Tirant lo Blanc
Tirant lo Blanc is the most important novel written in the Catalan language, and probably the best in European literature of its time.
Joanot Martorell’s work transcends medieval chivalric books, due to its mentality, its wide-mindedness, its humor, because it does not describe miraculous deeds in unreal settings and because the qualities of the hero are completely human. Tirant is a novel of knights and battles, but also a tale of seduction and love, with funny episodes, festive sensuality and clever irony. In Don Quixote, Cervantes already wrote that “because of its style this is the best book in the world”. But the Catalan that Joanot Martorell used in the 15th century is an impediment for many today readers who want to enjoy our classic. That is why the writer and philologist Màrius Serra has carried out a magnificent and impeccable linguistic update of the text, which does not intend to supplant the original version, but rather to invite today’s readers to a pleasant reading of the first modern novel.
