Here quAlexandre, impetuous man who, brutal strength, strategy and deception sest seized dune lactuel much of the Western world, is suddenly struck during dun banquet. He who was one of the masters of the world begins a slow death while his generals began to share his empire. His death will be the object of the establishment of a grandiose funeral procession where sixty-two mules and two hundred and eleven mourners from all regions empire specious mission will be to bring the body back to his mother through all the imperial territory.
Meanwhile, the ambassador sent by Alexander in India, subject to fantasies of conquest linfatigable warrior that he has never been able to meet during his lifetime, will be beheaded and his last breath returned to the emperor, accompanied by the head to notify him that the Master India lattend without fear.
This is the essential question of the legacy we ask Laurent Gaudé in what is one of his finest and most subtle novels. While the men sentredéchirent for sarracher of dempire pieces and lon for slaughter semparer burial of the remains of Alexander, Gaudé implements a literary device striking. This is the soul of loyal ambassador who will guide the chosen few actors to lead Alexander to the latest remains that it will be chosen and which is not the one desired by men for reasons of pure and political objectives.
A soul that will sadresser voluntarily unlikely to Dryptéis, the daughter of the enemy of Alexander, Darius, that he killed, and he made the wife of his best friend Hephaistion, killed in action since. Beyond death, Alexander will indirectly sadresser to that sest removed from the world, tired of court intrigues, became exhausted BE lenjeu political struggles that sow death all around her for limpliquer again in spite of herself in a challenge which exceeds the ultimate victim of the iron will of a man who submitted the world. Insistently and subtlety, it will lamener to organize what was his dream: do move towards the East, to India that he was unable to conquer and that fascinated him relentlessly.
Once the body stolen with the complicity of Ptolemy, his trusted general and who was the quickest to act saccaparer empire, also defeated by the will of him to whom he devoted his life and his troops can begin a new ride . She takes the last four of those faithful ,, protected Alexander's lifetime, the last procession, to these unknown and magical lands where they will end their lives as heroes at the same time that they will free the mind of Alexander.
Rubbing a myth, Laurent Gaudé faces without blinking moon dark pages of history. As often in his work, this is the death that serves as a guideline, an omnipresent death in the lives of these soldiers killing and having killed besides, a death that gives without state lady for political reasons, a death that strikes like small ambassadors people, a death that gives lon to escape linfamie or history. A death that continues to manipulate the living much that they manipulate it.
Gaudé takes us very far, on the borders of reality and magical, lonirique and fantasy in a hot romance, panting and just beautiful.
Published by Editions Actes Sud 2012 186 pages
Find my reading notes on thierrycollet-cetalir.blogspot.com
