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A review by sarahe
La Pirámide by Ismail Kadare
3.0
To be honest, this is rather a dessicated account of the bloody process of building of Cheops's pyramid - with obvious significance in Albania, as Hoxha's intended mausoleum is a squat and particularly ugly pyramid (designed by his architect daughter) on prime land in the centre of Tirana (with a pretty nice parklet around it, granted). At least, from the ground it's ugly; from the air it's a representation of the the Albanian eagle and rather more impressive. Hoxha has long lain elsewhere, the pyramid still seems solid but the various doors are a patchwork of broken bits and pieces, it's covered in graffiti and it's mainly used by young people who run up the slopes and hang out on the flat top. There's also an occasional nightclub operating in a back entrance, called Mumja.
So anyway this is a short and serviceable but uninspiring account of dictatorial behaviour, of using economy-collapsing projects specifically to keep the people occupied and unhappy, and of labyrinthine bureaucracies where the system is everything and no one seems to be actually in charge. There are probably a lot of Albanian references here, but I only got a few of them. It's rather difficult to see what exactly Kadare is doing with this, other than the broad comments about vanity projects, dictatorships and a put-upon population, but the mention of Albania's pyramid and all its little pyramids (the bunkers) was resonant, and probably more so to those who were on the spot when Hoxha's pyramid was happening.
This was written in the years just after the pyramid itself was completed, in 1988. There's probably a more interesting book in the inconsequential dithering over what should become of it now - here's a taste. The latest was a contest during the Architecture Week last September which invited proposals for it; none were particularly memorable. Also.... this book predated the growth and collapse of the pyramid schemes in Albanian (with such a violent outcome) but not by much. I wonder what I should be finding anything in the book that prefigures the rest of that messy decade in Albania.
So anyway this is a short and serviceable but uninspiring account of dictatorial behaviour, of using economy-collapsing projects specifically to keep the people occupied and unhappy, and of labyrinthine bureaucracies where the system is everything and no one seems to be actually in charge. There are probably a lot of Albanian references here, but I only got a few of them. It's rather difficult to see what exactly Kadare is doing with this, other than the broad comments about vanity projects, dictatorships and a put-upon population, but the mention of Albania's pyramid and all its little pyramids (the bunkers) was resonant, and probably more so to those who were on the spot when Hoxha's pyramid was happening.
This was written in the years just after the pyramid itself was completed, in 1988. There's probably a more interesting book in the inconsequential dithering over what should become of it now - here's a taste. The latest was a contest during the Architecture Week last September which invited proposals for it; none were particularly memorable. Also.... this book predated the growth and collapse of the pyramid schemes in Albanian (with such a violent outcome) but not by much. I wonder what I should be finding anything in the book that prefigures the rest of that messy decade in Albania.