A review by aegagrus
Cathedral by Ben Hopkins

3.75

Cathedral is a strong example of historical fiction which finds credibility not in meticulously-documented particulars (a la Hilary Mantel) but in a well-rounded understanding of its milieu -- in this case, 13th century Alsace. Hopkins' world-building is evidently rooted in an engagement with rigorous academic histories, making his depiction of the medieval world much richer and more compelling than many authors'. Over the course of a sprawling and interwoven saga, he effectively develops themes including the gradual shift in power from the agrarian aristocracy to the urban mercantile elite and the subtly pernicious ways in which Western European Jews were dispossessed of their livelihoods (at times without personal malice) and forced to migrate eastward, especially to modern-day Poland. The crass, insouciant Baron Volmar von Kronthal and the brooding, disillusioned cleric Eugenius von Zabern are particularly strong characters, respectively revealing much about the mindsets and habits of petty noblemen and clerical administrators. There were only a few points at which I doubted the historical vision on which the story was based. One early sequence involved a historically contentious depiction of

Catharism

. More notably, characters occasionally gave voice to sentiments which seemed a little on the nose in an anachronistic way. Unfortunately, this was most often true of Grete Gerber, the only woman among our principal characters, a dynamic which weakened the book somewhat. 

Hopkins' writing is dramatic and fluid, belying his history as a filmmaker. He is especially good at montage-like scenes depicting complex social machinery -- I was quite moved by his description of the elaborate ecosystem of stonework and other architectural craft involved in the building of the Cathedral, and again by his description of the ever-changing world of merchants and pilgrims and those claiming sanctuary and priests and schoolboys and tradesmen and countless others who flow through the cathedral or congregate in its courtyards. 

I did find most of the epilogue/flash-forward sections somewhat unnecessary and emotionally cheap (excepting the

flash-forward interludes describing a 14th century pogrom

, which make an important point about the long-term ramifications of the some of what occurs in the main story). On the whole, though, the emotional note on which the book ends is perfect -- we are reminded of the extraordinary long process of building and establishing a great cathedral, a process which drags on over many generations and comprises the life's work of many who knew that neither they nor their children nor their children's children would see the work's fruition. In the end, all of our characters exit the tale in an emotionally ambivalent fashion, leaving behind unfinished business. The only sense of resolution and finality is provided by the iconic structure itself -- the monumental, enduring cathedral.