Informers Hardback - 2009
by Vasquez, Juan Gabriel
A virtuosic novel about family, history,memory, and betrayal from the brightestnew Latin American literary talentworking today.
When Gabriel Santoro's biography is scathinglyreviewed by his own father, a publicintellectual and famous Bogotá rhetorician,Gabriel could not imagine what had piercedhis icy exterior to provoke such a painful reaction.A volume that catalogues the life of SaraGuterman, a longtime family friend and Jewishimmigrant, since her arrival in Colombia in the1930s, A Life in Exile seemed a slim, innocentexercise in recording modern history. But asa devastated Gabriel delves, yet again, intoSara's story, searching for clues to his father'sanger, he cannot yet see the sinister secretburied in his research that could destroy hisfather's exalted reputation and redefine hisown.
After his father's mysterious death in a caraccident a few years later, Gabriel sets outanew to navigate half a century of half-truthsand hidden meanings. With the help of SaraGuterman and his father's young girlfriend,Angelina, layer after shocking layer of Gabriel'sworld falls away and a complex portrait ofhis father emerges from the ruins. From thestreets of 1940s Bogotá to a stranger's doorstepin 1990s Medellín, he unravels the webof doubt, betrayal, and guilt at the core of hisfather's life and he wades into a dark, longsilencedperiod of Colombian history afterWorld War II.
With a taut, riveting narrative and achinglybeautiful prose, Juan Gabriel Vásquez deliversan expansive, powerful exploration of the sinsof our fathers, of war's devastating psychologicalcosts, and of the inescapability of the past.A novel that has earned Vásquez comparisonsto Sebald, Borges, Roth, and Márquez, TheInformers heralds the arrival of a major literarytalent.
Summary
When Gabriel Santoro's biography is scathingly reviewed by his own father, a public intellectual and famous Bogotá rhetorician, Gabriel could not imagine what had pierced his icy exterior to provoke such a painful reaction. A volume that catalogues the life of Sara Guterman, a longtime family friend and Jewish immigrant, since her arrival in Colombia in the 1930s, A Life in Exile seemed a slim, innocent exercise in recording modern history. But as a devastated Gabriel delves, yet again, into Sara's story, searching for clues to his father's anger, he cannot yet see the sinister secret buried in his research that could destroy his father's exalted reputation and redefine his own.
After his father's mysterious death in a car accident a few years later, Gabriel sets out anew to navigate half a century of half-truths and hidden meanings. With the help of Sara Guterman and his father's young girlfriend, Angelina, layer after shocking layer of Gabriel's world falls away and a complex portrait of his father emerges from the ruins. From the streets of 1940s Bogotá to a stranger's doorstep in 1990s Medellín, he unravels the web of doubt, betrayal, and guilt at the core of his father's life and he wades into a dark, longsilenced period of Colombian history after World War II.
With a taut, riveting narrative and achingly beautiful prose, Juan Gabriel Vásquez delivers an expansive, powerful exploration of the sins of our fathers, of war's devastating psychological costs, and of the inescapability of the past. A novel that has earned Vásquez comparisons to Sebald, Borges, Roth, and Márquez, The Informers heralds the arrival of a major literary talent.
Details
- Title Informers
- Author Vasquez, Juan Gabriel
- Binding Hardback
- Edition First Edition. F
- Pages 360
- Language EN
- Publisher Riverhead Hardcover, New York City, NY
- Date 2009-07-30
- ISBN 9781594488788
Media reviews
-New York Times
"Superb...Nothing works out quite the way anyone expects, which is just one of the many strengths of this remarkable novel...It is the best work of literary fiction to come my way since 2005."
-Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post
"Juan Gabriel Vßsquez is one of the most original new voices of Latin American literature. His first novel, The Informers, a very powerful story about the shadowy years immediately following World War II, is testimony to the richness of his imagination as well as the subtlety and elegance of his prose."
-Mario Vargas Llosa, author of The Bad Girl and The Feast of the Goat
"A fine and frightening study of how the past preys upon the present, and an absorbing revelation of a little-known wing of the theatre of the Nazi war."
-John Banville, Booker Prize- winning author of The Sea
"As if mature John le CarrT had wandered into the narrative labyrinths of Borges."
-The Independent
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