Cox (novel)

2016 novel by Christoph Ransmayr

Cox

First edition (German)

Author| Christoph Ransmayr
Translator| Simon Pare
Language| German
Publisher| S. Fischer Verlag

Publication date

| 2016
Publication place| Austria

Published in English

| 2022
Pages| 304
ISBN| 978-3-10-082951-1

Cox or, The Course of Time (German: Cox oder Der Lauf der Zeit) is a 2016 novel by the Austrian writer Christoph Ransmayr.

## Plot

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The novel is set in the 18th century and revolves the English master clockmaker Alister Cox, who is invited by the Qianlong Emperor to come and work in the Forbidden City, where he is given a succession of seemingly impossible requests.

The Cox character is inspired by the real inventor James Cox. The real Cox never visited China, although the Qianlong Emperor did own one of his works.

## Reception

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Gisa Funck of Deutschlandfunk wrote: "In Cox oder Der Lauf der Zeit, Ransmayr describes the clash between two highly different cultures. A strength of this in several respects masterful novel lies in how he tells us about the strangeness of the Chinese empire, without suppressing the local perspective."[1]

The French translation was longlisted for the 2017 Prix Femina in the foreign novel category.[2]

## See also

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* Cox's timepiece

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Funck, Gisa (2016-11-20). "Parabel über Kunst und Macht". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 2017-09-26. "Ransmayr beschreibt in Cox oder Der Lauf der Zeit den Zusammenprall zweier höchst unterschiedlicher Kulturen. Und eine Stärke dieses in mehrfacher Hinsicht meisterhaften Romans besteht darin, dass er von der Fremdartigkeit des chinesischen Kaiserreichs erzählt, ohne die Einheimischen-Perspektive zu unterschlagen."
2. ^ "Le Femina livre ses premières sélections 2017".

## External links

[edit]

* German publicity page (in German)
* Seagull Books

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Christoph Ransmayr

Novels|

* The Terrors of Ice and Darkness (1984)
* The Last World (1988)
* The Dog King (1995)
* The Flying Mountain (2006)
* Cox (2016)
* The Lockmaster (2021)

Short fiction|

* Egal wohin, Baby (2024)

Travel books|

* Der Weg nach Surabaya (1997)
* Atlas of an Anxious Man (2012)

Drama|

* Odysseus, Verbrecher (2010)

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