from vpfluke

This is a psychological novel set in an oppressive country, combining features of both Ottoman empirical rule and more modern day Communist rule. Mark-Alem of the famous Quprili family takes a job within the forbidding castle of Tabir Sarrail, the palace of dreams of the title. This building and ...

from vpfluke

This is a psychological novel set in an oppressive country, combining features of both Ottoman empirical rule and more modern day Communist rule. Mark-Alem of the famous Quprili family takes a job within the forbidding castle of Tabir Sarrail, the palace of dreams of the title. This building and ...

from janerawoof

Kadare's metaphor for a monolithic police state and its workings. Set in the late 19th century Ottoman Empire--I figured this out from several subtle hints in the novel--along with elements from the late 20th century, this novel tells of a young man, Mark Alem, who is employed by the Palace of Dr...

from le.vert.galant

This is a difficult to book to evaluate as it comes in English from Albanian via French, and I wonder if the extra translation step flattened the prose a bit. As it is, it reads as an extended allegory of the surveillance state: something that once applied to Eastern Europe, but now seems to be e...

from janerawoof

Kadare's metaphor for a monolithic police state and its workings. Set in the late 19th century Ottoman Empire--I figured this out from several subtle hints in the novel--along with elements from the late 20th century, this novel tells of a young man, Mark Alem, who is employed by the Palace of Dr...