The Last World: A Novel With an Ovidian Repertory
An allegorical novel grounded in Ovid's Metamorphoses, following a journey through a ruined world in search of meaning, language, and memory. It is lyrical, symbolic, and steeped in myth.
Work Information
An allegorical novel grounded in Ovid's Metamorphoses, following a journey through a ruined world in search of meaning, language, and memory. It is lyrical, symbolic, and steeped in myth.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Grove Pr
- Published
- 1990-04-01
- Language
- 英語
- ISBN-13
- 9780802111678
- ISBN-10
- 080211167X
- Price
- 2799 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Literary
Cotta embarks on a journey in search of Ovid and finds himself in a place where the ancient world and the twentieth century are one
Reviews
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A masterpiece
A little known masterpiece in a fine translation
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A lasting world
I read this translation of Christoph Ransmayer's novel (Die letzte Welt) when it first appeared, and it was pure magic. Then, somehow, I lost it ... but am now delighted by it afresh after replacing it courtesy of abbooks. It is a retelling of Ovid in fresh and new way, in the spirit of magic realism, using gritty reality and deliberate anachronism amongst many other tools to weave a new story addressed from antiquity straight into the present psyche. Wonderful.
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Five Stars
Met described expectation
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Not nearly as good as many of the rave reviews, give it a miss.
Maybe its the translation, but it's difficult to like this book. I can see the authors intention, bringing a slice of Roman history into the modern era, but it just does not work. There is no sympathy for any of the characters. It's obtuse, meandering, fake mysterious. Not nearly as good as many of the reviews.
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Five Stars
excellent
Related Literary Awards
- Park Kyong-ni Prize Edition 12 (2023) ・Winner