librarytart

Abidi, Azhar ~ Passarola Rising

When I selected this book I thought
I am more shallow and distracted by pretty shiny things than I thought – the cover’s curious flying ship and graduated hues of blue from sapphire to turquoise to faded sky had me gripping the book for grim life in case another bower bird tried to steal it from my clutches.

50-word description
Set in 18^th-century Portugal, a clever, head-in-the-clouds man designs a flying ship and encourages his adventurous but aimless younger brother to join him on a great adventure. Their endeavours are supported by forward-thinking monarchs and thwarted by a cranky cardinal, who takes extreme steps to end the ungodly nature of manned flight.

(More than) 150-word review
Abidi took on a bold challenge to re-invent the lives of two historical figures, Bartolomeu and Alexandre Lourenco, and take to the skies Francesco Lana-Terzi’s 17^th-century plans of a flying machine called the Passarola.

A dose of faith is needed to believe the clunky-looking airship on the book’s cover can fly and navigate successfully from Portugal to far-flung places such as France, the North Pole and India. The dilemma faced by fantasies based on real life is the inherent promise to entertain and educate and my inner historian kept asking if the airship could indeed fly (no, according to the author’s research — sorry) and checking if other characters borrowed from history – such as Voltaire – were authentic of the period.

The story is narrated by Alexandre recounting his life’s journey with a tinge of regret. He recalls events clearly but doesn’t reflect meaningfully (I’m unsure if this is a ‘telling more than showing’ style of the author or the deliberate voice of a directionless man). The book would have been markedly different (and perhaps even more lively) if the story was told by daredevil priest Bartolomeu.

The book skims several premises – including science, politics and the influence of religion– and feels torn between being a rollicking adventure or philosophical journey. Abidi is skilled and imaginative enough to master both between the covers but tries to please everyone. Passarola Rising is a wonderful story in its own right but should have been allowed to bloom more ambitiously.

azhar abidi ~ passarola rising

Found in
Fiction A

Borrowed
Oct 08

Author’s link:
The book’s blog

Rating
Worthwhile

This is book 4 of the project.