Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants

Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants

First edition (French)
Author	Mathias Énard
Original title	Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d'éléphants
Translator	Charlotte Mandell
Publisher	Actes Sud
Publication date	2010
Published in English	2018

Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants (originally Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d'éléphants) is a 2010 novel by French writer Mathias Énard, translated into English by Charlotte Mandell. It was awarded the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens that same year. The translation of the novel into English was published in 2018 by New Directions.

Synopsis[]

The novel details the trip that Michelangelo made in May 1506 to Constantinople at the request of Sultan Bajazet II, who invited him to abandon the work of the tomb of Pope Julius II in order to instead design a bridge on the Golden Horn, an arm of the sea that separates the Constantinople from the district of Pera, on the Bosphorus.

Reception[]

Julie Étienne, for Le Monde, wrote that the novel is "solemn and graceful at the same time [...] even if it happens to graze preciousness, and doesn't always avoid somewhat stiff lyricism and symbolism."^[1] Writing for The New Yorker, Julian Lucas praised the quality of the translation by Mandell.^[2]

According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the English translation of the novel received mostly positive reviews.^[3]

References[]

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