The newest (2000) from the internationally renowned Albanian author of Elegy for Kosovo (2000) and The Three-Arched Bridge (1998) consists of two separate, very unequal stories. The better by far is a folktale of enchantment and transformation—the story of a girl “punished” by being given in marriage to a snake—that resembles a story out of Arabian Nights and is as spare and haunting as anything Kadare has ever written. The narrative that encloses it presents the increasingly tedious reflections on art and politics indulged by conflicted young painter Mark Gurabardhi. He’s an earnest and impassioned rebel against Communist (in fact, all) authority; unfortunately, he’s also a lot less interesting than the serpent and its bride.
