It has been a long time since I've read a story this good. Aira writes an adventure story, stays in 3 person past perspective, and yet, despite never entering the inner psychology of his characters, nor dwelling on philosophical concepts, manages to write a profound analysis of art and its relationship to life in a historical setting so brilliant it evokes a strange purity of form, nearly allegorical, while staying grounded into reality.

I'm going to be reading this one again but I highly HIGHLY recommend this. It's a novella with more to say than novels four times its length.