The Pyramid: A Novel Paperback – 9 May 2013

Ismail Kadare takes a historical event of 2,600 years ago, the building of the Pyrmaid of Cheops, and creates an eery and suspense filled novel. There are intrigues and plots, and political purifications. Clearly, the monument is a testament to the human beings who built it, their spirit, creativity, their blood, sweat, and tears. However, is there some grand design, some master plan, something more, might it not represent the infinite, something eternal? Read the book and decide ...It all starts out innocent enough, the High Priest recommends a project, building a pyramid to the Pharoah who at first is opposed to the idea. Then, like any good monarch or president, he appoints a committee to study the matter. The research falls short of expectations. To the disappointment of all, or perhaps, just to this reader, it is discovered, the past pharoahs did not build the pyramids for any grand and glorious reason. They did it just because they were rich, had an overabundance of wealth, which they used up, that's all. At first the public is appalled, another pyramid is to be built, everyone ... everywhere is a buzz with, how much time, effort, and resources will it take? The plans, the building materials, the workmen, the supervisors, even diplomats of foreign countries, all are intrigued with this grand scheme. Eventually the psyche of the country is totally obsessed with nothing but this project. Many years go by, decades go by, as the project continues, and nears completion ... Kadare weaves his plot masterfully, capturing how this huge event affects the people of Egypt from all walks of life, from the peasant, to the merchant, to the highly educated scribes and aristocracy ... the parallels to modern life are astonishing. The building of the pyramid becomes the ruling force in the lives of the people. The novel is highly complex and has great depth. It becomes a psychological thriller that the reader can not put down. Although a short novel, it is packed with unsettling moments that remain with the reader, long after one finishes reading the book. Based on this novel alone, any reader can understand why Ismail Kadare is recommended for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Erika Borsos (bakonyvilla)

An icon of European literature, and winner of the 2005 Man Booker International Prize, Kadare serves up a thinly-veiled attack on the excesses of a communist dictatorship. When Pharaoh Cheops decides he doesn't want a pyramid, his courtiers remind him of the need to build in order to suppress freedom of spirit. Darkly poetic and wilfully bleak, but he sometimes dwells a little on the words and not the meanings.