The Pyramid

By Ismail Kadare,

Book cover of The Pyramid

Book description

A satire on Stalinist Albania under the rule of Enver Hoxha, a novel about the construction of a pyramid whose only purpose is to keep the population enslaved, enabling tyranny to flourish. Translated from the French by David Bellos. From the author of BROKEN APRIL, THE PALACE OF DREAMS andā€¦

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Pyramid as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Heā€™s now based in Paris, but Kadare lived much of his life under the rule of Albanian despot Enver Hoxha, who made the rest of the Eastern Bloc look like a holiday camp.

The Pyramid is set in ancient Egypt, where the Pharoah Cheops commissions the tallest-ever pyramid. He doesnā€™t really want one, but his advisers argue itā€™s a good way of keeping his population permanently involved in back-breaking labour so they have no energy to revolt.

Dozens of labourers, as dispensable as ants, die with each stone laid. Whatā€™s striking is the flippant, ironic tone of the narrative. Kadareā€¦

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Who was the man who would become Caesar's lieutenant, Brutus' rival, Cleopatra's lover, and Octavian's enemy? 

When his stepfather is executed for his involvement in the Catilinarian conspiracy, Mark Antony and his family are disgraced. His adolescence is marked by scandal and mischief, his love affairs are fleeting, and yet,ā€¦

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