Born in 1956 in Bucharest, read throughout the world and regularly cited on the list of Nobel Prize candidates, Mircea Cartarescu is the most important contemporary Romanian writer. TheodoreHis new novel, which enjoyed great commercial and critical success in Romania, is, like each of his books, a world in itself, of infinite profusion and depth. He agreed to guide “The World of Books” through its labyrinths.
Teodoro did not exist, but you did not invent him: you discovered him, more than thirty years ago, in a letter from the Romanian statesman Ion Ghica. [1816-1897]where he wondered whether a young servant in his father’s domain might not have become Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia. [1818-1868]. Of course, this is impossible. Téwodros was born in the province of Qwara, on the border with Sudan. But then something clicked. What was his nature?
It seemed like a revelation to me. I felt shivers: this is one of the most fantastic novel themes ever, I told myself. What an exemplary and archetypal story! So many narrative possibilities! An insignificant servant from the insignificant country of Wallachia. [la principauté de Valachie, dont l’union, en 1859, avec la Moldavie, donnera naissance à la Roumanie] He has one dream, one obsession that absorbs his whole life: that of becoming emperor. And finally, at the end of grandiose, tragic, grotesque, exciting, absurd and heroic events, he succeeds in realizing his dream: he becomes Tewodros II!
I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I had written in my diary: “One day I will write the story of Theodoros. If I don’t tell it myself, no one ever will.” And then I went deeper, my diary was full of other passages on this subject, but the more time passed, the less convinced I was that I would ever really write this book. I was absorbed in the novels of my inner life, lulu [1994 ; Austral, 1995], orbiter [1996 ; Denoël, 1999] AND Solenoid [2015 ; Noir sur Blanc, 2019]which is the general mapping of my brain, and it took me a quarter of a century.
I did not find the time or the necessary conditions to devote myself to this demonstration of absolute narrative freedom that is Theodoros. I had to wait three decades for this and, when everything was mature, I dedicated two years of work to it, which condensed the most sumptuous adventure of my life.
Does this mean you have moved on and your brain mapping is complete?
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