The Golden Age

The Golden Age is a fantastic travelogue in which a modern-day Gulliver writes a book about a civilisation on a small island in the Atlantic. At first glance, the islanders do nothing but sit and observe the world, its lights and its noises. The island has gradually absorbed previous waves of conquerors, and only fragments of the original cultures remain, very distant from their origins. In places where we would normally expect the reinforcement of general values and principles, connections collapse and completely new, unexpected ones are formed. Just as the inhabitants themselves refuse to adopt a permanent language, the island they live on also rejects a permanent name or designation. Everything is in a state of change, metamorphosis, creation and destruction all at once. It is a labyrinthine book, full of unexpected diversions and connections. It could fashionably be described as a hypertext in the best sense of the word. When describing it and reading excerpts from it, one cannot help but recall Borges' famous short story The Library of Babel. However, where the Argentinian writer needed a library, the author makes do with a single book, one that seems to layer itself infinitely. It is as if, by describing this book, the author is revealing his own creative approach.