Lettuce Salad (Novel)

Lettuce Salad: Our Breach Shall Come Whence the Vegetable Plants Blossom, commonly referred to as Lettuce Salad, is a novel written by the Aidisese writer and satirist Daius un Copio, and his last. Set several centuries in the future, the story concerns a group of six friends about to graduate from the Imperial Academy at Medici. Although it was not warmly received initially, it has since become popular with readers for its subtle comedy as well as themes of teenage confusion, growth into adulthood, friendship, and optimism. It has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages. Despite being over a millennia old, 100,000 copies are still being sold each year, as it remains Un Copio's most revered and famous work.

Although Un Copio claimed he had begun writing the novel when he was nineteen, he only finished it at the age of seventy-five with the help of his grandson and secretary, Amuzas un Copio. One of the most popular pieces of Aidisese literature, Lettuce Salad is considered by most literary historians to be one of the last pure exemplars of the Sentimentalist movement, and simultaneously also a predecessor to the modern-day Common Life genre. Despite being considered one of Un Copio's lighter and shallower works, generations of scholars have debated and extensively analyzed its themes and origins, moreso than all of his other works combined. Compared to the dark and complex political and metaphysical themes that dominated much of Un Copio's late works, Lettuce Salad has been considered by literary scholars to be more whimsical and nostalgic in style and tone. One of the most personal and autobiographical of his novels, many have attempted to link several of the characters to personages in Un Copio's life; however, anticipating this, he wrote in the preface to the first edition of the book: "Several of my friends, upon seeing the manuscript of the book you now hold in your hands, remarked on the odd similarities between several of the characters and real persons scattered throughout my life. In fear that the dear reader might make the same mistake, I must - and duly so - counter: these characters are, while wholly imaginary, bear no intentional to real persons living or dead. What similarities that do exist - and I admit there are many, intentional and unintentional - only do so in order to establish a fuller fictional narrative, a livelier cast of fictional characters, a more believable fictional setting. But if the reader still remains suspicious of me, then perhaps it is prudent that I admit, with very much the wry and boyish grin I once possessed many years ago, that the entire purpose of these similarities are to mock and deify those I wish to mock and deify without actually mocking and deifying them."

Characters
Further information: List of Lettuce Salad Characters

Amuzas' Role
Although Amuzas un Copio is usually credited as only an assistant to his grandfather in writing the novel, many scholars believe that he played a much more significant role in crafting the story. Most agree that Amuzas may have written entire sections of the novels, particularly the infamous fifteenth chapter concerning the infamous beachhouse episode. A few scholars have gone further.

61st century historian Pan Tezi wrote several essays arguing that many of the major characters in the novel are in fact based on Amuzas' childhood friends. More infamously, 65th century writer and literary critic Freazace Melecca held that Amuzas was in fact largely responsible for the book; Daius merely gave Amuzas his old notes for the original story, and his only contribution was to edit the final result. However, most scholars still hold that Amuzas played a relatively minor but important role in the story.