Agamemnon's Daughter: A Novella and Stories

This book is about dictators and while its events take place inn a small country irrelevant to the world, its story is indeed relevant to the world. It draws comparisons with other dictators (Stalin) or leaders (Agamemnon) which in our timne would be defined as such. Most of all this books is about the corruption that power brings to the society and especialy how those corrupt individuals, whoare in charge of our societies (politicians and great leaders) would do anything to achive their goals, including...(wish I could tell you). I gave it only four stars, since when you are from free countries who have never been part of any kind of dictatorship, might find it to be les relevant, neverthe less this should serve as a vacination for future dictatorships, be it cultural, governmental, religious ( a dictatorship does not have to be a Government one, it can be religious, life stylre, cultural and we must be aware of its anatomy)or social.

In an excerpt from the publisher's preface to the French edition, we are told how Kadare smuggled manuscripts out of Albania, disguising them as translations from a German author, bringing only a few sheets at a time to be safely stored in Paris. His intent was to ensure that the totalitarian government of Albania could not misrepresent his work - that his objections to totalitarian governments would be unmistakable. In this context, it is not surprising that these stories have a didactic bent. But who else wins the Man Booker International Prize with didactic fiction? Yet again, Kadare is a masterful writer. The plot lines of all three works in this book are very sparse. In Agamemnon's Daughter the narrator quits waiting for a lover he know is not coming and goes to watch a parade from a grandstand - a coveted perspective. In The Blinding Order, government orders evil eyes be removed. Girl's fiance works for governmental agency enforcing order; hoped for political safety for family backfires. In The Great Wall, Chinese administrator charged with rebuilding wall misunderstands reason for the Wall ... Yet all three pieces are riveting reading - through the ruminations of the narrator, each story speaks of political and social power. In each, the ruminations take twists and turns as riveting as any plot-action. And the ruminations ring true to human experience tying into other works of Kadare (especially the The Three-Arched Bridge), mythology (Agamemnon) and history (Tamerlane). This truly is an example of fiction carrying more truth about human behavior/abuse than any factual history book ever could. Pure ecstacy to read.