“Der Vitruvianische Mensch” by Ulrike Bolenz (front cover) is a modern version of “The Vitruvian Man”, the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci around 1490. It depicts a man in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and inscribed in a circle and square.
This novel refers to the expression “squaring the circle”, a metaphor for trying to do the impossible. The quadrature of the circle stands here for science, fiction, progress, avangardisme, … but refers at the same time to the clock with several dates such as 02.12.1804 (Coronation of Napoleon), 1914 (WW1), 11.09.2001 (The September 11 attacks), 16.04.2006 (Brussels mp3 murder), …
A sexagenarian discovers he has been chosen to heal the World.
After reflexion, he decides to accept the challenge.
While travelling into space and time, he realises he’s getting younger…
