Items related to Little Infamies: Stories
Panos Karnezis' remarkable stories are all set in the same nameless Greek village. His characters are the people who live there - the priest, the barber, the whore, the doctor, the seamstress, the mayor - and the occasional animal: a centaur, a parrot that recites Homer, a horse called History. Their lives intersect, as lives do in a small place, and they know each other's secrets - the hidden crimes, the mysteries, the little infamies that men commit. Karnezis observes his villagers with a forgiving eye, and creates a world where magic invariably loses out to harsh reality, a world at once universal, funny and utterly compelling.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
The world that Panos Karzenis takes us into in Little Infamies is that of an obscure Greek village. As we are introduced to the quirky inhabitants--the barber, the priest, the prostitute, the doctor, the mayor and the seamstress, we are granted insights into the lives of a series of strongly involving characters, and we are drawn ever deeper into a vividly realised society. But Panos Karnezis is like the magician who distracts us with his left hand while performing sleight-of-hand with his right. In fact, the village here is a strange and magical place: other inhabitants include the occasional animal: a parrot that can recite Homer, a horse called History--even a centaur. All these strange lives intersect, and in such a cloistered village, few secrets are kept hidden for long. Everybody learns about the eponymous little infamies that the human race commits.
Review:
This evocative and idiosyncratic book is a singular achievement for its insightful author. Perhaps the shadow of Borges is at the author's elbow (as well as a shot of Marquez's magic realism), but these creations are very much his own. We turn each page of Little Infamies agog, constantly diverted by the contrary actions of the characters here. But Karnezis is fully aware that to weave his spell with maximum power, it is always necessary to remain plausible--we always need that grittiness to anchor us in reality. And the nameless Greek village here comes to feel like a place we could walk the streets of, if we just knew where it was. But here it is, in the pages of this remarkable book. The journey is well worthwhile. --Barry Forshaw
"Karnezis has captured the spirit of his people and spoken for them in a spellbinding, universal voice" (The Times)
"Karnezis's robust prose, as luminous and flinty as his landscape, sharpens his focus on captive souls in a lonely place" (Independent)
"Strikingly original... The stories in Little Infamies are extraordinary - shocking, colourful and resonant. Panos Karnezis is an entirely individual writer in full command of his material" (Sunday Times)
"A deeply impressive collection of short stories" (Sunday Telegraph)
"Karnezis's robust prose, as luminous and flinty as his landscape, sharpens his focus on captive souls in a lonely place" (Independent)
"Strikingly original... The stories in Little Infamies are extraordinary - shocking, colourful and resonant. Panos Karnezis is an entirely individual writer in full command of his material" (Sunday Times)
"A deeply impressive collection of short stories" (Sunday Telegraph)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherTandem Library
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 1417707151
- ISBN 13 9781417707157
- BindingHardcover
- Rating
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