperador Carlomagno. El campeón soviético de este deporte, de gira por Nueva York, le advierte que corre un grave riesgo si se empeña en encontrar las piezas, pues en ellas reside la clave de una antigua fórmula ligada a la alquimia, la masonería y los poderes cósmicos. Este mágico ajedrez, enterrado durante mil años en una abadía francesa, nos conducirá por la historia de los personajes que poseyeron sus piezas y por la larga serie de crímenes que se cometieron para hacerse con ellas.
**** Pawns and Kings. I love reading and reviewing books. Yet if you read a lot of my reviews, (and I hope, Dear Reader, that you do), you will notice how frequently I write about the difficulty I find in reviewing certain books. More often than not I then precede to rave about that book. It’s because as a reviewer I feel that I am beheld to an oath similar to the Hippocratic one taken by doctors; first, do no harm. Good books deserve to be experienced by their readers with as little interference as possible, so I try to give you a feel for the book without dropping spoilers and ruining the reader’s chance to revel in an exceptional work. All of which brings me to The Eight by Katherine Neville. It’s a novel that is tailor-made to fit my little manifesto. It’s very good, very original, and it deserves to be appreciated first-hand. Both the story and the plot are intricate, bordering on the Byzantine, but to break it down, it is about The Montglane Service, an antique Chess set, made in India, and gifted to Charlemagne, which holds mystical and mythic powers, and must be protected by the innocent from falling into the hands of the evil. There are two main story-lines, one featuring Cat Velis, a computer expert and accountant, who works for Con Ed, in the 1970’s. After refusing to do something illegal for her boss she is sent from New York to a dead-end assignment to Algeria, to work with a then-unknown organization called OPEC. Before she leaves a fortune-teller at a party tells her that her life is in danger, and quick as a wink two people are dead and Cat is afraid that she might be next. The other story is about two young nuns, Valentine and Mirielle, and is set in France during the Revolution. These two are sent to Paris with a mission that involves the mythical Service. Before long everyone is either trying to hide or find this powerful artifact. If that was all there was to the story, I would be done with my review. The Eight, however, is over 500 pages long, and Ms. Neville has plenty of stories up her sleeve. Historical figures, from the Freemasons to Catherine the Great, from Muammar Gaddafi to Cardinal Richelieu and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand all play significant roles, and Ms. Neville spins plenty of myths and history into her tale as well. Both backgrounds are solid and believable without being burdened by too much minutiae. The prose is solid, and all of the main characters ring true. What makes The Eight really special is the way that Ms. Neville makes the two storylines twist and turn, each enforcing and informing the other until they are, in the end, one. It’s something that is rarely accomplished, and deserves a tip of the cap. The mythology of Chess also plays an integral part in this novel, and as a lifelong fan of Nabokov, I can say that she does the old master proud, both in her knowledge, and in her execution. Also worth noting is that the complexity of both the story and the plot are closely tied into the underlying motif of the game of Chess. In case you might find this intimidating, let me tell you that I am terrible at Chess, and my knowledge of it’s history is weak, and it never interfered my my enjoyment of this novel. What makes this book so good, in the end, is that all of this is subsumed by the narrative flow. You can read this big, smart novel as a thriller, and enjoy all of the tangents as just gravy. Smart, intricate and sophisticated gravy. Now how is that for an ending sentence? Review by: Mark Palm Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.co... Elenchi di rilievo
The riveting #1 international bestselling novel about the quest across centuries by two intrepid women in different eras to reunite the pieces of a powerful, ancient chess set A fabulous, bejeweled chess set that belonged to Charlemagne has been buried in a Pyrenees abbey for a thousand years. As the bloody French Revolution rages in Paris, the nuns dig it up and scatter its pieces across the globe because, when united, the set contains a secret power that could topple civilizations. To keep the set from falling into the wrong hands, two novices, Valentine and Mireille, embark on an adventure that begins in the streets of Paris and leads to Russia, Egypt, Corsica, and into the heart of the Algerian Sahara. Two hundred years later, while on assignment in Algeria, computer expert Catherine Velis finds herself drawn unwillingly into the deadly "Game" still swirling around the legendary chess set-a game that will require her to risk her life and match wits with diabolical forces. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Katherine Neville including rare images from her life and travels. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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