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The Traitor's Niche Ismail Kadare

The Traitor's Niche By Ismail Kadare

The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare

Reviews:
$10.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 1 left
Very Good

Summary

People flock to see the latest head and gossip about the state of the empire: the province of Albania is demanding independence again, and the niche awaits a new trophy...

Tundj Hata, the imperial courier, is charged with transporting heads to the capital - a task he relishes and performs with fervour.

The Traitor's Niche Summary

The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE

At the heart of the Ottoman Empire, in the main square of Constantinople, a niche is carved into ancient stone. Here, the sultan displays the severed heads of his adversaries. People flock to see the latest head and gossip about the state of the empire: the province of Albania is demanding independence again, and the niche awaits a new trophy...

Tundj Hata, the imperial courier, is charged with transporting heads to the capital - a task he relishes and performs with fervour. But as he travels through obscure and impoverished territories, he makes money from illicit side-shows, offering villagers the spectacle of death. The head of the rebellious Albanian governor would fetch a very high price.

The Traitor's Niche is a surreal tale of rebellion and tyranny, in a land where armies carry scarecrows, state officials ban entire languages, and the act of forgetting is more complicated than remembering.

The Traitor's Niche Reviews

The narrative unfurls with the shifting intensity of a dream, enriched by unsettlingly surreal details... It is a brilliant examination of the way that authoritarian structures operate: Kafka on a grander political scale. * Sunday Times *
Although on the surface this is a deeply compelling historical novel, its scope is wider. At heart, what Kadare seeks to demonstrate is the terrible nature of a world in which every human element is suborned to the state... Kadare well deserves his growing European audience. * Daily Telegraph *
An extraordinary and complex novel whose time has come...40 years after its initial publication [in Albanian] * Herald *
In John Hodgson's lucid translation, The Traitor's Niche is absorbing from start to finish. Kadare's allegorical burlesque has rarely been so trenchant. * Spectator *
The novel is a hymn to language, something that, as Ottoman bureaucrats intent on obliterating it instinctively know, and as Kadare's novels prove, is not easily silenced -- Claire Allfree * Daily Mail *
bewitching novel * Daily Telegraph Best Books for Summer 2017 *
Kadare [writes] with a sense of irony and a dark humour that often rise to the heights of absurdity, even when describing the most extreme situations. -- Judith Vidal-Hall * Literary Review *
Kadare has said that he believes dictatorship and authentic literature are incompatible. The writer is the natural enemy of dictatorship and this extraordinary novel, though tempered and surreal, is an unquestionably defiant one. -- Robert Eustace * Daily Telegraph *
A wonderful exploration of European and Ottoman history that is not easily put down once opened. The examination of imperial politics and people's desire for independence is riveting and imaginative -- Pol O Muiri * Tablet *
Bewitching. * Daily Telegraph *

About Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare is Albania's best-known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.

Additional information

GOR007981564
9781846558450
184655845X
The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Vintage Publishing
20170119
208
Long-listed for Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2017 (UK)
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Traitor's Niche