A review by evakristin
The Pope's Rhinoceros by Lawrence Norfolk

5.0

Very challenging, but extremely satisfying. I don’t think I‘ve ever come across anything remotely like this kind of vocabulary. The language takes some time getting used to, but if you can get through the first pages (a mesmerizing description of the life of herring(!) in the Bay of Bothnia), you are in for a wild ride through Western European (and African!) history, geography and myths, with one delicious epiphany after the other, where everything and everyone is connected in the most surprising ways!

One thing is for sure, I have a new fascination for, and fear of, rats!