The history of an imaginary empire in a series of tales that adopt the voice of a marketplace storyteller. . . . While the point of each tale eludes paraphrase, the cumulative burden is the imperfectibility of human society . . . Le Guin’s translation, which ranges from blunt to elegant to oracular, seems like the ideal medium for this grim if inescapable message.” — New York Times Book Review
“A novel that evokes weighty matters lightly and speaks of self-evident wisdom while itself remaining mysterious.”
— Washington Post
"The dreamy, ancient voice is not unlike Le Guin's, and this collection should appeal to her fans as well as to those of literary fantasy and Latin American fiction."—Library Journal (starred review)
"There's a very modern undercurrent to the Kalpa empire, with tales focusing on power (in a political sense) rather than generic moral lessons. Her mythology is consistent—wide in scope, yet not overwhelming. The myriad names of places and people can be confusing, almost Tolkeinesque in their linguistic originality. But the stories constantly move and keep the book from becoming overwhelming. Gorodischer has a sizeable body of work to be discovered, with eighteen books yet to reach English readers, and this is an impressive introduction."—Review of Contemporary Fiction
"Borges and Cortázar are alive and well."—Bridge Magazine
"Those looking for offbeat literary fantasy will welcome Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was, by Argentinean writer Angélica Gorodischer. Translated from the Spanish by Ursula Le Guin, this is the first appearance in English of this prize-winning South American fantasist."—Publishers Weekly
"It's always difficult to wrap up a rave review without babbling redundant praises. This time I'll simply say 'Buy this Book!'"—Locus
"The elaborate history of an imaginary country...is Nabokovian in its accretion of strange and rich detail, making the story seem at once scientific and dreamlike."—Time Out New York
Praise for the Spanish-language editions of Kalpa Imperial:
"Angélica Gorodischer, both from without and within the novel, accomplishes the indispensable function Salman Rushdie says the storyteller must have: not to let the old tales die out; to constantly renew them. And she well knows, as does that one who met the Great Empress, that storytellers are nothing more and nothing less than free men and women. And even though their freedom might be dangerous, they have to get the total attention of their listeners and, therefore, put the proper value on the art of storytelling, an art that usually gets in the way of those who foster a forceful oblivion and prevent the winds of change."—Carmen Perilli, La Gaceta, Tucuman
"At a time when books are conceived and published to be read quickly, with divided attention in the din of the subway or the car, this novel is to be tasted with relish, in peace, in moderation, chewing slowly each and every one of the stories that make it up, and digesting it equally slowly so as to properly assimilate it all."—Rodolfo Martinez
"A vast, cyclical filigree . . . Gorodischer reaches much farther than the common run of stories about huge empires, maybe because she wasn't interested in them to begin with, and enters the realm of fable, legend, and allegory."—Luis G. Prado, Gigamesh, Barcelona
The final lines suggest first one answer, then another, before settling on a carefully poised and almost ambiguous reply. It is a lovely conclusion to a novel that evokes weighty matters lightly and speaks of self-evident wisdom while itself remaining mysterious.
— Gregory Feeley
While the point of each tale eludes paraphrase, the cumulative burden is the imperfectibility of human society. Emperors and empresses come and go; some triumph through cruelty, others through cunning. A few succeed in improving the lot of the people. The best rulers are those tempered by personal suffering, but even their legacies are inherently precarious. Le Guin's translation, which ranges from blunt to elegant to oracular, seems like the ideal medium for this grim if inescapable message.
— Gerald Jonas
Accomplishes the indispensable function Salman Rushdie says the storyteller
must have: not to let the old tales die out.—Carmen Perilli
Reaches much farther than the common run of stories about huge
empires...enters the realm of fable, legend, and allegory.—Luis G. Prado
Angelica Gorodischer is the indisputable pride of Argentinean literature.—Mariana Amato
Nabokovian in its accretion of strange and rich detail, making the story
seem at once scientific and dreamlike.
Those looking for offbeat literary fantasy will welcome Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was, by Argentinean writer Angelica Gorodischer. Translated from the Spanish by Ursula Le Guin, this is the first appearance in English of this prize-winning South American fantasist. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Gorodischer is an award-winning Argentinean writer known for her sf and fantastic literature. This is the first of her 17 novels to be translated into English, by no less than award-winning sf/fantasy writer Le Guin. This Scheherazade-like collection of linked tales, loosely connected by a storyteller, form the rich history of an imaginary civilization from its hunter-gatherer origins to its peak as a technologically sophisticated empire. Each story is concerned with the use and abuse of power, especially the inequities of power between men and women, the rich and the poor, and the state and the individual. Never heavy-handed, the stories flow like fables and gradually show the futility of seeking power and trying to rule others. The dreamy, ancient voice is not unlike Le Guin's, and this collection should appeal to her fans as well as to those of literary fantasy and Latin American fiction. Highly recommended for academic and larger public libraries. [Readers interested in exploring further the worlds of Latin American sf and fantasy should try Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain.-Ed.]-Devon Thomas, Hass MS&L, Ann Arbor, MI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
