The narrator is an urbane, cynical and egocentric Italian journalist with little interest in the truth, though not as shabby as his companion, a professor of politics. The journalist meets people across the spectrum of ideas, and the book concerns not just political events, but how people interrelate within a social context, Scotland's place in Europe and how Europeans interpret each other. The Italian encounters a range of Europeans: a Ukrainian nationalist, a Russian religious guru, an eccentric Estonian, an Algerian refugee, a Lithuanian, a dying man and many Scots from different walks of life. The narrator falls in love with a Scottish campaigner. Beneath the urbane veneer, he's a complex mix of the old-fashioned and the fashionable, and the relationship soon encounters problems. The Italian, like Voltaire's Candide, starts with a mindset incapable of bringing him either understanding or lasting contentment, and ends the book with some understanding and awareness, insufficient for the elusive happiness we all seek but sufficient for a perfectly acceptable human existence.
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Allan Cameron was born in 1952, grew up in Nigeria and Bangladesh, and lived as a young adult in Italy. He has written two novels, The Golden Menagerie (Luath Press, 2004), partly based on Apuleius' The Golden Ass but also a polemic against it, and The Berlusconi Bonus (Luath Press 2005), a political satire principally directed at Western consumerism, the policies of Bush and Blair, and Fukuyama's now disowned victory song of American capitalism. His non-fiction work, In Praise of the Garrulous(2008 and 2013), is an examination of the essentiality of language to human nature. His two collections of short stories, Can the Gods Cry? and On the Heroism of Mortals were published in 2011 and 2012. Over the years, he has translated twenty-four books, and his two collections of poetry, Presbyopia and A Barrel of Dried Leaves were published in 2009 and 2016.
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Vendeur : WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, Royaume-Uni
Paperback. Etat : Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. N° de réf. du vendeur GOR008741235
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Vendeur : Better World Books Ltd, Dunfermline, Royaume-Uni
Etat : Good. Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. N° de réf. du vendeur 39864781-20
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Vendeur : Book Express (NZ), Shannon, Nouvelle-Zélande
Paperback. Etat : Very Good. 192 pages. With a Scottish professor of politics as his guide, a London-based Italian jo urnalist traverses Scotland seeking a big story on the independence referendum . What he gets instead are small stories from myriad points of view: a Ukrainian nationalist, a Russian religious guru, an eccentric Estonian, an Algerian and a dying man, amongst many others. After a chaotic romance with a Scottish campaig ner, the journalist, aptly named Cinico de Oblivii, leaves his post in London fo r Greece, where, reflecting on his time in Scotland, he writes a memoir (this bo ok). In which, we encounter the full spectrum of ideas on Scottish independence, including the ones Cinico's editor didn't want to publish. Cinico's stories exa mine how Europeans interpret each other and, more generally, how people relate. Like Candide, Cinico starts with the dominant mindset of his era, which is incap able of bringing him either understanding or contentment, but ends up with an aw areness that, though insufficient for the elusive happiness we all seek, is suff icient enough for a perfectly acceptable human existence. This self-described rant has some persuasive elements, especially in Cameron's discussion of the ch ances that Gaelic will survive in Scotland and his encouragement to raise childr en to be multilingual.-Library Journal. N° de réf. du vendeur 3968y
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