Þessi saga hefur verið lofuð í hástert en átti því miður ekki upp á pallborðið hjá mér. Segir frá leit ungs manns að skáldinu Óvíð. Sögusviðið er við Svartahaf en Rómaveldi er enn við lýði á 20. öld. Vegna ritskoðunar hefur Óvíð verið hrakinn í útlegð. Nöturlegur heimur og annarlegur og fyrir bregður reglulega persónum úr goðsögulegum og bókmenntalegum sögnum. Þetta er eiginlega saga sem þarf að lesa oftar en einu sinni og melta vel en hafði bara ekki þolinmæði né nennu til þess. ( )

Der Römer Cotta reist nach Tomi am Schwarzen Meer um dort den verbannten Dichter Publius Ovidius Naso und dessen Lebenswerk, die Metamorphosen, zu suchen. Doch während Naso verschollen bleibt, verändert sich Cotta und Tomi auf sagenhaft bizarre Weise.

Das Tomi Ransmayers wird bevölkert mit Gestalten der griechischen Mythologie, die er aus Ovids Metamorphosen entlehnt hat. Doch das Tomi im Buch ist nicht das historische Tomi und auch seine Bewohner sind nicht ident mit den ovidianischen Helden des literarischen Vorbilds der Metamorphosen. Wie bei Ransmayer üblich, verschwimmt Fiktion und Wirklichkeit, in diesem Werk sogar auf mehreren Ebenen. Bewuste Anachronismen und historische Verfälschungen beleben das Werk ebenso wie die Vermenschlichung der mythologischen Figuren und deren Konzentration auf eine kleine Stadt am Schwarzen Meer am äußersten Rand des römischen Imperiums.

Ransmayer hat ein bizarres und schwer enträtselbares Kunstwerk geschaffen, welches alles andere als leicht lesbar ist und phasenweise auch sehr ermattet. ( )

A traveller from Rome arrives in a small port on the Black Sea coast, in search of the great poet Naso, who has been exiled there by the Emperor, and is now rumoured to have died. But this isn't Augustan Rome as we know it - or at least not unless Roman historians were keeping very quiet about things like bus stops, P.A. systems and cinema projectors. And there seems to be something oddly familiar about the names and stories of the butcher Tereus and his wife Procne, the carpet-weaver Arachne, the shopkeeper Fama, the ropemaker Lycaon, and the rest of the local inhabitants. Could it be that Naso's great lost book has embedded itself into the structure of the world itself?

A clever, interesting, and rather strange book, but a satisfying and thought-provoking (even prescient) one as well. Lots to reflect on about the power of great narrative and the problems of climate-change, populism, authoritarian government, anarchy, refugees, etc. And a very useful reference section at the back for those who can't keep track of every single character in Ovid and what happened to them. ( )

Also wie dieses Buch jemals irgendwer gut finden kann, versteh ich nicht. Angeblich war's ja auch ein riesen Hit in den 80igern? Da wär eine Zeitmaschine ganz praktisch für eine Erklärung.

Bücher die von einem erwarten, dass man zuerst ein anderes Buch (Ovid - Metamorphosis) gelesen hat um blöde Andeutungen zu verstehen, sind ja wohl der letzte Dreck. Das könnte übrigens der neue Titel fürs Buch sein "der letzte Dreck".

Ich les lieber was anderes, besseres. ( )

I very much enjoyed Christoph Ransmayr's novel" The Last World: A novel with an Ovidian Repeatory." The language alone is just so spot-on beautiful -- and the story itself is simple, but with so many layers, built on the theme of transformation. It's a lovely work.

The story centers on Cotta, who travels to the Black Sea on the hunt for Ovid (called Naso here) after he was banished from Rome for insulting the emperor. Cotta is hoping to find a copy of "Metamorphoses," believing Ovid burned it before being exiled.

The book is populated by many characters from "Metamorphoses" who are transformed into something not quite the same as they were in the original work. Ransmayr paints lovely images and scenes that I think will stick with me for a long time. This is definitely one of those books that begs to be reread for all of the threads that were missed the first time -- and I will have no trouble revisiting this one in the future. ( )