The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami --- A fabulous novel
The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami A fabulous novel Although it did not win the Pulitzer Prize, The Moor’s Account has been a finalist and what an excellent book it is. The story is not that long, albeit it takes us over three continents, including The New World of that age. The story takes place around the time when Spain conquers the Aztecs, 1527 to be more precise and for the most part it deals with the travels and ordeal of a party of 600 conquistadores at the start that number only…x at the end. I was going to put a number on that x, but that would be divulging an aspect, which could be important. At some stages, the novel has reminded me of the great film Aguirre, for the leader of the expedition has some of the madness portrayed by Klaus Kinski, under the direction of Werner Herzog. The Castilians plan to conquer La Florida for the crown and become rich in the process from the gold they are sure to find. Alas, pretty soon it becomes clear that there is no gold and the litt...