Institut Ramon LLull

Young Assiscle Xatot, born in 1852 in Perpignan, discovers he is able to speak and understand any language just by hearing a single word of it, when he miraculously picks up Calo from his only friend. Assicle’s life— and opportunities for language acquisition— improves when Barnabe Bonnefin shows up in an enormous hot-air balloon. Together they travel to the capital in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War and are accused of taking part in the Paris Commune insurrection.

Assiscle is condemned to exile and sent to New Caledonia on a prison ship, where his remarkable linguistic talents allow him insights into many different cultures on board and lead to his adoption by the Kanak people, who believe his spirit was mistakenly born into the wrong body. A rollicking novel of adventures that is also a highly personal reflection on language and its role in defining people and cultures, as well as a declaration of equal dignity for all tongues.