“AT THE TURNING OF THE WALL”
A new book by Arthur Hagopian
Quest, redemption, self-discovery
Serendipity
The magnificent megalithic structures at Peru’s Machu Picchu form the background inspiration for this new fantasy by Australian Armenian author, Arthur Hagopian.
A thousand years ago, a mysterious people set about building a megalithic city within a city, and named it Quatzatollen.
Driven by the urge to unravel its secrets Golod, a popular teacher and accomplished builder, embarks on a quest, trailed by Miraqanda, an accidental traveler, a lost, victimized youth seeking redemption.
The trek turns out to be far from a walk in the park, each milestone and signpost leading them into greater serendipity.
They will eventually stumble upon the city, but find out that its massive gate is opened only once a year, its access restricted to children.
Miraqanda proves a fascinating, though sometimes difficult companion, a challenge for Golod who takes it upon himself to point the way for him to recognize himself and uncover his hidden talents.
During his own peregrinations, Golod has encountered an old man carrying a lit lantern in the rain, a healer who shares a cave with a wolf, a blind student to whom the earth speaks of its joys and its fears, a developmentally disabled child whom he helps climb out of darkness into the fascinating world of reading and books, and a giant physician who succeeds in restoring the eyesight of a princess.
As an architect, Golod’s unbridled vision is translated into concrete reality with the creation of a skylight on the roof of the Big City museum, an unheard of feat at the time.
As a teacher, he helps his students soar to new heights of creativity, and inculcates in them the concept of sharing and human-kindness, in the process winning over the rudderless class bully and entrusting him with the care and protection of his blind classmate.
For himself, he desires very little, his footsteps raising not even the slightest plume of dust as he traverses the highway of his life.
Published by Amazon.
