Ursula K. Le Guin chose to translate this novel which was on the New York Times Summer Reading list and winner of the Prix Imaginales, Más Allá, Poblet and Sigfrido Radaelli awards.
This
is the first of Argentinean writer Angélica Gorodischer's award-winning
books to be translated into English. In eleven chapters, Kalpa Imperial's
multiple storytellers relate the story of a fabled nameless empire
which has risen and fallen innumerable times. Fairy tales, oral
histories and political commentaries are all woven tapestry-style into
Kalpa Imperial: beggars become emperors, democracies become
dictatorships, and history becomes legends and stories.
But this
is much more than a simple political allegory or fable. It is also a
celebration of the power of storytelling. Gorodischer and translator
Ursula K. Le Guin are a well-matched, sly and delightful team of
magician-storytellers. Rarely have author and translator been such an
effortless pairing. Kalpa Imperial is a powerful introduction to
the writing of Angélica Gorodischer, a novel which will enthrall readers
already familiar with the worlds of Le Guin.
Emperors, empresses, storytellers, thieves - and the Natural History of Ferrets.
“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
