Title: Altai
Author: Wu Ming
Time/Place: Italy and Turkey, 1569-71
Teaser: ‘Then my ears exploded, the floor shook, I was caught in a rain of glass and plaster. For days afterward I was picking shards from my hair.’
Summary: An explosion rips through the Venetian arsenal. Emanuele de Zante, spy-catcher and converted Jew, is betrayed and becomes a scapegoat for the crime. He is drawn to Constantinople after a desperate escape, straight into Ottoman conflict and the inner circle of the mysterious Nasi.
My Thoughts:
I picked this book up because I haven’t yet read much fiction set in the sixteenth century, especially where the main locations are outside England. I was intrigued by the settings of Venice and Constantinople, and by Zante’s profession as a spy-catcher.
The history: This book covers an interesting period of history, exploring the conflict over Cyprus between Ottoman and Venetian powers. This thread is woven with cultural, political and religious themes, tying well into Zante’s identity as a converted Jew and the structure of Constantinople’s ruling powers. Zante is a reluctant traveller, someone misplaced from one life into a new, alien one, which makes him a perfect vessel for the reader to compare and contrast two very different locations and learn about their history and views of each other. It is slightly unfortunate that the style of the book is so dense, as the facts were sometimes difficult to unpick, but overall the history is well done, and there is a good representation of a sea-battle towards the end of the work which appealed to my interest in Naval history.
The story: This book employs an interesting structure, using short, episodic chapters – most are only a couple of pages long – to create a sense of tension, especially towards the end of the story. I would have liked spend more time in Venice, as it was Zante’s profession as a spy-catcher that drew me initially to the book, and the more exciting aspects of his life in Constantinople take a while to kick into gear. The style is rich with complex language and symbolism that fits nicely into two very culturally significant locations, and I particularly enjoyed the scenes related to the beautiful Altai, which I learned during the course of reading are hunting falcons. Overall, though, this book struggles to keep its clarity – upon looking up the author, I discovered that ‘Wu Ming’ is a pen name for a group of different authors, and this shows in the slightly jarring characterisations and writing techniques that struggle to find a single direction. Although it is packed with gems of ideas, their development is confusing for anyone who wants to appreciate the history and story of the book rather than its literary style.
My favourite character was Zante. He’s an interesting figure, caught between religions, places, pasts and futures, which is the kind of character that is brilliant for exploring a wide history.
Recommended: Fans of Mary Renault might enjoy the dreamy language style of this book.
My Rating: 3/5
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