MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
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Fictional bridge between East and West a resonant meditation on art and power
Islamic inspiration: 16th century Suleymaniye mosque interior, Istanbul
[Jose Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro/Creative Commons]
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
The missing sister, the vengeful WAG, cruise ship claustrophobia, and reanimated Avengers
Three great releases of lost concerts by Duke Ellington Orchestra, John Taylor & Stan Sulzman, and Joe Henderson
To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants
by Mathias Enard
(Fitzcarraldo Editions, £10.99)
IN 1506 Michelangelo, then one of the most promising artists of his epoch, was invited by the Sultan of Constantinople to design a bridge over the Golden Horn. The historical record tells us that this invitation was rejected, but Mathias Enard's novel, exquisitely translated by Charlotte Mandell, imagines what would have happened if he had instead accepted.
Enard trades in the formalism of his previous fictions Zone and Compass for a more conventional historical novel, created from third-person narrative and the actual letters of Michelangelo. Instead of characteristic interior monologues and essayistic digressions, the reader is treated to a prose of elegant economy.
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