Evelio RoseroRezensionen

Tres amigos están a punto de perder el año y las consecuencias de este fracaso pueden hacerlos caer en desgracia con sus familias y sus compañeros de clases. Ante la inminencia de la tragedia que se les avecina, deciden huir y buscar una nueva vida en donde nadie los conozca, sin saber que otra suerte los espera a la vuelta de la esquina. Premio Nacional de Literatura del Ministerio de Cultura en la categoría de Cuento para Público Infantil 2006. Una novela que hará reír a sus lectores y los mantendrá entretenidos con la aventura y el suspenso de la narración.

El 26 de agosto de 1978, Albino Luciani apareció muerto en las dependencias papales del Vaticano. Elegido Papa sólo treinta y tres días antes, Luciani había escogido el nombre de Juan Pablo I y la víspera de su muerte mostró a su secretario la lista de obispos y cardenales que debían ser destituidos de inmediato. Con las prostitutas de Venecia a modo de coro, el lector asistirá a su enfrentamiento a personajes poderosísimos como el obispo Marcinkus, director del banco del Vaticano, presenciará una clase magistral a catequistas fuera de todo protocolo, y sabrá cómo, al final, la jerarquía eclesiástica aplicó la «solución siciliana» para quitarse de en medio a un Papa que le incomodaba. Tras documentarse de manera exhaustiva, Evelio Rosero ha escrito una hermosa plegaria, una brillantísima recreación literaria que nos acerca a un pontífice que de manera visionaria, sin dejar de ser sobre todo párroco, se propuso con mano firme atajar los males endémicos de la Iglesia.

Ismael, un anciano profesor jubilado, y su mujer, Otilia, viven morosa y modestamente en el pueblo de San José desde hace cuatro decenios. A Ismael le gusta espiar a la mujer de su vecino, y Otilia suele reconvenirlo, avergonzada. Hasta que el ambiente idílico del pueblo se enrarece. Las desapariciones de algunos familiares extienden el miedo entre los habitantes de San José y parecen preludiar sucesos aún más graves. Una mañana, tras volver de un paseo, Ismael se entera de que unos soldados de no sabe qué ejército se han llevado a sus vecinos. Le cuentan también que su mujer lo ha estado buscando e intenta dar con ella en vano... Los ataques continúan y, cuando los acontecimientos se precipitan y se desata la violencia, los supervivientes deciden huir antes de que sea tarde. Pero Ismael opta por quedarse en el pueblo devastado. Una decisión que le revelará un destino oscuro e imprevisible.

Difficile de critiquer un bouquin pas aimé qui n’est sûrement pas dénué de valeur tant il montre bien ce que je n’avais pas vraiment envie de voir. Car là, c’est pas passé.

Un fille de dix ans découvre le trouble dans une atmosphère glaucasse entre l’alcoolisme de sa mère qui baise avec le chauffeur, une copine qui avale les pilules roses et bleues de ses parents, au milieu du fric, des piscines…

Un mélange entre attirance et répulsion très bien rendu mais qui laisse une sensation désagréable

GOOD OFFICES, by Evelio Rosero, was an "in between books" read for me, a little book I picked up at a library sale a few years ago. Translated from the Spanish, the story is set in modern day Bogota, where poverty is rampant and corruption is king. Th protagonist is Tancredo, a young (twenty-ish) hunchback who was raised and educated by Father Almido, the parish priest, who, along with his sacristan, is deeply involved with a very shady type crime boss who supplies them with boxes and boxes of cash. Tancredo is worked hard by his benefactor, tasked with setting up daily meals in the church hall for orphans, prostitutes, the elderly and destitute, and cleaning up after. He is also in a secret relationship with Sabina, the goddaughter of the sacristan. There are also three old women, "the three Lilias," survivors of a long ago village massacre taken in by Father Almido. They are the cooks, and are also worked mercilessly. All of these people live in rooms on the church grounds. The story takes place inside the church compound in the course of just one day, when the pastor and his sacristan are called away to a meeting with their shady benefactor, and an old, charismatic, alcoholic priest, Father San Jose Matamoros, comes to fill in. Possessed of a beautiful singing voice, which he uses for the mass and also employs later, he completely wins over the three Lilias, as well as the other parishioners. His presence, however, causes all the careful, often corrupt and scandalous constructions within the little parish family to unravel and come apart. You might even say, all hell breaks loose. I was completely caught up in this story. This might be my first Colombian novel, or novella actually, as it is less than 120 pages and can easily be read in just a few hours. Rosero is an excellent writer. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER

incredible.
fuckity fuck.

Una fábula que se adelantó en el tiempo al menos veinte años: un mundo de gente enfrentada entre sí en un lugar cerrado donde no existe sino una idea del mundo.

Dos universos se oponen en esta nouvelle, una de las precursoras del mejor registro del gran escritor colombiano Evelio Rosero. Dominantes y dominados se enfrentan. Unos van vestidos, los otros desnudos. Una voz, la del protagonista, decide luchar desde el encierro. La literatura para Rosero es una especie de oráculo en el que se adelanta el futuro. Esta pequeña fábula publicada en 1986, cuenta la historia de una serie de personajes encerrados en una casa, como una pequeña muestra de la sociedad, en donde todos están dispuestos a arrasar con los diferentes, aquellos que deciden mantenerse al margen del deber ser.

Eugenia Flor es la muchacha que ordeña las vacas de la vereda. Todos los días me hace un regalo, a escondidas. Un día me regaló una gardenia, y la puso en la ventana de mi cuarto, la misma ventana que yo abro todas las mañanas para que entre el sol. Solo que en esta ocasión entró primero el perfume blanco de la gardenia, dulce y delgado, igual que una voz, la voz de Eugenia cuando canta mientras ordeña vacas. Otro día me dio un regalo que me asustó: un cucharón verde. Y lo puso debajo de mi almohada. Ha sido tantos los regalos que Eugenia me deja en secreto que escribiría mi vida enumerándolos.

Astounding book that somehow entwines searing violence and touching love in a breathless, frenetic, stream-of-consciousness style. I was a bit puzzled at times in the book, as my background to Colombia is sketchy at best, but as a story, this book is in the class of Ammaniti's I Am Not Scared

(7.5) This story is narrated through the eyes of a retired professor living in a small south American village.
He entertains himself with small voyeurisms on the neighbour's attractive wife. Meanwhile minor incursions of rebels are occurring in the area and people are disappearing. When his wife disappears during an escalation of attacks, the professor's world falls apart as villagers disappear or flee for safety, leaving the town deserted.
For those of us blessed to live in democratic, relatively peaceful countries this is a timely reminder of how others live in these war torn countries.

una mañana tras volver de un paseo, Ismael se entera de que unos soldados de no se sabe qué ejercito se han llevado a sus vecinos. Se desata la violencia los supervivientes deciden huir, pero Ismael opta por quedarse...

Un ginecólogo de una pequeña ciudad de Colombia investiga la verdadera historia de Simón Bolívar.½

A new Colombian author. You know how some books - say "Heart of Darkness," which I re-read recently - they're like haymakers, just huge bodyblows that knock you flat? This book is like a quick jab. Your head gets rocked back before you even realize you got punched. It's about a small mountain town in the pre-Uribe paramilitary days. It opens hazily, and it's hard to tell what's happening at first; it's like it opens in the immediate aftermath of a bomb blast, and for a while there's just smoke and noise, and it's only as things settle down that you realize who's hurt. Neat trick, and a very worthwhile book.

Het verhaal wordt verteld vanuit een gebochelde man en daar heb je in eerste instantie medelijden mee. Maar gaandeweg weet je niet meer of hij wel zo goed is als je eerst dacht. Het begint nog redelijk overzichtelijk, maar je wordt vervolgens meegesleept in allerlei ontwikkelingen. Daardoor weet je aan het einde niet meer wie nu de goede en wie de slechten zijn. Knap geschreven, vol vaart. Je gaat voortdurend achter andere mensen staan, maar ook vrome dames zijn niet altijd wat ze lijken.

"The Armies" follows the life of elderly former school teacher Ismael and his wife Otilia and their life in a small remote Colombia village. The village is constantly under threat from both rebels and paramilitary forces, who attack the town and military garrison frequently. However, life for the couple seems relatively peaceful, with Ismael continuing his habits of picking oranges and observing his sunbathing neighbor's wife.

However, this life is shattered once Otilia disappears during an attack on the village, and soon life in the town crumbles, as Ismael struggles to find out what exactly happened to his wife.½

Een klein stadje in Colombia, de bejaarde onderwijzer Ismael lonkt over het tuinmuurtje naar zijn bloedmooie buurvrouw, maar de rust is bedrieglijk. Want in dit door een burgeroorlog verscheurde land loert het geweld om de hoek, sommige vrienden verdwijnen, andere dorpsbewoners blijken ontvoerd. En dan plots spoelt het geweld als een vloedgolf over het dorp, eens te meer . Leger en milities vechten er een bloedige strijd uit ; de vrouw van de onderwijzer is spoorloos . Hij gaat naar haar op zoek, maar verliest grip op de werkelijkheid...
Waarom zou ik dit boek lezen ?
De totale ontreddering van de hoofdonderwijzer die het allemaal niet meer kan vatten blijft je bij. Dat de auteur hiervoor putte uit de alledaagse werkelijkheid van zijn land maakt het des te schrijnender. Zo staat de ontreddering van zijn hoofdpersoon symbool voor de machteloosheid van de weerloze burgerbevolking Een universeel verhaal kortom, dat tot nadenken stemt.
Voor boekenzoeker ; zie
http://www.boekenzoeker.org/16+/overzicht.asp?BoomId=2&TakId=38&BladId=1...

Evelio Rosero (1958-) is an award winning author and journalist who was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where he currently resides. The Armies (Los ejércitos), his first novel to be translated into English, won the Tusquets International Novel Prize in 2006 and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2009.

Ismael is a 70 year old retired school teacher, who lives peacefully with his wife Otilia in a Colombian village. His days are spent picking oranges from the trees in his garden, while longingly admiring his neighbor as she sunbathes in the nude. Surrounding this peaceful village, however, are guerrillas who grow coca in the nearby hills, who occasionally threaten and kidnap individuals but do not have much of an impact on the town as a whole. Unfortunately for the villagers, the army decides to use the village as a front in the war against the guerrillas, and slowly but steadily the villagers are caught in the middle of these warring factions.

Ismael decides to take an early morning walk, and is detained by government soldiers. Otilia goes to look for him later that day, and Ismael goes to look for her after his release. However, there is fierce fighting on that day, and he cannot find her by day's end. His neighbor's husband and son are kidnapped, and a number of villagers are killed or injured. Over the next days, as the fighting intensifies and the villagers find themselves increasingly trapped, Ismael continues his search for Otilia, vowing to remain there until she returns to him.

No one in The Armies is entirely innocent or guilty: the captain of the army randomly shoots several civilians, accusing them of being guerrillas; the mayor and the local police abandon the villagers with little warning; journalists drop in for photo ops but are detached and uninterested in the villagers' plight; and the country's president denies the existence of the war, and claims that the deaths reported by the media were due to old age.

This was a beautifully written novel which captures the horrors of the Colombian civil war, without resorting to gruesome and repetitive depictions of violence.½

The wife of a retired teacher disappears during an attack on their home town by one of the rival factions in the country's civil strife. He stays, hoping for her return, whilst one by one his friends and neighbours are themselves kidnapped, killed or forced to flee. He cannot even bring himself to tell their daughter of his wife's disappearance. It is predictably harrowing, yet not entirely without hope. An unlikely page-turner, though don't expect a happy ending.