Kalpa Imperial
The Greatest Empire That Never Was
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5.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Bittersweet done right.
I like things that relate to anthropology, culture, and history so after hearing about this it was only natural for me to download it and read it in a single day because why not? I’d seen it on a YouTube video as a brief description and didn’t expect much because it sounded vague. I downloaded it one day because I was bored and I wasn’t expecting very much simply because it’s not very well known but the unique point of view made the experience of reading it so much more unique because it wasn’t some typical story about people dying, fighting, and struggling through the same cliche problems as every other character in every other story. It felt like someone was actually saying the words in the book rather than typing them out in a college thesis for their PHD, so I’d recommend this for anyone that wants to read something unique because this book delivers on that more than most books I’ve read.