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Balthasar's Odyssey
''Balthasar's Odyssey'' (french: Le Périple de Baldassare) is a 2000 in literature, 2000 novel by Amin Maalouf set in 17th century Europe and the Levant. Originally written in French, it was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2004. The plot concerns the journey of a Genoa, Genoese librarian living in the town of Gibelet (Byblos in Lebanon) named Balthasar who seeks a sacred book ''The Hundredth Name'' that is said to contain the unknown and sacred name of God, whose knowledge seems to be the answer for the salvation of souls at Eschatology, Doomsday in the apocalyptic year of 1666. During his trip, Balthasar travels through the Ottoman Empire, to Italy, and London, while experiencing a myriad of problems due to the accursed book. Plot Before the dawn of the apocalyptic 'Year of the Beast' in 1666, Balthasar Embriaco, a Levantine merchant, sets out on an adventure that will take him across the breadth of the civilised world from Constantinople, through th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Bray
Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic. Early life Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her parents had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was also a translator), she was educated at Girton College, Cambridge, where she read English, with papers in French and Italian and gained a First. She married John Bray, an Australian-born RAF pilot, after the couple graduated from Cambridge, and had two daughters, Francesca and Julia Bray, Julia. In 1958, Bray's husband died in an accident in Cyprus. Career Bray became a script editor in 1953 for the BBC Third Programme, commissioning and translating European 20th-century avant-garde writing for the network. Harold Pinter wrote some of his earliest work at Bray's insistence. From about 1961, Bray lived in Paris and established a career as a translator and critic. She translated the correspondence of George Sand, and work by leading French-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |