Oliver VII is a novel by Antal Szerb. Originally published in 1942, the book's first English translation was published in 2007. In the book, the restless ruler of an obscure Central European state plots a coup against himself and escapes to Venice in search of ‘real’ experience. There he falls in with a team of con men and ends up, to his own surprise, impersonating himself. His journey through successive levels of illusion and reality teaches him much about the world, about his own nature and the paradoxes of the human condition.
Translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix, ISBN 978-1-901285-79-6 and ISBN 978-1-901285-90-1 for the reprint edition
Famous quotes containing the words oliver and/or vii:
““A man,” said Oliver Cromwell, “never rises so high as when he knows not whither he is going.” Dreams and drunkenness, the use of opium and alcohol are the semblance and counterfeit of this oracular genius, and hence their dangerous attraction for men. For the like reason they ask the aid of wild passions, as in gaming and war, to ape in some manner these flames and generosities of the heart.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”
—Pope Gregory VII (c. 1020–1085)