Ram Review - Codex

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the proliferation of recommended-books tables at Barnes and Noble and Borders, especially those that cater to specific interests. After bypassing all the sparkly vampires and political rhetoric displays over Christmas break, I noticed a section on Dan Brown-esque thrillers. Always up for a good conspiracy theory–be it for the laughs or for the educational value–I picked up Codex 632: The Secret of Christopher Columbus by José Rodriques dos Santos.

This particular novel opened with a disconcertingly similar disclaimer as did the infamous Da Vinci Code:

"All the books, manuscripts and documents mentioned in this novel do exist. Including Codex 632."

That, however, is where the similarities ended. Unlike the fast-paced, character-heavy drama of Brown and other such writers, this book has only one central character: Thomas Norohona, a history professor with a specialty in cryptography from Lisbon. Dos Santos throws in a wife, Constance, and mistress, Lena, for good measure, but neither contributes to the action, only providing a good distraction from the main plot every once in a while. Mostly, Norohona seems to mull or lecture, and is rarely incited to any action.

The general premise of the novel is that the American Historical Foundation is sponsoring a study into the real identity of the man called Christopher Columbus to belatedly celebrate the 500th anniversary of Brazil. The first scholar who had worked on the project, fellow Lisbon native Professor Toscano, died (read: was murdered) without clearly documenting his work, and the foundation needs someone to retrace and complete his steps. Despite a few reservations, a hefty recompense coupled with the pricy medical needs of his daughter, Margarida, who suffers from Down's Syndrome, spurs Norohona to agree.

Enter the Big Moral Dilemma: after discovering trivial bits about Columbus's background, which make sense but still do not perfectly mesh together, Norohona hits gold and discovers a secret primed to alter the world's interpretation of history. Unfortunately for Norohona, there is that pesky business of the contract he signed forbidding him from publishing his findings on his own. There is also the trouble of Toscano's widow, whom Norohona had promised he was not associated with the foundation in order to gain access to Toscano's notes, and let's not forget the shady characters Norohona deals with at the Foundation. Adding to Norohona's misfortune, Constance discovers his affair and leaves him, taking Margarida, whose increasing health problems become critical.

As much as I would have liked to sympathize with Norohona, and root for everything to work for him, it is hard to feel sorry for a man who, for one thing, did not question the reason for a silence clause in his contract in the first place and, secondly, did not think that cheating on his wife while simultaneously jetting off to South America, the U.S. and various locations throughout Portugal, leaving his already over-stressed family behind, would have serious repercussions. Furthermore, the prose does nothing to endear the reader to the characters. Perhaps a result of the translation from Portuguese, much of the plot tends to take second place to lengthy discourses about Norohona's findings. Though interesting, the never-ending paragraphs border on dry; one wonders whether dos Santos would have been better off writing this as nonfiction if the documents are, in fact, true.

As a history or an interesting take on the background of a man whose personal life is generally skimmed over in textbooks, the ideas are intriguing and I, personally, am now driven to check out the theories further. The theories presented, and the process of following Norohona's findings and connecting the links between the counties is fascinating. As a novel, however, I do not really care about the characters, and do not feel any attachment to their world.