'Contemplative' SciFi recommendation

[Daniel Hetberg]

Hi all.

I just read somewhere that one of my favorites has been translated to english, and I want to recommend it: The Carpet Makers by german author Andreas Eschbach.

It's somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories, in that the chapters play in a consistent world and mostly one plot is followed, but sometimes a small tangent is elevated to a whole chapter. All in all it's a very relaxed read, little to no 'high action' scenes, but I found it quite stirring emotionally.

The Carpet Makers starts out on a dusty planet where the caste of the same name spend their whole lives in creating a single carpet, made from the hair of their wives and daughters. These carpets are sold to merchants for enough money to last the entire life time of their first born sons, who in turn become carpet makers. The carpets are taken to the palace of the galactic emperor, where these sublime works of art are exhibited alongside similarly sublime creations of all thinkable professions from all the other inhabited planets of the empire, as a praise to the emperor.

Then a stranger arrives who claims the emperor is dead...

 

[iansales]

It was published in English a few years ago. In fact, I read it nearly two years ago.

 

[Daniel Hetberg]

Yeah, it was translated 2005 I think... just came to my attention recently. How did you like it?

 

[iansales]

I thought it was good. A little old-fashioned in parts, but certainly worth translating and publishing in English.

 

[Omphalos]

Ive got this one sitting in my pile. Does anyone know if it came from a short story or novella? I recall reading something in F&SF years ago about a culture of women who made carpets, but I thought it was on Earth. I think that an expert in Paris in the 21st Century went through the carpet and by feel could tell about the ups and downs of the woman who created it. For example, a loose weave here meant that she was weak with hunger. Weak dyes in one part meant that at that portion of her life she lacked money to buy the better ones, etc. Are these the same things?

 

[iansales]

No, that's a different story. The Carpet Makers is a translated German sf novel. It opens on a world where everyone is engaged in making carpets from hair. It's a family craft that has been passed down for generations. The story follows the carpets, and explains why the empire has thousands of worlds dedicated to making them.

 

[Daniel Hetberg]

However, the novel did originate from a short story, which is the first chapter of the book. I think you can read it completely for free e.g. via Amazon's search inside thing.