The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (1990)

I loved this book and the whole trilogy. I read the trilogy in reverse order over a couple years. I've just finished this last (first) book now in preparation for my summer in Central America.

I love the way that de Bernières writes. I feel like I know his characters, his social critiques are piercing and spot-on while showing how the perpetrators of atrocities are often victims of their circumstances, and the entire trilogy is hilarious. The 'magic' feels perfectly natural, never provoking a raised eyebrow, and through it all the effect is to make me feel wiser and more compassionate with a better understanding of the world.

I am at a loss for words, so suffice to say that Louis de Bernières is a true master. ( )

Aaaahhhh!

How could I have forgotten this gem?

This is what arises when one reads old letters intended for friends that have remained unsent, a kind of temporal journal of misplaced memories in which startling revelations unfold: did I do that? Oh....yes, I remember - that's what happened...ooooh, that wasn't very clever, was it?

So...this book. I have no idea why it was so impressive so many years ago. It just was. Here's what I had to say about it in this long-lost-recently-resurfaced piece of correspondence:

I have started reading another book The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, by Louis de Bernieres. I am alternatively amused at the irony, impressed with the use of language, and appalled at the viciousness of certain of the scenes described. I am envious that I cannot put pen to paper to create a fictitious (or actual) world in which to delineate and resolve my own philosophical conundrums or describe my journeys in time and space. Surely, if people are reading and appreciating these writers, I should find too an audience not threatened or bored by this tumultuous cascade of thoughts and ideas that yearns to find coherent expression through either the written word or the medium of film. Dear ???, do you find my letters entertaining, provoking, or simply eternally desultory spirals predominantly (and preponderantly) concerned with “I”?

As you can see, the piece of correspondence probably had no point in surfacing other than to remind me of the existence of the Don's nether parts.
( )

De Bernieres tries far too hard to be funny in this novel. Every sentence doesn't need to be a joke and I found it wearing after a while. But otherwise, a good-ish read. Not enough to make me continue to read the rest of the trilogy, but still good-ish. ( )

I will make no attempt to retell this tale as I found it's cast of characters took a long times to sort in my head and probably upon completion needed to go back to the beginning and start again.
From the cover:
When the spoilt and haughty Dona Constanza tries to divert a river to fill her swimming pool, she starts a running battle with the locals. The skirmishes are so severethe government dispatches a squadron of soldiers led by the fat, brutaland stupidFigueras to deal with them.
Derspite visiting plagues of laughingfits and giaant catsupon the troopsthe villagers know that to escape the cruel and unusual tortures planned for them, they must run. Thus they plan to head for the mountainsand start a new convivial civilisation.

This seems a far too simplistic outline of what I found to be a very complex tale. It has laugh out loud moments of absolute farce which quickly deviate into the most horrible brutality. It looks at the complex structure of Columbian society, politics and corruption.
I understand this is Louis de Bernieres first book and the beginning of a trilogy. I was disappointed in this, as Birds Without Wings is one of my favourites, however I did recognise his brilliance in many passages. ( )

The first in Louis de Bernières's Latin America trilogy. Set in a fictional Latin American country, the book is full of well-drawn characters - among them the incompetent and often brutal army officers, the guerrillas, the local prostitutes and land owners. Through these characters, de Bernières shows us the complicated history and present of the region, one in which the whole world is involved, from internal migrants to the eccentric Don Emmanuel of the title, a British immigrant.

Having just returned from travelling in Latin America, I recognised a lot of the references and really enjoyed reading the more political sections. Although, they are not intrusive, and are indeed clearer than in other books in the genre, so prospective readers should not be put off. Many of the episodes in the book are from real incidents, or at least inspired by them, which makes for chilling reading.

A good example of Magical Realism, with current and historical issues as well as the interference of magical creatures, such as the jaguars and the spirits seen by Aurelio.

The contradictions of Latin America are really caught here, the violence, the natural wonders, the racial inequality, and the unstable political situation. Looking forward to the next book. ( )