Little Infamies - Softcover

Karnezis, Panos

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224062611 ISBN 13: 9780224062619

Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 2002

Synopsis

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.

About 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.

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

Review:

'...an astonishing and brilliant achievement by an exceptional and unique young writer... I am utterly bewitched by his talent, and jealous too.' -- Ben Rice, author of Pobby & Dingan

About this edition

• Publisher: Jonathan Cape Ltd
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0224062611
• ISBN 13: 9780224062619
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288