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Pascali's Island
The year is 1908, the place, a small Greek island in the declining days of the crumbling Ottoman Empire. For twenty years Basil Pascali has spied on the people of his small community and secretly reported on their activities to the authorities in Constantinople. Although his reports are never acknowledged, never acted upon, he has received regular payment for his work. Now he fears that the villagers have found him out and he becomes engulfed in paranoia. In the midst of his panic, a charming Englishman arrives on the island claiming to be an archaeologist, and charms his way into the heart of the woman for whom Pascali pines. A complex game is played out between the two where cunning and betrayal may come to haunt them both. Pascali's Island was made into a feature film starring Ben Kingsley and Helen Mirren.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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737 people want to read
About the author
Barry Unsworth
56 books187 followersBarry Unsworth was an English writer known for his historical fiction. He published 17 novels, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel Sacred Hunger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
August 9, 2021
Pascali’s Island is a moral tale on the nature of treachery and it demonstrates a very special atmosphere of despondency. A charming Englishman was a professional conman so betraying the trust of the others was his artistry.
But there always are men of a greater perfidy and eventually they win…
I do not believe him. That flower of betrayal, which grows with its own urgency now, outside my control – I feel its petals expand. It luxuriates in my distrust of him, and its scent is sickening, desolating. A swamp plant, Excellency, growing in the corruption of my hopes, just as fantasies have flowered in his, in Mister Bowles’s.
But there always are men of a greater perfidy and eventually they win…
February 19, 2018
A remarkable study of paranoia, supplication, and weakness--hardly the usual stuff of novels, especially historical ones. But Unsworth pulls off quite a feat here. His narrator, Basil Pascali, is a spy. Not your ordinary spy, though. He's an informant for the Ottoman Empire, stationed on a remote Greek island in 1908, when the Ottomans are in terminal decline. Nonetheless, he dutifully pens his observations to the Ottoman Emperor himself--the "Lord of the world" and "shadow of God on earth"--observations he can make because no one takes him seriously (he's described somewhat mockingly to his face as "one of the fixtures of the island"). Is the Ottoman Emperor himself reading any of this? Of course not. It's all terribly pathetic. But then, just as he becomes convinced his cover has been blown, a charming Englishman arrives and steals the heart of the woman he's been eyeing, setting off quite the dark game between the two.
This is a wonderful example of an unsympathetic unreliable narrator--a smarmy self-aggrandizing nobody who nonetheless grabs hold of your attention through his sheer need to tell his story, and his elegant mastery of prose and plot.
This is a wonderful example of an unsympathetic unreliable narrator--a smarmy self-aggrandizing nobody who nonetheless grabs hold of your attention through his sheer need to tell his story, and his elegant mastery of prose and plot.
February 14, 2017
An atmospheric and rather curious story set on an Aegean island in 1908 that is part of the dying Ottoman empire, this is the sixth book I have read from the 1980 Booker shortlist, and in such a strong year it is probably the least impressive. Unsworth has written better books, notably Morality Play and his Booker winner Sacred Hunger.
The narrator Basil Pascali is a paid informer for the Ottomans, but this post is insufficient to sustain him and his pay has not increased in the 20 years he has been on the island, which makes him susceptible to various intrigues and petty acts of larceny. The book takes the form of his reports, but it gradually becomes clear that he does not believe these reports have any meaning, and he freely admits that he embellishes what he writes. The action starts when an Englishman, Bowles, arrives on the island seeking to explore an archaeological site. In this story nothing is quite what it seems, and nobody comes out of it with much credit, which makes it symbolic of the world of diplomacy before the First World War. Although it has some nice touches and a few memorable moments, the ending was too melodramatic for my liking.
The narrator Basil Pascali is a paid informer for the Ottomans, but this post is insufficient to sustain him and his pay has not increased in the 20 years he has been on the island, which makes him susceptible to various intrigues and petty acts of larceny. The book takes the form of his reports, but it gradually becomes clear that he does not believe these reports have any meaning, and he freely admits that he embellishes what he writes. The action starts when an Englishman, Bowles, arrives on the island seeking to explore an archaeological site. In this story nothing is quite what it seems, and nobody comes out of it with much credit, which makes it symbolic of the world of diplomacy before the First World War. Although it has some nice touches and a few memorable moments, the ending was too melodramatic for my liking.
January 8, 2019
Το άλλο του βιβλίο ΙΕΡΗ ΠΕΙΝΑ ήταν ένα αριστούργημα. Τούτο εδώ όμως δεν μ΄ ενθουσίασε και σε κάποια του σημεία είτε κακογραμμένο, είτε κακομεταφρασμένο. Πάντως δεν έχετε διαβάσει το ΙΕΡΗ ΠΕΙΝΑ αξίζει να το βρήτε και να το διαβάσετε. Τούτο δω καλόν είναι να το αποφύγετε...
September 29, 2019
The year is 1908. The titular Pascali lives on a small Turkish-occupied island off the Greek coast. He is an informer for the Sultan in Constantinople, faithfully penning his reports for 20 years, but never receiving responses with further instructions. Admittedly his reports contain embellishments or pure invention, even extending to his own persona, and it seems that his dedication to the Sultan has become merely symbolic at this point, a purpose to cling to at a time when his life appears to have been wasted. Pascali subsists on a meager salary and with no visible purpose or means of income, he has become an object of suspicion among the Greeks. Now anticipating his discovery he is writing his final report to the Sultan. One day a British traveler by the name of Bowles appears on the island, instantly attracting Pascali's attention. The fates of these two men grow entwined as Bowles enlists Pascali's services, ostensibly as a translator, to assist him in negotiating a land lease with the Pasha (the leading Turkish officer on the island). Bowles's interests in access to this unremarkable parcel of land are murky, and much of the novel consists of Pascali's efforts to decode them, while also dwelling on rumors of the weakening Empire and his own bleak future. Rounding out the cast of this slow burn thriller are a number of other key players: Lydia, the beautiful cosmopolitan painter whom Pascali has pined for since his arrival on the island; Mister Smith, the American sponge-fisher whose off-shore boat has attracted everyone's attention; Herr Gesing, the evasive German businessman; and Izzet, the Pasha's corrupt land agent. While I didn't find this quite as compelling as Unsworth's novel The Hide, it is still a fine book. Pascali is an interesting narrator, Bowles an unlikely and enigmatic villain, and Unsworth effectively maintains the suspense throughout the narrative. As in The Hide, he excels at defining his settings, and his painterly descriptions of the island's natural beauty enhance the reading experience here just as those of the overgrown estate in The Hide did for that book.
February 3, 2017
The only reason I can think of to read Pascalis Island (apart from its Booker credentials as a shortlist contender in 1980), is if you have never read any Graham Greene.
Unfortunately Pascalis Island is a poor, poor imitation of Greene's fine work, and has too many weaknesses to list here.
I wondered why there were so few ratings for this book (245 at February 3), for a three time Booker Prize nominee, and joint winner in 1992.
I now know why.
At least it's a short book and a quick read.
Unfortunately Pascalis Island is a poor, poor imitation of Greene's fine work, and has too many weaknesses to list here.
I wondered why there were so few ratings for this book (245 at February 3), for a three time Booker Prize nominee, and joint winner in 1992.
I now know why.
At least it's a short book and a quick read.
October 18, 2018
An excellent suspense story infused with a continuous stream of subtle humor. The premise of the book is that Basil Pascali has been on a small Greek island for twenty years as a spy for the Ottoman Empire. He has been continually sending regular reports to his superiors for all those years but he has never received any answers or acknowledgement from them, only silence. The book is written as if it is a report to his superiors but, because he thinks he has been discovered to be a spy, he is writing directly to the emporer and this will be his final report. In it he details much of what he has been doing over the years, including fabricating stories and sexual fantasies he has experienced. Over the days that he is writing the report he encounters a mysterious American and this is where things really heat up and the real story begins. Unsworth writing is simply amazing with his beautifully crafted sentences and elegant prose.
July 4, 2025
3.5 stars. A short, well plotted, intriguing historical fiction novel. On a Greek island in 1908, during the end period of the Ottoman Empire, Basil Pascali, a Turkish spy, writes his final report. Basil’s reports over the last twenty years have been sent to Istanbul. Basil has been regularly paid for them but he has received no correspondence or feedback in relation to them over the twenty years. He writes that he believes he has been finally found out, that people know he is an informant. Basil is a loner. He is quite rotund. His only friend is Lydia, an English painter. One day an Englishman named Bowles appears on the island. Bowles enlists Pascali’s services as a translator to help Bowles negotiate a lease with the island’s Turkish official. Bowles initially claims he is an archeologist. Lydia becomes friends with Bowles. Bowles is a conman who sees an opportunity to make money from the sale of Greek artifacts.
An engaging short novel that explores betrayal, paranoia, deception and fear. There is good plot momentum, especially towards the end of the book.
This book was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize.
An engaging short novel that explores betrayal, paranoia, deception and fear. There is good plot momentum, especially towards the end of the book.
This book was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize.
July 17, 2012
I was very impressed by Unsworth's Booker-winning Sacred Hunger, and I recently read the sequel, The Quality of Mercy -- so I was pleased to receive this via my postal book group. It displays the same dazzling style as the other two but other than that doesn't have much in common!
Strangely, it reminded me of Stephen Benatar's Wish Her Safe at Home, although the setting is completely different. Both of them have a compellingly unreliable narrator. Unlike Rachel, Pascali is quite open about making stuff up. But in both cases you often find yourself wondering whether what is being described really happened, or is a figment of the narrator's imagination. When Basil thinks people in the church are making evil-eye signs at him, are they really just crossing themselves as his companion suggests? Are the other characters really as underhand and double-dealing as he thinks they are or could their motives be relatively innocent?
I felt the ending was excessively dramatic -- I was expecting something lower key and more nuanced. But it was an interesting read.
Strangely, it reminded me of Stephen Benatar's Wish Her Safe at Home, although the setting is completely different. Both of them have a compellingly unreliable narrator. Unlike Rachel, Pascali is quite open about making stuff up. But in both cases you often find yourself wondering whether what is being described really happened, or is a figment of the narrator's imagination. When Basil thinks people in the church are making evil-eye signs at him, are they really just crossing themselves as his companion suggests? Are the other characters really as underhand and double-dealing as he thinks they are or could their motives be relatively innocent?
I felt the ending was excessively dramatic -- I was expecting something lower key and more nuanced. But it was an interesting read.
June 21, 2009
Well.....I found it slow to read, though quite a slim book. I think I liked it better once I’d finished it than while I was reading it, if that makes any sense. Once I had the whole concept in view, I found it really quite interesting, but the execution was not so compelling as perhaps it should have been. The brilliance I found in Morality Play is evident here but not complete.
I really like the idea that what I read would have been a great swashbuckling romance, if told from the point of view of one of the lovers, but is instead presented in the voice of a person on the sidelines, a person so unobtrusive as to be almost invisible even to those who speak to him.
This person, small-souled and self-absorbed, reports events as they relate to him, which reduces the high drama of the other characters’ doings to faint, filtered echoes. As I say, it’s a very good concept, and the more I think about it now, the better I like it. But there are few literary stunts more difficult of execution than making a character both insignificant and central to your story, and Unsworth only partially carries it off. Still better than most other writers can do on their best days.
I really like the idea that what I read would have been a great swashbuckling romance, if told from the point of view of one of the lovers, but is instead presented in the voice of a person on the sidelines, a person so unobtrusive as to be almost invisible even to those who speak to him.
This person, small-souled and self-absorbed, reports events as they relate to him, which reduces the high drama of the other characters’ doings to faint, filtered echoes. As I say, it’s a very good concept, and the more I think about it now, the better I like it. But there are few literary stunts more difficult of execution than making a character both insignificant and central to your story, and Unsworth only partially carries it off. Still better than most other writers can do on their best days.
October 27, 2019
I loved this book. I thought it was beautifully written and I was very struck by the underlying image of a man writing/speaking into the silence. Something like the human condition perhaps?!
December 16, 2020
One of those EXTREMELY rare cases of my preferring the film to the book. But then the film did have the visuals of Greece...and jaw-dropping-stunning Helen Mirren. I think my opinion is justified.
May 4, 2023
This is a very compressed story, and it is haunting because there is clearly so very much more to it than first meets the eye. As a narrative, it is spare: the events follow the doomed attempt by a British man of mystery (ouch, that cliche is awkward but it's absolutely correct for this) to extract an original Greek bronze from where it has been hidden for two thousand years. Mr. Bowles is playing a dangerous game with the Pasha whose whim is law on this island outpost of the Ottoman Empire, and it is inevitable that his eccentric attempt to teach the powers-that-be a lesson will fail. It is no spoiler to reveal this failure; the whole story is saturated in corruption, decadence, and death--not the least of which is that of the Ottoman Empire itself--so any hope of success for anyone is not even faint.
The novel is technically epistolary: it is written as the last of a series of reports by a spy, Basil Pascali, back to the Constantinople court, the veracity of which is called into question by Pascali himself. He allows himself to saturate his information in sensory details, wandering into poetic descriptions of the land, the sea, the sky that are immersive to the point of, again, decadence. Pascali has been recently convinced that his cover has somehow been blown, that he has been discovered as an Ottoman spy by the Greek locals, a revelation that means he will be killed. He faces this prospect with fear, despair, calm, and existential equanimity, allowing himself to use Bowles' conspiracy as a means, perhaps, of extricating himself from his own rather sticky situation. That "perhaps" becomes less than a faint hope again, of course.
But, speaking of existentialism, it is hard to avoid the philosophical disquisitions that underpin this apparently straightforward story. On almost every page there are hints that Unsworth is presenting another way of viewing the world and managing its consequences, only to move on to yet another. We are treated to a conversation about modern art and its clash with representation; we also have a debate between German Hegelian modernism and a moral form of Romanticism. This all sounds very starchy and dry, but it is not; the conversations are utterly appropriate and unforced in any way.
I was surprised to hear that this has been made into a movie, with Ben Kingsley in the role of Pascali, Charles Dance as Bowles, and Helen Mirren as Lydia. I doubt I will watch that one because there is no chance that the thought and feeling that are basic to this novel will be reproduced on the screen. I certainly hope it's more than just an action movie.
The novel is technically epistolary: it is written as the last of a series of reports by a spy, Basil Pascali, back to the Constantinople court, the veracity of which is called into question by Pascali himself. He allows himself to saturate his information in sensory details, wandering into poetic descriptions of the land, the sea, the sky that are immersive to the point of, again, decadence. Pascali has been recently convinced that his cover has somehow been blown, that he has been discovered as an Ottoman spy by the Greek locals, a revelation that means he will be killed. He faces this prospect with fear, despair, calm, and existential equanimity, allowing himself to use Bowles' conspiracy as a means, perhaps, of extricating himself from his own rather sticky situation. That "perhaps" becomes less than a faint hope again, of course.
But, speaking of existentialism, it is hard to avoid the philosophical disquisitions that underpin this apparently straightforward story. On almost every page there are hints that Unsworth is presenting another way of viewing the world and managing its consequences, only to move on to yet another. We are treated to a conversation about modern art and its clash with representation; we also have a debate between German Hegelian modernism and a moral form of Romanticism. This all sounds very starchy and dry, but it is not; the conversations are utterly appropriate and unforced in any way.
I was surprised to hear that this has been made into a movie, with Ben Kingsley in the role of Pascali, Charles Dance as Bowles, and Helen Mirren as Lydia. I doubt I will watch that one because there is no chance that the thought and feeling that are basic to this novel will be reproduced on the screen. I certainly hope it's more than just an action movie.
August 8, 2025
A Trip on Pascali’s Island by Barry Unsworth
10 out of 10
The New York Times has called this novel ‘spellbinding’ and since it was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1980, it is confirmed to be one of the best novels of the last decades, incentivizing the under signed to read Sacred Hunger, by the same acclaimed author, which has won the Booker – incidentally, the most prestigious trophy for literature written in English currently – in 1992, though at 640 pages it is almost three times heavier than Pascali’s Island and yours truly tends to stay away from books that are so long and concentrates on the short and nevertheless sublime options…with The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin – another shortlisted novel for the aforementioned Grand Prix - to be finished in the next two days…
Given that the novel imparts the events taking place in the last days of the Ottoman Empire – which has had a long, if troubled five centuries life – in our land we have a special interest in the story – after all, many of the habits, decorum, social phenomenon of the present owe much if not most to the Turkish influence, for we have been part of the same empire for centuries and use the baksheesh both as a an imported term and more or less – not at all in the future, Insha’Allah – as a core of transactions…we have now in prison the sultan of the past years, the con man that was the leader of the most powerful party, the Red Plague, the epitome of corruption and the rule of Baksheesh and for most of the modern history, this place functioned much like the Island of Pascali and the plot could have taken place near my house…
In fact, the people who live in my gated community are characters that come out of the pages of the Barry Unsworth novel, with their wealth acquired mostly through corrupt deals with the state – forms of Baksheesh involved – since if you look at the limousines and assets they flaunt, you need to add centuries of pay in public office to be able to explain so much opulence – one of those who live nearby has been at the center in the recently Oscar nominated Collective, which exposes a huge swindle, in a way like that perpetrated by Anthony Bowles in Pascali’s Island, wherein hospitals and medical facilities had been sold disinfectants in contracts, but delivered water with a drop of alcohol in reality…
Basil Pascali is the narrator and main character of the narrative – after all, it is clear from the title that the book is about his island or/and the action, whatever that means, takes place on the land that is his, and we see as we progress with the tale that it is at least in part his creation, given that as an informer of the sultan, he writes reports, for which he is paid alas the same meager sum for the past two decades, which keeps him hungry at times – paradoxically, given that he quite overweight, though people in poverty are more often in bad shape, obese, than the richer ones – and he admits to having less than candid, inventing things and putting on paper his impressions, the image he has of reality and even creating a parallel one, which may be what happens with the story of Anthony Bowles and his swindle…
The year is 1908 and we are on Greek island in declining days of Ottoman empire, where for 20 years plump and good humored, shabby but not without a certain dash, derided but not disliked Basil Pascali has spied on the small community sending his notes to Constantinople, where he intends to travel and see what had happened to his reports, why is it that nobody had bothered to contact him…indeed, they have acted as if he does not exist, albeit he can go to the Ottoman Bank and get his monthly pay regularly…the sinister truth is presented by Anthony Bowles at one point – this empire has been crumbling for quite some time, decades at least, and what has happened is nobody has read any of your messages…
The end of the sultan is approaching fast, the last ruler of what was once, centuries ago ta resplendent, powerful empire is now too afraid to exit his palace, he only travels to the mosque, in a covered carriage for fear of assassination and even that is cut out at the end, his Macedonian troops are gradually coming towards Constantinople, the rebellion is growing and the corruption that has been one of the main reasons for this decay will end up destroying this relic and Pascali will be left without a job, unless he finds another employer or abandons the island, as it is planned for a while until the plot changes…
Everything changes when The English Anthony Bowles lands on the island and the intrepid Pascali approaches him with the intention of making some money – our narrator has no socks, he has to take water from a pump outside his premises, and as aforementioned, he has to sip meals for despite the fact that he had asked for a raise, he receives the same amount year after year…as explained by the Englishman, what must have happened is that somebody gave the order to the bank and then forgotten about him, they just pay on account of inertia and because of the initial bank order, but otherwise nobody is connected to him anymore in the administration, which has more spies on the payroll than police and no means to keep pace with their information – and the tow establish a rapport.
However, Anthony Bowels is much closer to the painter on the island, Lydia Neuman, daughter of a rich Jewish father, very well connected – she is the one that would later give the ‘breaking news’ of the imminent collapse of the sultan, with the Macedonian troops in Constantinople and the disappearance of the sultan, locked inside his palace – and attracted to the tall, appealing Englishman…they will become so close as to share the same fate – let us not divulge what happens, unless you place a note and ask for it – Lydia is very present in the erotic dreams of Basil Pascali, who seems to be bisexual, if we consider his erotic projections connected with the artist and the regular coitus he has with a male partner on the island…or maybe they call that pansexual, demi- sexual or something else these days, when orientation of that kind is so varied as to escape my grasp…well, we can always search the net for more, but there are so many that I have abandoned the idea of keeping track
Anthony Bowles has used the corruption of the Ottoman officials to his financial advantage, giving them a lesson in the process, for he goes to them and pretends he has found precious items on the land, speculating their greed and extracting money by a ruse, which may turn nevertheless against him at one crucial, climactic moment…
10 out of 10
The New York Times has called this novel ‘spellbinding’ and since it was shortlisted for the Booker prize in 1980, it is confirmed to be one of the best novels of the last decades, incentivizing the under signed to read Sacred Hunger, by the same acclaimed author, which has won the Booker – incidentally, the most prestigious trophy for literature written in English currently – in 1992, though at 640 pages it is almost three times heavier than Pascali’s Island and yours truly tends to stay away from books that are so long and concentrates on the short and nevertheless sublime options…with The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin – another shortlisted novel for the aforementioned Grand Prix - to be finished in the next two days…
Given that the novel imparts the events taking place in the last days of the Ottoman Empire – which has had a long, if troubled five centuries life – in our land we have a special interest in the story – after all, many of the habits, decorum, social phenomenon of the present owe much if not most to the Turkish influence, for we have been part of the same empire for centuries and use the baksheesh both as a an imported term and more or less – not at all in the future, Insha’Allah – as a core of transactions…we have now in prison the sultan of the past years, the con man that was the leader of the most powerful party, the Red Plague, the epitome of corruption and the rule of Baksheesh and for most of the modern history, this place functioned much like the Island of Pascali and the plot could have taken place near my house…
In fact, the people who live in my gated community are characters that come out of the pages of the Barry Unsworth novel, with their wealth acquired mostly through corrupt deals with the state – forms of Baksheesh involved – since if you look at the limousines and assets they flaunt, you need to add centuries of pay in public office to be able to explain so much opulence – one of those who live nearby has been at the center in the recently Oscar nominated Collective, which exposes a huge swindle, in a way like that perpetrated by Anthony Bowles in Pascali’s Island, wherein hospitals and medical facilities had been sold disinfectants in contracts, but delivered water with a drop of alcohol in reality…
Basil Pascali is the narrator and main character of the narrative – after all, it is clear from the title that the book is about his island or/and the action, whatever that means, takes place on the land that is his, and we see as we progress with the tale that it is at least in part his creation, given that as an informer of the sultan, he writes reports, for which he is paid alas the same meager sum for the past two decades, which keeps him hungry at times – paradoxically, given that he quite overweight, though people in poverty are more often in bad shape, obese, than the richer ones – and he admits to having less than candid, inventing things and putting on paper his impressions, the image he has of reality and even creating a parallel one, which may be what happens with the story of Anthony Bowles and his swindle…
The year is 1908 and we are on Greek island in declining days of Ottoman empire, where for 20 years plump and good humored, shabby but not without a certain dash, derided but not disliked Basil Pascali has spied on the small community sending his notes to Constantinople, where he intends to travel and see what had happened to his reports, why is it that nobody had bothered to contact him…indeed, they have acted as if he does not exist, albeit he can go to the Ottoman Bank and get his monthly pay regularly…the sinister truth is presented by Anthony Bowles at one point – this empire has been crumbling for quite some time, decades at least, and what has happened is nobody has read any of your messages…
The end of the sultan is approaching fast, the last ruler of what was once, centuries ago ta resplendent, powerful empire is now too afraid to exit his palace, he only travels to the mosque, in a covered carriage for fear of assassination and even that is cut out at the end, his Macedonian troops are gradually coming towards Constantinople, the rebellion is growing and the corruption that has been one of the main reasons for this decay will end up destroying this relic and Pascali will be left without a job, unless he finds another employer or abandons the island, as it is planned for a while until the plot changes…
Everything changes when The English Anthony Bowles lands on the island and the intrepid Pascali approaches him with the intention of making some money – our narrator has no socks, he has to take water from a pump outside his premises, and as aforementioned, he has to sip meals for despite the fact that he had asked for a raise, he receives the same amount year after year…as explained by the Englishman, what must have happened is that somebody gave the order to the bank and then forgotten about him, they just pay on account of inertia and because of the initial bank order, but otherwise nobody is connected to him anymore in the administration, which has more spies on the payroll than police and no means to keep pace with their information – and the tow establish a rapport.
However, Anthony Bowels is much closer to the painter on the island, Lydia Neuman, daughter of a rich Jewish father, very well connected – she is the one that would later give the ‘breaking news’ of the imminent collapse of the sultan, with the Macedonian troops in Constantinople and the disappearance of the sultan, locked inside his palace – and attracted to the tall, appealing Englishman…they will become so close as to share the same fate – let us not divulge what happens, unless you place a note and ask for it – Lydia is very present in the erotic dreams of Basil Pascali, who seems to be bisexual, if we consider his erotic projections connected with the artist and the regular coitus he has with a male partner on the island…or maybe they call that pansexual, demi- sexual or something else these days, when orientation of that kind is so varied as to escape my grasp…well, we can always search the net for more, but there are so many that I have abandoned the idea of keeping track
Anthony Bowles has used the corruption of the Ottoman officials to his financial advantage, giving them a lesson in the process, for he goes to them and pretends he has found precious items on the land, speculating their greed and extracting money by a ruse, which may turn nevertheless against him at one crucial, climactic moment…
February 5, 2014
Unsworth is a phenomenal writer and has a wonderful command of language and the imagery of his descriptions were excellent.
However the novel was rather meh. The protagonist is an 'anti-hero' and a lonely, sad, and tortured individual and while he displayed some moments of humor or wit, overall Pascali is not entirely likeable, so it was difficult for me to fully immerse into the story and his environment.
The novel is written as a collection of letters and unfold the narrative in the past tense. I understand why the author utilize this, but I wasn't a fan of that approach. By page 60 I realized that the entire novel was going to be written via letters.
Overall it gets 3 stars, the writing itself was excellent but the story itself was rather lacking.
However the novel was rather meh. The protagonist is an 'anti-hero' and a lonely, sad, and tortured individual and while he displayed some moments of humor or wit, overall Pascali is not entirely likeable, so it was difficult for me to fully immerse into the story and his environment.
The novel is written as a collection of letters and unfold the narrative in the past tense. I understand why the author utilize this, but I wasn't a fan of that approach. By page 60 I realized that the entire novel was going to be written via letters.
Overall it gets 3 stars, the writing itself was excellent but the story itself was rather lacking.
August 7, 2013
I mesmerized by this marvelous book! Protagonist reminds me ¨Bay Konsolos¨ character of mine...
August 14, 2023
Pascali's Island borrows the template of an unreliable narrator and then converts it into a spy novel in the setting of WW1. The prose is crafty and wordy and it keeps you invested in the fate of the characters.
Basil Pascali has been the Ottoman's spy on a greek island for 20 years. He has been receiving the same monthly payments and there is no acknowledgement for his reports and he is almost paranoid that his cover is blown. This is his last report, as he calls it, and this journal entry starts with the arrival on an Englishman Mister Bowles on the island. The charming professorial man, might be more than what he appears to be on the surface. We get introduced to the German, the caliphate's representatives and the American who are on the island.
The narrative has a hold on you to see what the not-so-likeable Pascali is upto. There are passages that talks about the changing world politics and a general sense of distrust that has set in between people. The characters of Mr.Bowles is enigmatic and you almost feel sorry for Pascali for standing no-chance for his wile.
The ending, though predictable, might still surprise a few. An old-world novel that relies on words to entice.
Basil Pascali has been the Ottoman's spy on a greek island for 20 years. He has been receiving the same monthly payments and there is no acknowledgement for his reports and he is almost paranoid that his cover is blown. This is his last report, as he calls it, and this journal entry starts with the arrival on an Englishman Mister Bowles on the island. The charming professorial man, might be more than what he appears to be on the surface. We get introduced to the German, the caliphate's representatives and the American who are on the island.
The narrative has a hold on you to see what the not-so-likeable Pascali is upto. There are passages that talks about the changing world politics and a general sense of distrust that has set in between people. The characters of Mr.Bowles is enigmatic and you almost feel sorry for Pascali for standing no-chance for his wile.
The ending, though predictable, might still surprise a few. An old-world novel that relies on words to entice.
September 18, 2021
It is one of these rare cases where the film is better than the novel. Don't misunderstand me: I love Barry Unsworth, have enjoyed reading his books (with the exception of "Sugar and Rum"). However, Ben Kingsley in the film makes Pascali a likeable character whom I felt I could understand, but in the novel I was confused as to what he really wanted and what motivated him.
The novel takes us to one of Unsworth's pet themes: the last years of the Ottoman Empire. The titular island could be anywhere in the Aegean, the year is 1908, the empire is dying. It is unfortunate that the author has made Pascali the narrator. I have no patience for Pascali, for his worthy prose, for his reverence of the Sultan. Instead I would like to know more of his earlier days: why is he alone and friendless?
Not sure I would recommend this novel, but do read Unsworth's "The Rage of the Vulture" which is set roughly in the same period, also in Turkey and covers much more of the ground.
The novel takes us to one of Unsworth's pet themes: the last years of the Ottoman Empire. The titular island could be anywhere in the Aegean, the year is 1908, the empire is dying. It is unfortunate that the author has made Pascali the narrator. I have no patience for Pascali, for his worthy prose, for his reverence of the Sultan. Instead I would like to know more of his earlier days: why is he alone and friendless?
Not sure I would recommend this novel, but do read Unsworth's "The Rage of the Vulture" which is set roughly in the same period, also in Turkey and covers much more of the ground.
December 20, 2022
In realtà avrei voluto vedere la trasposizione cinematografica di questo libro, in cui la figura principale, quella di Pascali, appunto, è interpretata da un magistrale Ben Kingsley. Impossibile vederlo, in Italia, ho acquistato il libro e mi sono immersa nella lettura senza sapere cosa aspettarmi.
Il romanzo è ambientato su un'isola greca occupata dagli ottomani nel 1908. Pascali, agente segreto di lungo corso, invia al Sultano con metodica precisione dettagliati rapporti su quello che succede in quel remoto angolo di regno. Ma i tempi sono cambiati, i nemici latitano e Pascali, intenzionato a meritarsi il pur misero salario che arriva puntualmente ogni mese, abbellisce, arricchisce, modifica... Pascali scrive, scrive, scrive. Il libro è infatti un lunghissimo rapporto - l'ultimo - che invierà: la sua devozione, giunta probabilmente al limite, è diventata simbolica, si è cristallizzata, erodendosi con il tempo.
Ma proprio quando la fantasia è giunta al suo limite estremo, ecco sbarcare sull'isola uno strano personaggio che metterà in discussione molte delle sicurezze di Pascali.
Ammetto di aver avuto qualche difficoltà iniziale: nel momento in cui mi sono resa conto che lo stile narrativo era quello di una lunghissima lettera ho pensato che sarebbe stato pesante arrivare fino in fondo. Invece questo libro mi ha rapita, avviluppandomi con uno stile narrativo colto e ricercato e una trama insolita e molto intrigante.
Il romanzo è ambientato su un'isola greca occupata dagli ottomani nel 1908. Pascali, agente segreto di lungo corso, invia al Sultano con metodica precisione dettagliati rapporti su quello che succede in quel remoto angolo di regno. Ma i tempi sono cambiati, i nemici latitano e Pascali, intenzionato a meritarsi il pur misero salario che arriva puntualmente ogni mese, abbellisce, arricchisce, modifica... Pascali scrive, scrive, scrive. Il libro è infatti un lunghissimo rapporto - l'ultimo - che invierà: la sua devozione, giunta probabilmente al limite, è diventata simbolica, si è cristallizzata, erodendosi con il tempo.
Ma proprio quando la fantasia è giunta al suo limite estremo, ecco sbarcare sull'isola uno strano personaggio che metterà in discussione molte delle sicurezze di Pascali.
Ammetto di aver avuto qualche difficoltà iniziale: nel momento in cui mi sono resa conto che lo stile narrativo era quello di una lunghissima lettera ho pensato che sarebbe stato pesante arrivare fino in fondo. Invece questo libro mi ha rapita, avviluppandomi con uno stile narrativo colto e ricercato e una trama insolita e molto intrigante.
January 12, 2022
Pascali's Island by Barry Unsworth is a novel full of squandered potential and missed opportunities. The prose is elegant at times but easy to read. The metaphors are well placed and bring a certain visual quality to the story. The emotional description was well done in some parts but glossed over in important scenes. However, the biggest downfall for Pascali's Island is that the plot was badly organized and not fully fleshed out. Major turns in the story deserved more attention, while the less important exposition went on for too long. And the climax at the end came about with little explanation and no real reason for it. Barry Unsworth is a well-known author with 17 novels under his belt, so I can't speak for his overall writing ability. However, if I had to judge him based on Pascali's Island, I would say he has a good handle on prose but needs to work on his storytelling skills.
May 31, 2025
Set in 1908 on a remote Greek island in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, Pascali’s Island follows the increasingly paranoid musings of Basil Pascali, a minor spy who has spent years sending unread reports to Istanbul. His stagnant routine is disrupted by the arrival of a British archaeologist whose motives soon appear suspect.
Told entirely through Pascali’s own erratic and unreliable written report to the Sultan, the novel becomes a study in paranoia, betrayal, and self-deception. Pascali is a fascinating narrator: pathetic and pitiable one moment, despicable the next. His voice is intense, obsessive, and often unhinged, making for an unconventional and at times disconcerting read.
This is a short but richly layered novel, steeped in atmosphere and psychological tension.
3.5 stars
Told entirely through Pascali’s own erratic and unreliable written report to the Sultan, the novel becomes a study in paranoia, betrayal, and self-deception. Pascali is a fascinating narrator: pathetic and pitiable one moment, despicable the next. His voice is intense, obsessive, and often unhinged, making for an unconventional and at times disconcerting read.
This is a short but richly layered novel, steeped in atmosphere and psychological tension.
3.5 stars
August 20, 2021
This novel is written as a lengthy report by an informer in Greece to the Sultan of Turkey in 1908. Now that may sound boring, but it is far from it. Basil Pascali (the informer) gets involved with a scheming English archaeologist, who himself gets involved with the beautiful local painter, Lydia, whose source of income has always been a mystery. The plot and the characters are intriguing, and the descriptions of the island and the sea are lyrical. The book was adapted into a film in 1988, starring Ben Kingsley, Charles Dance and Helen Mirren, and it stayed very true to the original story. Read the book! See the movie!
June 22, 2022
Unsworth's own history mirrors that of other authors born in the 1930s like fellow novelist David Storey, or poet Tony Harrison. The first two were the sons of coal-miners, and the latter of a baker, and all were 'winners' (with inverted commas the authors themselves might have added) in the Grammar school system of the era. Of the three (based on my very partial reading of all to date) Unsworth's work pays least attention to his own roots, but they nevertheless anchor 'Pascali's Island' close to the country of Greece where he himself lived. Likewise, it betrays a keen sensitivity to differentials in status, which if hardly unique in 1970s and 1980s literature, again aligns him alongside Storey and Harrison.
'Pascali's Island' is an imaginative setting far less familiar to me than the dingy cobbled streets and lengthened vowels of the other authors' milieux. I knew relatively little about the geopolitics of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and partnered with 'The Times Book of European History' (with lots of shaded maps showing exchanges of territory) I could better understand the macro-level nationalism and nationhood that Unsworth describes on the ground. Greece, Albania, Macedonia and Turkey all formed into a more recognisable shape out of this period (1908 to 1913 and 1918). Dry geography takes on human form in Unsworth's story of the mercenary Turkish spy (Pascali), and the equally devious machinations of supposedly the civilising and modernising Brits (Bowles) and Germans (Gesing).
Unsworth genuinely transported me, and having already read his later 'Sacred Hunger' I will be picking more of his books off the shelves when I can find him.
'Pascali's Island' is an imaginative setting far less familiar to me than the dingy cobbled streets and lengthened vowels of the other authors' milieux. I knew relatively little about the geopolitics of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and partnered with 'The Times Book of European History' (with lots of shaded maps showing exchanges of territory) I could better understand the macro-level nationalism and nationhood that Unsworth describes on the ground. Greece, Albania, Macedonia and Turkey all formed into a more recognisable shape out of this period (1908 to 1913 and 1918). Dry geography takes on human form in Unsworth's story of the mercenary Turkish spy (Pascali), and the equally devious machinations of supposedly the civilising and modernising Brits (Bowles) and Germans (Gesing).
Unsworth genuinely transported me, and having already read his later 'Sacred Hunger' I will be picking more of his books off the shelves when I can find him.
December 11, 2020
I'm ambivalent about this book. On the one hand, it's a brilliant piece of imagining - telling a story on an outpost of the Ottoman empire at the beginning of the 20th century. Mr Unsworth describes the place and the characters brilliantly. Basil Pascali is a truly original character. And it's a thriller full of crosses and double-crosses. But there's something about the conversations between the men that doesn't work for me and the end is overly-melodramatic without real resolution. So I remain impressed but distanced from the book.
October 23, 2023
This is a very interesting story about a spy who has been making reports from a Greek island for 20 years with no reply. His salary arrives every month but he is financially strapped because his request for an increase in salary has gone unheeded as well. As the novel begins, in 1908, a British man arrives on the island and quickly becomes friends with the woman Pascali has been in love with for years. The story unfolds through the device of Pascali’s “reports to his employer. I’m looking forward to seeing the film soon.
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February 14, 2024This book reminds me of an early 20th century "Confederacy of Dunces." We follow Basil Pascali as he investigates the happening on his island as a spy for the Ottoman Empire. It's the dying days of the empire and the tensions that will lead to World War I are infused throughout the book. Basil is clever, resources, and possibly completely insane. He lets you know from chapter one that he's an unreliable narrator and then takes you along on quite the adventure. It's a quick and fun read that will leave you with lots to consider. Like Unsworth's other books, this is very worth the time.
August 29, 2017
1908, σε ένα νησί στο Αιγαίο που δεν κατονομάζεται ( μάλλον η Σάμος ή η Σύμη), ένας τύπος ονόματι Πασκάλι εργάζεται ως σπιούνος της ψυχορραγούσας Οθωμανικής αυτοκρατορίας. Ένας Γερμανός προσπαθεί να συνάψει κάποια εμπορική συμφωνία. Μια Γαλλοεβραία πλούσια ζωγράφος ερωτεύεται έναν Άγγλο αρχαιολόγο, που θέλει να αποσπάσει στα κρυφά ένα αρχαίο άγαλμα. Υποψήφιο για Μπούκερ το 1980, γυρίστηκε ταινία το 1988 με τον Μπεν Κίνγκσλειι στο ρόλο του Πασκάλι, την Έλεν Μίρεν στο ρόλο της ζωγράφου και τον Τσαρλς Ντανς ως Άγγλο αρχαιολόγο.
March 29, 2023
This is my second book by this author. Like with the first, the narrative is skillfully written. Most of the characters here are sleazy. In the case of the main two, one is a swindler, the other an informant. The island, like the Ottoman empire itself in 1908, is in a state of decay and upheaval.
This sordid state of betrayal ends with multiple deaths. As the author says, “wastage of persons and hopes, blankness of endurance in things.”
This sordid state of betrayal ends with multiple deaths. As the author says, “wastage of persons and hopes, blankness of endurance in things.”
August 18, 2023
More a novella than a novel. We are transported to the decadent last days of the Ottoman Empire with a mix of characters on an Aegean Island showing the cosmopolitan aspect of the Empire with Greek rebels, corrupt Turkish officials, a romantic western European Artist, a german busiman, an Irish doctor and the two main protagonists; a multi ethnic spy for the regime and an English visitor to the Island. Murder and bribery and all of the other things relating to this most corrupt society follows!
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