Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was [Hardcover]

Angelica Gorodischer (Author), Ursula K. Le Guin (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2005

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. Kalpa Imperial is much more than a simple political allegory or fable. It is also a celebration of the power of storytelling. Gorodischer and 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 Ang‚lica Gorodischer, a novel that will enthrall readers already familiar with the worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Accomplishes the indispensable function Salman Rushdie says the storyteller must have: not to let the old tales die out." -- Carmen Perilli, La Gaceta, Tucuman

"Angelica Gorodischer is the indisputable pride of Argentinean literature." -- Mariana Amato, La Nacion, Buenos Aires

"Nabokovian in its accretion of strange and rich detail, making the story seem at once scientific and dreamlike." -- Time Out New York

"Reaches much farther than the common run of stories about huge empires...enters the realm of fable, legend, and allegory." -- Luis G. Prado, Gigamesh, Barcelona --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Small Beer Press is proud to present Kalpa Imperial, the history of an imaginary empire, written by Angelica Gorodischer, a major South American fantasist and translated by Ursula K. Le Guin, one of North America’s most dazzling and fearless writers.

Gorodischer and Le Guin, born in the same year, 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 Ursula K. Le Guin. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: I Books (February 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416504117
• ISBN-13: 978-1416504115
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,550,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Angélica Gorodischer, daughter of the writer Angélica de Arcal, was born in 1929 in Buenos Aires and has lived most of her life in Rosario, Argentina. From her first book of stories, she has displayed a mastery of science-fiction themes, handled with her own personal slant, and exemplary of the South American fantasy tradition. Oral narrative techniques are a strong influence in her work, most notably in Kalpa Imperial, which since its publication has been considered a major work of modern fantasy narrative.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, November 1, 2003

By 

Greta Rudolph (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was (Paperback)

This book is a beautiful web of stories told by a storyteller in the streets of an empire that never existed. It rivals Italian Folktales and Damascus Nights. Every one of the stories is lovely in itself, and they form a whole that still haunts me a month after a read this for the first time.
This book was published by a small press and is a bit pricy, but it is worth every cent. It isn't the kind of book that can sit on a shelf, because it keeps you thinking about the wise and crazy emporers that dance about it's pages and the bloody and lyric history of the empire.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe the Storytellers!!, June 30, 2003

By 

Jerrie Hurd (Boulder, Co USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was (Paperback)

WOW! the combination of Angelica Gorodischer--Argentina's treasure of a fabulist--and Ursula K. LeGuin--one of America's premier sf writers--is too much to imagine, even by the two of them!! Yet it happened and with style. LeGuin has given an English voice to a great writer. Now to discuss the story itself. Kalpa Imperial is an empire that may or may not have existed. The storytellers keep it alive, either in reality or in the imagination. It hardly matters. The stories are engaging, full of wisdom, and larger than any empire that ever existed in any dimension. If you like LeGuin or Calvino or Ecco or Borges, you are in for a treat. Gorodischer will astound you. She is a welcome addition to that list. What's more, this is a book that will live in your own imagination long, long after you've put the pages on the shelf of your own empire wherever that may reside. Enjoy!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Fantastic Fables, January 9, 2004

By 

Louis N. Gruber "Author of Jay" (Lexington, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was (Paperback)

"The storyteller said..." So begins almost every one of the stories in this charming collection. And what stories they are! Fantastic fables of a mythic empire that has existed, risen, fallen and risen again for countless ages. Stories of emperors, the wise, the foolish, the mad, the bad and the good. And most of all, stories of human folly and madness, stories of how human beings go astray following their thoughts or emotions--anger, bitterness, resentment, lust, greed.

The stories can be taken on many levels--as simple tales, or as allegories about the human condition. And because they are always told in this detached way--by a nameless storyteller--they acquire a mythic resonance. It doesn't matter whether any of it "really" happened. The last story in the collection is just a little different, well, surprising. And I won't tell you how it ends.

Author Angelica Gorodischer is an Argentine writer, previously unavailable in English, and she is translated here by that engaging fabulist, Ursula K. Le Guin. They must be kindred spirits, for the stories in this collection have a familiar tone to Le Guin's readers. Other worlds, fantastic worlds, with a dark, haunting edge. The book is not perfect. Long, repetitive, almost Proustian sentences make for slow going. There were times when the narrative really dragged, the chatter of the "storytellers" became just a bit much to listen to. Still, this is a great book and worth reading. Don't try to rush it, though. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.