Word: alem
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Mahboobul Alem San Jose, California...
...novel's hero, Mark-Alem, is a member of an elite family within an imagined later-day Ottoman Empire. As a Quprili, he is given the special opportunity of working at the secret Palace of Dreams, known to all as the Tabir Sarrail. The palace functions as a "pillar of the state." Here the dreams of all of the citizens of the empire are brought and interpreted, in the hopes of finding within them a "signal [sent] to the earth" by Allah. Omens in the forms of dreams are sought because "the interpretation of that dream, fallen like a stray...
...process of understanding what dreams represent and what import their meanings may have upon life is the major practical and philosophical question that Mark-Alem must face. Yet as he attempts to evaluate this unreal world, he slowly drifts away from the one he had been a part of. "How tedious, grasping, and confined this world seemed in comparison with the one he now served," he reflects on his first day off. Here Kadare explores not only the immense, controlling structure of the state, but also its influence on those who participate in it, conscious of their collaboration. And although...
...Mark-Alem digs deeper into the history and subconscious of the nation through its dreams of the past several centuries, he uncovers a strong personal and historical connection with the fate of his country and native land, Albania. One night at a dinner with his family he hears for the first time his family's legendary epic song. He is struck by how the "words and voice alike might as easily have come from the mouth of dead as of the living." The music of the strange boxlike instrument the musicians carry is akin to "the hollow...inside...