Mr. Brick

"Writing a novel is like gluing bricks," García Márquez once noted. And the simile could not be more appropriate. With that small block of adobe that passes from hand to hand, skyscrapers are built, like someone weaving the words necessary to build a novel. In the review of the materials that man has created and used, since the beginning of recorded history, brick is the first.

Made of clay, like man, it is twinned with man in origin. The brick has the right size, the right weight and the necessary strength to allow it to be handled. With it, lasting homes and productive factories, resistant bridges and imposing viaducts are built. With its transition from rudimentary chircal to organized production, brick has promoted the growth of cities and countries, marking development. The brick that this book illustrates through all its stages is the material that has always accompanied us, the one that moves us all. It is Mr. Brick that we honor with respect.