The Cabala

by Thornton Wilder

A young American student spends a year in the exotic world of post-World War I Rome. While there, he experiences firsthand the waning days of a secret community (a "cabala") of decaying royalty, a great cardinal of the Roman Church, and an assortment of memorable American ex-pats. The Cabala, a semiautobiographical novel of unforgettable characters and human passions, launched Wilder's career as a celebrated storyteller and dramatist.

Genres: Fiction, American, Historical Fiction, Italy, Classics, Novels, Literature

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.

For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...

Reviews

[Jim Puskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a refreshing change to read something so vastly different from anything written nowadays! Yes, this book is extremely dated, totally immersed in the language and outlook of the 1920s, but that's much of its charm. And what a delightfully bizarre menagerie of improbable exotic characters Wilder has presented here! So strange and unbelievable are they that I doubt he could have just imagined them, truth being stranger than fiction. They must have really existed, if not individually, then organically, as composites -- the last remaining artifacts left behind following the destruction of empires in The Great War. Apart from their shared connection to a bygone world they each possess some unique attribute that makes them exceptional and intriguing.
Wilder draws a parallel between these displaced characters and the demise of the gods of classical antiquity, after they too were swept away by the rise of Christianity.
Wilder's wickedly satiric humour skillfully sends up the absurdities and ridiculous conceits of his protagonists, yet he does so in a kind manner, because at heart he loves them for their eccentricity and we share his sorrow at their ultimate demise.
Reading this short novel, I was struck by the fact that Wilder himself also represents a bygone era, one where an education in the classics was considered mainstream.

[Lisa of Troy]

This is a book that F. Scott Fitzgerald recommended in his College of One, a set of 40 books he considered necessary for an education: https://www.listchallenges.com/f-scot...

[Lefki Sarantinou · Rating 3 out of 5]

O Αμερικανός συγγραφέας Thordon Wilder είναι κυρίως γνωστός ως θεατρικός συγγραφέας στο ελληνικό αναγνωστικό κοινό και ιδίως από το έργο του ''Η μικρή μας πόλη". Το μυθιστορηματικό του έργο, εντούτοις, είναι επίσης αξιόλογο, όπως η "Καμπάλα" το μυθιστόρημα με τον αινιγματικό τίτλο που παραπέμπει στον μυστικισμό. Στην πραγματικότητα πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο αλληγορικό και πολυδιάστατο που διαθέτει πολύ περισσότερες διαστάσεις και προεκτάσεις απ' όσες ανιχνεύονται εκ πρώτης όψεως, όταν διαβάζει κανείς την περίληψη στο οπισθόφυλλο.
Με αυτό μεταφερόμαστε στη Ρώμη του 1926, έτος στο οποίο τοποθετείται επίσης η συγγραφή και η έκδοση του βιβλίου. Ένας νεαρός Αμερικανός, ο Σαμουέλε, βρίσκεται στην Αιώνια Πόλη νιώθοντας νοσταλγία για το παλιό αρχαιολατινικό της μεγαλείο. Εκεί θα γνωρίσει από κοντά τα μέλη μίας αινιγματικής συντροφιάς με απροσδιόριστους στόχους, την Καμπάλα. Ο Σαμουέλε θα βρεθεί στους κόλπους της, γνωρίζοντας τα άτομα που την αποτελούν, τα οποία δεν φαίνεται να έχουν, παραδόξως, μεταξύ τους και πολλά κοινά.
Πάνω σε αυτό ακριβώς δράττεται ο συγγραφέας της ευκαιρίας να μας περιγράψει αναλυτικά τα πρόσωπα της συντροφιάς αποκαλύπτοντας στον αναγνώστη τις εξαιρετικές περιγραφικές του ικανότητες και την ιδιαίτερη γραφή του: όχι μόνο την εξωτερική τους εμφάνιση, τα πιστεύω τους, τις ιδέες και τις επιρροές που έχουν διαμορφώσει την προσωπικότητά τους αλλά, κυρίως, την ξεχωριστή ιδιότητα που διαθέτουν και έχουν εξαιτίας της αυτοχριστεί μέλη της συντροφιάς. Ο Μαρκαντόνιο, η Αλίξ, η μις Γκάιερ, ο μυστηριώδης Καρδινάλιος, όλοι τους, μέλη μιας ιταλικής, γαλλικής και γερμανικής ελίτ που βρίσκεται σε παρακμή, διαθέτουν κάτι το ξεχωριστό και αποτελούν αποδέκτες ενός θεϊκού χαρίσματος που έχει μεταβιβαστεί σε αυτούς μυστηριωδώς από τους Θεούς της αρχαιότητας.
Εδώ βρίσκεται και η λύση του μυστηρίου της Καμπάλα: τα μέλη της δεν είναι παρά τα οχήματα μέσα από τα οποία επιβιώνει ο παλιός κόσμος του αρχαίου ρωμαϊκού μεγαλείου ανά τους αιώνες. Έτσι ο Σαμουέλε χαρακτηρίζεται ως νέος Ερμής, αγγελιοφόρος και ψυχοπομπός για όλους εκείνους που εγκαταλείπουν πρόωρα τον κόσμο του Μεσοπολέμου και του τέλους της Belle epoque, έναν κόσμο που μετασχηματίζεται ταχύτατα μπροστά στην αναπότρεπτη έλευση των Νέων Ιδεών. Πρόκειται επίσης για έναν κόσμο στον οποίο δεν θα είναι πρωταγωνιστής η Αιώνια Πόλη, πόλη πια παρηκμασμένη και διεφθαρμένη και η παλιά Ευρώπη, αλλά η Νέα Υόρκη, αφού στην Αμερική χτυπά πλέον ο παλμός της νέας ανερχόμενης διανόησης.
Το βιβλίο αποτελεί έναν ύμνο τόσο στην ίδια τη Ρώμη και την ιταλική ύπαιθρο με τις αρχαίες ρωμαϊκές βίλες της όπου διαδραματίζεται μεγάλο μέρος του βιβλίου, όσο και σε όλο το φάσμα της ανθρώπινης πνευματικής δημιουργίας, αφού τα γράμματά του χορεύουν υπό τους ήχους σπουδαίων συνθετών και τρανοί ζωγράφοι ζωντανεύουν με τα χρώματά τους τις σελίδες του. Ακόμη, διάσπαρτες σε όλο το κείμενο είναι οι αναφορές σε μεγάλους σύγχρονους λογοτέχνες, αλλά και σε αρχαίους Έλληνες και Λατίνους συγγραφείς, όπως ο Όμηρος και ο Βιργίλιος, αποκαλύπτοντας την καλή γνώση για τον αρχαίο κόσμο που διαθέτει ο Wilder.
Τα μέλη της συντροφιάς μιλούν, αλληλεπιδρούν, διαπληκτίζονται, φιλιώνουν, γλεντούν μέχρι το πικρό τέλος, το λυκόφως των θεών, τότε που η αυλαία γι' αυτούς θα πέσει οριστικά. Ο συγγραφέας όμως δεν αφήνει τον αναγνώστη να νιώσει πικρία γι' αυτό το τέλος και την αναπότρεπτη παρακμή, παρά μόνο ελπίδα για ένα νέο ξεκίνημα, για την αφετηρία της νέας διανόησης, η οποία θα εξακολουθήσει όμως να δρα υπό την επήρεια της αρχαιοελληνικής και λατινικής γραμματείας στο πέρασμα των αιώνων.
Τόσο η γραφή, κομψή, στιβαρή, με γλαφυρές περιγραφές, φορέας μιας πληθώρας ιδεών, όσο και η θεματική του, δείχνουν τη βαθιά καλλιέργεια του συγγραφέα και την αγάπη του για τους Λατίνους και την Αιώνια Πόλη. H "Καμπάλα" είναι ένα βιβλίο ατμοσφαιρικό, τρυφερό και ενίοτε όμορφα μελαγχολικό, το οποίο αποκαλύπτει και εξυμνεί τις πτυχές του ανθρώπινου πνεύματος σε όλες τις διαστάσεις του.

[Grady Ormsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cabala by Thornton Wilder is set in Rome in the early 1920’s and is a story that centers on of a group of “Fierce intellectual snobs” who are “very rich and influential.” Thornton divided the novel into Five Books. The first is “First Encounters” in which the characters are introduced by James Blair, a young American scholar and friend of the narrator, known only as Samuele. Among the cabalists there is Miss Elizabeth Grier, wealthy American spinster; Her Highness Leda Matilda Colonna Duchessa d’Aquilanera (The Black Queen) and her troubled son, Marcantonio; French Princess Alix d’Espoli; fanatically devout Mlle. Astree-Luce de Monfontaine; and the wise Cardinal Vaine, former missionary promoted to the heights of Vatican administration. There is even a cameo appearance, one hundred years out of sync, of poet John Keats. Book Two “Marcantonio” is a tale of a desperate young man, his sexual confusions and the attempted intervention by his mother. Book Three “Alix” focuses on the loneliness of the French Princess and her desperate search for escape from isolation. Book Four “Austree-Luce and The Cardinal’ is a religious sermon/debate about faith and the power of prayer that suddenly changes into a potentially deadly showdown. Book Five “The Dusk of the Gods” is a dreamlike visitation in which Elizabeth Grier projects the characters of the cabala into a classical background each portrayed as a pagan god or goddess. The narrator is visited by Virgil, Prince of Poets, who evokes Milton and Shakespeare
As one might guess, not much happens in The Cabala. It is a novel of characterization not of plot. It is also a display of exceptionally good writing. Wilder provides the reader with realism accompanied by splash of fantasy. Wilder is a literary stylist who uses precisely detailed descriptions, elaborate similes and a wide array of classical and artistic allusions. The aristocratic members of the Cabala are certainly well-versed in religion, art, music and literature. On every level The Cabala is intellectual, academic and erudite, without being pompous or condescending.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilder’s first novel, the story of a young American writer in Rome in the early 1920s. While the plot is slight, the series of character studies of the set of people he comes to know are masterfully brought to life. At times he’s a bit heavy-handed with the “naive but commonsensical Protestant democratic American in the midst of slightly decadent and occasionally insane upper-class Europeans” story line, but this is still a very enjoyable read.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg

3* The Bridge of San Luis Rey
3* The Eighty Day
3* The cabala

I made the proofing of this book for Free Literature and Project Gutenberg will publish it.

Book One: First Encounters

Book Two: Marcantonio

Book Three: Alix

Book Four: Astree-Luce and the Cardinal

Book Five: The Dusk of the Gods

[Katerina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Глупейший, но обаятельный дебютный роман очень молодого и очень наивного Торнтона Уайлдера))
С новой силой заскучала по Риму.

[J. Alfred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ironic and self-ironic, unapologetically literary, urbane and heady. Reads, for the most part, like Woolf or Forster, occasionally reaching wry delights: "When the bourgeoisie discovered that she was accepting invitations there was a tumult as of many waters."
This is a book where you get the feeling that the trees, as it were, are more important than the forest. And then, after weaving this glittering verbal spell, the story pounces from behind it and flexes: does things that I not only haven't seen done but still can't imagine being done in serious literature.
This is absolutely a hidden gem of American lit.
I think you should read it and see what I mean.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this thirty years ago and enjoyed it much more this time. Wilder was a master.

[Daniel Rosler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cow. What an amazing writer.

[Adam Carrico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilder really loves to craft exquisitely kooky characters, huh.

It felt like a series of interconnected short stories as opposed to one cohesive narrative. I loved the Astrée-Luce and the Cardinal chapter.

[Ian D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Εξαιρετικά χαριτωμένο, κυρίως γιατί μου θύμισε μια πέρλα λαϊκής σοφίας του τόπου μου που λέει Η προξενήτρα η ανύπαντρη για πάρτη τζης γυρεύγει.

[Erik Graff · Rating 1 out of 5]

It must have been the influence of high school where we were required to read Our Town and The Bridge of San Luis Rey that gave me the idea that familiarity with Wilder was necessary for a liberal education. In any case, I went on to read his Ides of March, and wasn't impressed, and The Cabala, and was even less impressed.

[Old Man JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneventful and plotless but beautifully written story of a young American who is befriended by a group of well-to-do socialites in 1920's Rome. It was Wilders first book and hinted at the enormous talent that he would demonstrate in his later writings.

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Gloom at the Top"

A polite New Englander somehow penetrates a top hat society of aristocrats, pale poets and princesses, and Cardinals in Rome, who are really hapless, caught forever in the coils of wealth and privilege, able to escape daily toil, but not vacuity. They are rather ironically known as the Cabala. [*Note: this book has nothing to do with Jewish mysticism. Nothing!] Our narrator describes a series of Cabala members individually and we learn how they are connected.. Having money is tough, you know. You wind up having to keep the hoi polloi away from the gates. But they still might get in. So best bring back kings, divine right, and the Almighty Church. How are you going to do that? Don't let "them" catch wind of it. Well, you might form a secret group of the "best people" (i.e. richest and most conservative) and talk incessantly, so seriously unserious. Whether they have really created such a group is doubtful. The word "cabala" ties them together in our imaginations.

THE CABALA was Wilder's first novel. It shows promise, but it shows. He went on to become a most worthy novelist and playwright. It is full of wryly humorous, ironic portraits of this group or cabal of mostly non-Italian socialites while vaguely admiring of their physical surroundings---the palaces, the villas, the accoutrements. I wouldn't call this the best novel I've ever read, but it is a fairly charming period piece from a time that was already over when it was written.

[Svetlana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Слава Богу, что книжка оказалась короткой. От такого названия я ожидала повествования, если и не об учении каббалы, то хотя бы нечто типа «Маятника Фуко» Эко. Но это вообще не понятно что – что-то типа непутевых заметок Уайлдера о путешествии в Италию и встречи с некоторыми людьми.

Вообще странная книга – он говорит о группе людей, которые объединены между собой неким принципом таинственности, общего презрения к людям, чем-то еще непонятным. В итоге эти люди оказываются просто представителями бомонда, у которых много-много денег, и которым не интересно прожигать свою жизнь как остальным богачам. И они ведут «интеллектуальные» разговоры – причем ни одной интересной для меня мысли на страницах книги я так и не обнаружила. Каждая из глав посвящена какому-то одному члену каббалы. В последней делается попытка объяснить, что это в конечном итоге такое. Оказывается, с приходом христианства древние боги не умерли, а стали вселяться в людей. И так они и бродят по свету.
Да, еще была интересная фраза, которой, я думаю, будет достойным ответом Егоровского «Вот она, королева вкуса, шарма и обаяния!».
«Eccolo, questo figliolo di Vitman, di Poe, di Vilson, di Gugliemo James -- di Emerson, che dico!» И по-русски: «Вот он, этот сын Уитмена, По, Уилсона, Уильямса Джеймса -- что я говорю -- Эмерсона!». Мило )

[Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I re-read Thornton Wilder's first novel, The Cabala, for the Thornton Wilder Society Zoom reading and discussion series (basically a Thornton Wilder book/play club). I first read it 10 years ago, and at that point had only read a couple of Wilder's novels: The Bridge of San Luis Rey and The Eighth Day. It did have some similarities to The Bridge of San Luis Rey but now that I have read all Wilder's novels I realize it compares most to his final novel, Theophilus North. After the narrator meets the members of the Cabala, most of the chapters are him helping out various members with family members or unfortunate situations, which is what also happens in Theophilus North, though in Rhode Island, not Italy. I do like this book, even though it's very much a first novel, but my big issue with it is that it functions like a television pilot. The last chapter is a big twist/reveal, which makes you go, OH MY GOD! I SEE WHAT'S GOING ON HERE! And it makes me want to watch the next episode. But there is no next episode. I won't give anything else away, but if you are a fan of Wilder's more well-known work, The Cabala is a great book to check out and understand his origins.

[G.E.M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s unusual to read an author’s first and rather unknown work before the stories that made him famous. But after coming across this at a thrift store, I decided to try reading Thornton Wilder’s books in the order he wrote them.

The Cabala tells the story of an American student who travels to Rome where he becomes familiar with the titular social group.

The narrator, whose name I cannot remember, interacts with four fascinating figures of the Cabala, each struggling with their own dissatisfaction in love or religion. The outcomes are rather depressing, and the narrator comes across as cold and unhelpful.

The worst part is the ending chapter, which while an unexpected bending of genres, ruins every theme and makes the story meaningless in my eyes. Also, Wilder does not use quotation marks, which is one of my literary pet peeves.

It’s been years since I read The Great Gatsby, but this felt familiar with the distant narrator who is witness to the chaos and sadness of the upper class. This was published a year after Fitzgerald’s novel, which makes me wonder if Wilder was inspired or if they were both struck by the search for meaning that followed WWI.

[Scot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was curious what Thorton Wilder's first novel would be like. This before he got famous with The Bridge of San Luis Rey, which I read way back in ninth grade, or his memorable play Our Town, which I read in ninth. Those were two very different books yet they entertained with detail in language and the provoking of philosophical musings. And we see some of that here in this semi-autobiographical portrait of a small group of conservative monarchist types gathered in Rome, representatives of an earlier and clearly disappearing age, seen from the perspective of an impressionable young American expat, clearly based on Wilder himself.

He is a bit full of himself here, and sometimes the urge to show off with purple prose gets the better of him, but at other times, I have to tell you, the language soars, and there are wonderful plays of word choice in details and flourishes of Classical or literary references on point and instructive, the likes of which you won't see in contemporary writing.

[alex angelosanto · Rating 2 out of 5]

don't get me wrong, there are glimmers of Wilder's delicate, heartbreaking sensibilities in these pages especially in the final chapter, but this is one of the most "first novel" novels I've come across. It's completely in a time out of joint. It's a book in love with Henry James's Italian adventures, but also trying to shed its ornamentation. A fumbling, self-conscious love face forward and backward across two centuries not long after the cataclysm of the great war shuttered the 19th century for good. And so the spectator of modernism looms large in this text, to the point where proust and joyce even get name-dropped, but it's reactive and anxious. Flashes of the Pound's "make it new" are here and there, but they're all second-hand. When Thornton brings in the old, he tries to make it seem new, and when he tries to be new, it's already been done.

There's deep feeling here, but not on a sturdy foundation. Thankfully, for Wilder and us, that would come not too long after this.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up randomly at the used bookstore and loved it. The synopsis on the edition I bought is not even close, but in a good way. Basically, you get a very Great Gatsby feeling narration from an American in Rome in the '20s, dealing with wealthy members of the "Cabala." These are members of powerful families who formerly ruled the region pre-enlightenment. They still think they have the means to place a Holy Roman Catholic Emperor by their influence. But they do not...

Told as three short stories, each focused on one character interaction, it's beautiful and thoughtful prose that flips the idea of powerful secret societies on its head. It's deep and often unintentionally or darkly humorous. Very thought provoking with many religious themes.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Affluenza is defined as the negative psychological or behavioral effects of having or pursuing wealth, per dictionary.com. This story excellently demonstrates that concept, as it explores the lives of a group of individuals whose wealth has insulated them from the world, while convincing them that it's their job to run the world.The exploration of the idea is absorbing, especially given the "contemporary" post-WWI setting, which allows a 21st century reader to see outcomes that the author (and characters) could not.

[Rajie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book felt like it was 800 pages long. I struggled to pick it up and it left me a bit slumpy. It doesn't really have much of a plot, nor does it have very interesting or engaging characters. The language is good at times but I felt it too over the top for me. The lack of quotation marks was infuriating and it was very difficult to get through. I found no part of this book enjoyable and only finished it because I convinced myself that DNFing a 150 page book was borderline pathetic. Silly, silly me.

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I listened to an audio version, and may not have been as sensitive to style. But there were plot developments that weren't credible, and others that seemed to peter out into nothing. With one exception, I didn't quite get the feeling the members of the Cabala were grand or fascinating characters. The cardinal's story was interesting and a bit more memorable than that of the others.

[Brenda B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent read, but not extraordinary

[Hryuh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Очередная книжка про европейскую аристократию и её страдашки... Но написано живенько.

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The words glide across the page effortlessly and fantastically. The book is a drama, an absurdity, a fantasy. I could reread this in one day.

[J.A.]

Always interesting to go back and visit debut books from prized authors, and inside this one you can already see The Bridge of San Luis Rey forming.

[Raül De Tena · Rating 3 out of 5]

El choque inicial es poderoso: lo más natural es que el lector llegue a “La Cábala” (editada ahora en nuestro país por Automática) esperando un relato misterioso que, a través de la figura protagónica del recién llegado, vaya desvelado poco a poco las luces y las sombras de esta organización secreta, tan similiar a los Masones pero en versión europeísta. Sorprendentemente, Thornton Wilder aniquila completamente el misterio en las primeras páginas, dejando al descubierto qué es exactamente la Cábala“: “Los imagino así, ¿has oído algo acerca de los científicos que trabajan en Australia y llegan a regiones donde los animales y las plantas dejaron de evolucionar eras atrás? Encuentran un reducto de tiempo arcaico en mitad del mundo que ha avanzado mucho más allá. Bueno, la Cábala debe ser algo parecido a esto. Aquí tenemos a un grupo de gente perdiendo el sueño por un sinfín de ideas que el resto del mundo superó hace siglos: la prioridad de una duquesa para cruzar una puerta antes que otra; el orden de ls palabras en un dogma de la Iglesia; la designación de los reyes por gracia de Dios, especialmente en el caso de los Borbones. Siguen estando profundamente apasionados por cuestiones que el resto de nosotros vemos como elementos más bien propios de anticuarios“.

A la mierda con el misterio y, sobre todo, con la fascinación del lector: desde un buen principio, Wilder presenta la Cábala como algo anacrónico… Y, aun así, es incapaz de extirpar en el lector el deseo primitivo de saber más, de ser seducido de la misma forma en la que el protagonista es seducido por esta “organización” (entrecomillada) que le abraza como un miembro más y que empieza a exhibir en su presencia todo un conjunto de miserias que parecen llegadas de otros siglos. La estructura de “La Cábala” va clarificándose poco a poco: Thornton Wilder podría haber optado por bordar un relato de viaje a la forma de E.M. Forster, en la que el protagonista se ve inmerso en una trama narrativa en la que el principal peso recae sobre su condición de turista en una ciudad extranjera (en este caso, una Roma magnánima).

Pero la intención de Wilder nunca es establecer una trama narrativa única con una presentación, un nudo y un desenlace: por el contrario, “La Cábala” pronto se estructura de forma capitular, de tal forma que cada capítulo se corresponde a un miembro de la Cábala y a su cantar de gesta particular. Al principio, el protagonista cae en el epicentro de una extraña situación cuando uno de los pilares de la organización, una vieja dama preocupada por la preservación de una moral anticuada, le pide que aleccione a su hijo para que este deje de comportarse como un Casanova del montón que va saltando de mujer a mujer, de relación sexual a relación sexual. Una vez cerrado (dramáticamente) este episodio, el protagonista se verá envuelto en una historia de amor no correspondida en la que otra dama, no tan vieja en esta ocasión, verá cómo sus propias emociones le desgarran por dentro hasta hacerle perder la razón. Y, finalmente, el último tramo del libro se ve ocupado por la lucha de contrarios entre una beata integrista y un obispo que sabe que para ser virtuoso en la religión antes has de conocer el pecado de primera mano.

La lucha entre sexo y moral, entre amor y razón, entre la fe y sus múltiples claroscuros… “La Cábala” muestra todo un conjunto de luchas de contrarios que se circunscriben perfectamente al entorno greco-romano clásico en el que se desarrolla toda la acción. Y, precisamente cuando el lector haya abandonado cualquier atisbo de fascinación hacia la Cábala, cuando haya sucumbido ante la idea de que en esta organización hay poco misterio y mucho anquilosamiento intelectual, Thornton Wilder le da un magistral vuelco a su novela en un sublime retruécano a modo de conversación final que fulmina al lector gracias a una elocuencia fantástica que te obliga a pensar que, al fin y al cabo, Roma no sólo fue hogar de Dioses, sino que estos mismos Dioses siempre fueron una efectiva metáfora de la misma lucha de contrarios en la que la Cábala parece inmersa ad infinitum.

[Tim Callicutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stronger read than I remember. Wilder comes out of the gate strong in terms of talent. The writing remains beautiful and the characters fascinating. However the story is more or less non-existent and the various streams that he pursues are uninteresting.