A1 has been reading the recently published Perspectives by Laurent Binet, an epistolary murder mystery set in 16th-century Florence. And was rather struck by this passage:
As I descended from the ramparts, I heard some guards climbing the stairs. Since I had no business being up there, I would have had no excuse to justify my presence if they had seen me. So I hurried back to the roof. But you know the palace better than I, so you know that there are no hiding places up there. I ran to the wall; a leap from that height could be fatal, even to me. But God rewards the brave: at the foot of the wall was a cart loaded with hay, left there by some groom. It all happened in a flash: the decision, then the execution. I climbed onto the parapet, arms outspread like Christ on the cross, I closed my eyes and I dived. During my fall I heard the cry of an eagle. My landing was as soft as on a feather bed, and in a second I was up on my feet again, completely unscathed.
That’s from page 140. So here’s a sequence from 2009’s Assassin’s Creed II, which is set in … 16th-century Florence. Which is where we are here:
This really does stretch coincidence too far. All that’s missing is the eagle — but as any fule kno, nearly all Assassin’s Creed games have an eagle perched on the viewpoints you can jump from (he must have flown off before I got there this time). And there is always a convenient hay cart below (well, unless there’s a lake).
I think it’s pretty certain that M. Binet is a fan 🙂
…and, of course, cats:
