Can an epic poem build a world of freedom while the real world outside crumbles under a dictatorship?

The Levant is Mircea Cărtărescu’s dazzling postmodern epic, written between 1987 and 1989 during the final, suffocating years of the Ceaușescu regime. Composed on a kitchen corner while rocking his baby daughter’s stroller, Cărtărescu crafted a universe of twelve cantos that serves as a history of Romanian literature disguised as an adventure story.

Blending pirates, tyrants, and revolutionaries with a dizzying array of poetic styles, the narrative creates a self-sufficient world of intrigue, love, and politics. As the author wrote the final lines with his ear glued to Radio Free Europe, the fictional revolution within the poem began to mirror the real revolution about to erupt in the streets. It is a masterpiece of linguistic virtuosity and a testament to the freedom of the imagination.