This is a short early work, and it's all very post-modern. Does it happen or doesn't it? Is the manuscript reliable? A bit Calvino, a bit Borges, apparently.
A young man sailing from Venice to Naples is seized by pirates and sold into slavery in Constantinople. As he meets a "twin" we confront the contrasts between Renaissance Europe and the Ottoman Empire, or at least that's the idea. The two form an intense master-slave relationship and go from there.
There are plagues and mad inventions, and a climax during a battle with the Poles. At the end, they've changed places - or have they? That's not a spoiler, it's telegraphed through the whole book.
I found it dull.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment