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The Palace Of Dreams

The Palace Of Dreams

Translated by Barbara Bray from the French version of the Albanian by Jusuf Vrioni

At the heart of the Sultan's vast empire stands the mysterious Palace of Dreams. Inside, the dreams of every citizen are collected, sorted and interpreted in order to identify the 'master-dreams' that will provide the clues to the Empire's destiny and that of its Monarch. An entire nation's consciousness is thus meticulously laid bare and at the mercy of its government...

The Palace of Dreams is Kadare's macabre vision of tyranny and oppression, and was banned upon publication in Albania in 1981.

Reviews

  • Kadare's most daring novel, one of the most complete visions of totalitarianism ever committed to paper

    Vanity Fair

  • If there is a book worth banning in a dictatorship, this is it

    Guardian

  • Kadare's delicately misted view of another world (as much internal as totalitarian) lives up to the splendour of his title

    Independent on Sunday

  • Inexorably takes your breath away

    Herald

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About the Author

Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare is Albania's best-known novelist and poet. Translations of his novels have appeared in more than forty countries. He was awarded the inaugural Man Booker International Prize in 2005, the Jerusalem Prize in 2015, and the Neustadt Prize in 2020.

Ismail Kadare

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