''Cox or, The Course of Time'' () is a 2016 novel by the Austrian writer
Christoph Ransmayr
Christoph Ransmayr (; born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer.
Life
Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...
.
Plot
The novel is set in the 18th century and revolves the English master clockmaker Alister Cox, who is invited by the
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
to come and work in the
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
, where he is given a succession of seemingly impossible requests.
The Cox character is inspired by the real inventor
James Cox. The real Cox never visited China, although the Qianlong Emperor did own one of his works.
Reception
Gisa Funck of ''
Deutschlandfunk
Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio.
History
Broadcasting in t ...
'' wrote: "In ''Cox oder Der Lauf der Zeit'', Ransmayr describes the clash between two highly different cultures. A strength of this in several respects masterful novel lies in how he tells us about the strangeness of the Chinese empire, without suppressing the local perspective."
The French translation was longlisted for the 2017
Prix Femina
The Prix Femina is a French List of literary awards, literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or Verse (poetry), verse by male ...
in the foreign novel category.
See also
*
Cox's timepiece
Cox's timepiece is a clock developed in the 1760s by James Cox (inventor), James Cox. It was developed in collaboration with John Joseph Merlin (with whom Cox also worked on developing automata). Cox claimed that his design was a true perpetual ...
References
External links
German publicity page
Seagull Books
2016 Austrian novels
Austrian historical novels
German-language novels
Novels by Christoph Ransmayr
Novels set in the 18th century
Novels set in Beijing
Novels set in the Qing dynasty
Qianlong Emperor
S. Fischer Verlag books
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