Luther’s theses, trading partners and Venetian wonders figure, as does a surprisingly intriguing examination of the publishing of forbidden texts, and the sort of fancy arguments one might be able to employ to avoid critics such as, oh, the Inquisition.
The setting is tumultuous, and it mostly trucks in truth: the German Peasants’ War and the Münster Rebellion loom large, both for the PTSD-inducing horrors involved and for the scrabbling for power that underpinned them. The story is presented through a collection of contemporaneous narratives by a many-named Anabaptist radical – most commonly referred to as Gert-of-the-Well – and through the letters and diary entries of Qoèlet (the titular Q), a Roman Catholic cardinal’s spy. Luther: full-time theologian, part-time footy nugget. It could be superficial on my part – hey, these novels involve religion and monks and mystery! – but it seems appropriate. Not because the authors are Italian also – though that may play a lesser part – but because the circuitous intrigues of works such as The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum seem very closely aligned to Blissett’s work here. The nearest thing I could liken it to was some of Umberto Eco’s work. In terms of Q, Blissett was the name given a writing project masterminded by a couple of particular authors, who now write as Wu Ming because they’ve solidified their endeavours and cemented their lineup. (It’s safe to say that the real Luther Blissett, a former football player for AC Milan, Watford FC and England, is not an expert on theological intrigue, but I am open to being corrected.) The activities, aside from novels, include the presentation of fake ape art, spoiling the ending of Harry Potter books and, somewhat circuitously, being involved with the K Foundation’s burning of a million pounds in Scotland. A mask to pull on for endeavours creative and political – or, ideally, both. He’s kind of a George Kaplan figure: an open-source pseudonym with roots in activism and pranks. Pictured: the author, but also not the author.
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