The Pyramid (Kadare novel)
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The Pyramid (Template:Langx) is a 1992 novel written by Ismail Kadare. It is considered to serve both literary and dissident purposes.<ref>Review 04/01/1996</ref> It is a political allegory of absolute political power.
Background
The first part of the novel was written in 1988-1990 but was rejected by the state publisher.<ref name="Fayé"/> It was serialized in January 1991 in several issues of the new opposition newspaper Democratic Renaissance. <ref name="Elsie">Template:Cite book</ref> After the establishment of pluralism and democracy in Albania, it was completed and published in Tirana and Paris.<ref name="Fayé">Template:Cite book</ref>
Plot
The Pyramid is a political allegory set in ancient Egypt. It is the tale of the conception and construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza by Cheops, but also of absolute political power.<ref name="Elsie"/>
Reception
The New York Times picked up on the significance of The Pyramid:
"For the pyramid, viewed by his subjects as an abiding symbol of his total and incontestable power, comes to be seen by him as a personal memento mori, a constant and paralyzing reminder that his brief life will give way to an eternal entombment in stone."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1993, the novel was awarded the Prix Méditerranée Étranger in France.<ref name="Gaspon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See also
References
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