Angélica Gorodischer may be extremely famous in Argentina, but for me it was the name of Ursula K. LeGuin that made me start reading. By the time I finished “Kalpa Imperial” I was ready to look for more from Ms. Gorodischer, so if anyone is working on a translation, hurry up!

“Kalpa Imperial–The Greatest Empire that Never Was” is a loosely structured novel, almost more of a collection of short stories that share its panoramic setting and epic story. Stories or chapters, each one is complete in itself; together they form an impressive work, far-reaching but scrupulous in detail.

The characters are attractive and complete. They are pleasant and hateful, good and bad, strong and weak, rich and poor, living and dead. Throughout most of the novel it is the narrator who narrates to us, although sometimes the narrator is also a character in the story. Each chapter speaks of an Emperor, or set of Emperors, or perhaps an Empress; we often hear about what happened before he or she succeeded to the Golden Throne. In many cases, the narrator seems to have strayed from the central theme, following a rather obscure character or situation in the overall scheme of the Empire. But, I don’t think this spoils anything for the potential reader, the cunning storyteller may disguise himself but he doesn’t get sidetracked. A future ruler is there, somewhere, in almost every chapter.

“Imperial Kalpa” was originally published in two parts, “The House of Power” and “The Greatest Empire”, and then as one work. On the Fantastic Metropolis website, interviewer Gabriel Mesa asks Gorodischer how this happened. She replies: “It was published in two volumes because the publisher did not want to take too many risks and claimed that he did not have enough money. The choice was to publish in two volumes or not to publish at all. I chose the former. But the text is one. I always do. I went and planned it as a whole.”

Other critics have been divided on their analysis of the final story, “The Old Frankincense Road”. Within that tale, one of the characters relates a version of Greek mythology starring slightly disguised Hollywood legends (Clargueibl, Orsonuels, Betedeivis, etc., even Rintintin). This caused one reader to gloss over most of the story, calling it “one of the few places where the book fails.” However, another reader seemed to like that story better. I’m curious about these Hollywood names, since Gorodischer writes in Spanish and lives in Argentina; How much of this story is Gorodischer, how much Le Guin?

For me, perhaps the most notable story is “Basic Weapons”; I think it’s the only one not directly related to the line of succession in the Empire. A somewhat disreputable, legless merchant has been scorned by a fat fawning nobleman. “Master Bramaltariq had seventeen horses, nine wives and three bearskin cloaks…” while “Drondlann had no horses or bearskin cloaks; all he had was the curio shop and its two wheels and one plant of hate in the womb that watered”. carefully every day.” Drondlann dreams of wares that will allow him to enter Bramaltariq’s estate, and upon entry, confidence and revenge. Will he not buy dwarves, will he not sell giants? The idea is ridiculous. Why, then, would he want a blind boy who “knows how to dance”? “What’s that?” he says, since the concept is unknown until then. Dance, in this story, is a means of power that brings about change in the lives of all what does he play.

In another story, an exile touches lives in every city he visits and ultimately, as emperor, unifies factions that have been at war for centuries. Perhaps this should be the technical standard for training future leaders!

It’s fascinating to read these cartoons that seem to describe real life situations but are tacitly unreal. It’s fun looking for the identity within each chapter of the character who will ascend to the throne. The canvas is wide, but we focus on one section at a time.

Kalpa is not an easy book to read. The effort is well rewarded and the memory will remain for a long time.

As the Archivist within the Imperial Kalpa says “all of that is as true or false as any tale”.

Imperial Kalpa by Angelica Gorodischer, translated by Ursula K. LeGuin

2003, Small Beer Press, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA.

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gregory baboon

November 2005