Avalovara
by Osman Lins
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At a glance:
- Author: Osman Lins
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Plot: Existential quest
- Time of Work: 200 , 1908-1940, and 1938-1970
- Setting: Pompeii, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, England, São Paulo, Recife, and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
- Characters: Abel, Anneliese Roos, Cecilia, >O<, Publius Ubonius, Loreius, Julius Heckethorn, Olavo Hayano
- Genres: Long fiction, Existential literature, Novel
- Subjects: Philosophy or philosophers, France or French people, Sex or sexuality, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, England or English people, Brazil or Brazilians, Mysticism, Italy or Italians, Clocks or watches, Germany or German people, Greek or Roman times, Netherlands or Dutch people, Space and time
- Locales: France, Europe, England, Brazil, Germany, Italy, South America, Netherlands, Pompeii, São Paulo, Brazil, United Kingdom
The Novel
The structure of Osman Lins’s Avalovara is at once astonishingly complex and altogether transparent. The sequence of events is predetermined by a geometric design which appears before the first page of text, consisting of a Latin palindrome of five five-letter words with a spiral superimposed on it. To visualize this palindrome here, draw a large square subdivided into twenty-five smaller squares—five across and five down. In the first row of squares place the letters S-A-T-O-R; in the second, A-R-E-P-O; in the third, T-E-N-E-T; in the fourth, O-P-E-R-A;...
(The entire page is 2222 words.)
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