- Hardcover: 205 pages
- Publisher: William Morrow & Co (September 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0688111831
- ISBN-13: 978-0688111830
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 295 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,648,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
First published in 1981 in Albania, where it was immediately banned, this hallucinatory novel unfolds as an extended parable about an all-controlling dictatorship that monitors even the subconscious lives of its citizens. The setting is 19th-century Albania, a backwater of the Ottoman Empire, which in Albanian novelist/poet Kadare's tense allegory represents the modern totalitarian police state. Mark-Alem works in the bureau of sleep and dreams, which collects, sorts and analyzes tens of thousands of dreams duly reported by an abject, compliant populace to a state that avers that "the interpretation of a dream, fallen like a stray spark into the brain of one out of millions of sleepers, may help to save the country or its Sovereign from disaster . . . " Assisted by his powerful uncle, the Vizier, Mark-Alem enjoys a meteoric rise in the dream-interpreting bureaucracy, but his failure to decipher one politically significant dream gives the state an opportunity to lash out against his aristocratic, patriotic family, leaving behind a pile of corpses. The author of four previous novels published to acclaim in Europe, Kadare found asylum in Paris two years before Albania elected its first noncommunist government.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The Palace of Dreams is the most powerful bureaucracy in the Ottoman Empire, for here "all the dreams of all citizens without exception" are interpreted, classified, and stored. Once a week a Master Dream is chosen to reveal "the true state of the Empire." Into this infinitely treacherous labyrinth steps Mark-Alem, whose naivete brings injury to his ancient Albanian family and--paradoxically--propels him to the pinnacle of power. Kadare is Albania's best-known writer, and his new novel shapes an elegant metaphor for that country's late dictatorship, which he fled in 1990. Recommended for most collections of literary fiction.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
"They 're Selling Postcards of the Hanging....",
By
This review is from: The Palace of Dreams (Paperback)
Dreams flow into Istanbul from all corners of the Ottoman Empire to be sorted, interpreted, stored, or acted upon by an enormous bureaucracy of faceless figures. Wheels operate within wheels: nobody really knows what is going on except a few puppet-masters at the top. The innocent scion of a high, powerful family begins work in the Tabir Sarrail, that cavernous palace of endless blank corridors which, like Dr. Whoï¿s Tardis, is much bigger inside than out. Sinister goings on, always just out of sight, almost out of earshot. Mark-Alem learns as he goes. His meteoric rise may have ominous significance. Maybe not. He has to make sense out of the senseless. He has to give meaning to the meaningless. Interpretation is everything, but a wrong twist could lead to fatal disaster. Are his fellow workers in on some dark secrets that he has failed to decipher ? Or are they just as they seem, friendly and struggling ? The world of power dazzles and depresses simultaneously. When is Ismail Kadare going to get the Nobel Prize ? I have asked this before. THE PALACE OF DREAMS is yet another masterpiece by this Albanian author. It has links to ï¿The Three-Arched Bridgeï¿, another of his great novels. While the tenor of THE PALACE OF DREAMS is entirely different from the latter work, they do the share the enviable quality of operating on several levels, which to my mind, always indicates the highest craftsmanship. The present volume resembles Kafka more than a little, perhaps also is reminiscent of Sartreï¿s play ï¿No Exitï¿. At one level it is such a nightmarish fantasy, a bad dream played out in a couple hundred pages. At a second level, Kadare succeeded in writing a magnificent replica of the workings of secret security agencies within the administration of Communist era nations like Albania. Part terror, part nightmare, he sets his story in the 19th century Ottoman empire to avoid personal repercussions (the book was banned in Albania anyway). ï¿Anyone who ruled over the dark zones of menï¿s lives wielded enormous power.ï¿ Dream Palace or Sigurimi, the Albanian security agency ? It does not matter. By linking the protagonist to the Quprili family, a genuine Albanian-born dynasty of Ottoman officials and administrators, and to the recital of Albanian folk epics, Kadare ties the dream palace to actual history in a very clever way. The voice of the people must eventually be heard--it is only a question of when. This is a most clever book and Kadare fans should not miss it. If you havenï¿t started reading him yet, you could well begin here.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dangerous ghost state,
By
This review is from: The Palace of Dreams (Paperback)
In Kadare's hallucinatory novel, the most important ministry in the country is the one where the dreams of all its citizens are interpreted. A monstrous bureaucratic organization collects those dreams and a monstrous herd of employees classifies and analyzes them. The interpretation of the apparently most important dream is presented every week to the sultan, because it could contain crucial information about the destiny of the country and the ruling families.The whole country has really turned into a ghost state, where people perform ghost work: Absurdistan. Of course, this macabre ministry is only a veil for the bitter power struggle between the powerful. A bad dream interpretation could create an opportunity to lash out at the other throne contenders with deadly consequences for the innocent common citizens. The for the common man seemingly blind fatality is in fact the result of a deadly fight for control and power between the mighty. Kadare's novel, inspired by Enver Hoxha's Albania, is a masterful portrait of the totalitarian state, where real life is replaced by hallucinations. The government's most important role is to try to control even the dreams of its citizens. A dark nightmarish regime. This highly political work is composed and reads like a thriller. A real masterpiece.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging, masterfully crafted,
By Nikki E. "_spirit" (St. Louis, MO, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Palace of Dreams (Paperback)
This book is a testimony to the imposition of power on people - in this case, the controlling (and crushing) of potentially rebellious dreams against the State. Kadare does a good job of creating the tension that reverberates throughout the book. I was gripped with suspense and fear everytime Mark-Alem walked in silence through the dark, creepy corridors that stretched for miles on end. That really gave me the chills. Kadare also has a good grasp of his words. The interpretation of the book (originally in French) is superb - very easy to read, and manages to deliver the story in good style. The story is engaging, and it draws you into the world of the Tabir Sarrail, where reality and dreams are indistinguishable. It makes you want to finish the book in one sitting.
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