Little Infamies Book

The world that Panos Karzenis takes us into in Little Infamies is that of an obscure Greek village. As we are introduced to the quirky inhabitants--the barber, the priest, the prostitute, the doctor, the mayor and the seamstress, we are granted insights into the lives of a series of strongly involving characters, and we are drawn ever deeper into a vividly realised society. But Panos Karnezis is like the magician who distracts us with his left hand while performing sleight-of-hand with his right. In fact, the village here is a strange and magical place: other inhabitants include the occasional animal: a parrot that can recite Homer, a horse called History--even a centaur. All these strange lives intersect, and in such a cloistered village, few secrets are kept hidden for long. Everybody learns about the eponymous little infamies that the human race commits. This evocative and idiosyncratic book is a singular achievement for its insightful author. Perhaps the shadow of Borges is at the author's elbow (as well as a shot of Marquez's magic realism), but these creations are very much his own. We turn each page of Little Infamies agog, constantly diverted by the contrary actions of the characters here. But Karnezis is fully aware that to weave his spell with maximum power, it is always necessary to remain plausible--we always need that grittiness to anchor us in reality. And the nameless Greek village here comes to feel like a place we could walk the streets of, if we just knew where it was. But here it is, in the pages of this remarkable book. The journey is well worthwhile. --Barry ForshawRead More