The Vision of Elena Silves
by Nicholas Shakespeare
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In the Amazon city of Belen, in the heart of the Peruvian jungle, three old men sit on a bench. They sit in the square every day under the hot sun, remembering the women they loved and the world when it was a better place. One day a woman hurries past their bench whom all have reason to remember - Elena Silves, the girl with eyes as blue as the sky who once saw a vision and has been incarcerated by the Church authorities in a convent high in the Andes ever since. But the old men remember show more something else. They remember that Elena had been in love at the time with Gabriel, a student revolutionary who became the most wanted man in Belen. show lessTags
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Well written but unsatisfying as a coherent story. At this remove, nearly forty years, the fervour of Marxist terrorists is difficult to comprehend. The novel doesn't uncover anything much in way of motivations and commitment to the bloody cause of the two main protagonists. Twenty years in prison for Gabriel, and the same length of time in a convent for Elena are considerations that don't seem to resonate with the lovers or, at least, they are not touched upon.
The vision itself is hurriedly explained away in a rather farcical way at the end. At the end of the book, the feeling of hopelessness establishes itself firmly. There is just no redeeming feature to any character stuck beside the river in a town called Belén (Bethlehem).
Aside show more from this, Nicholas Shakespeare writes well and with intelligence. show less
The vision itself is hurriedly explained away in a rather farcical way at the end. At the end of the book, the feeling of hopelessness establishes itself firmly. There is just no redeeming feature to any character stuck beside the river in a town called Belén (Bethlehem).
Aside show more from this, Nicholas Shakespeare writes well and with intelligence. show less
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Author Information
32+ Works 2,283 Members
Nicholas William Shakespeare is a British novelist and biographer who was born on March 3, 1957, in Worcester. He attended Winchester College and Magdalene College, Cambridge. He worked as a journalist for BBC Television and later as an arts and literary editor for "The Times". He soon after began his writing career. His first books include The show more Men Who Would Be king: A Look at Royalty in Exile, Londoners, and The Vision of Elena Silves. His later works include Inheritance, Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin, and Six Minutes in May: How Churchill Unexpectedly Became Prime Minister. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Vision of Elena Silves
- Original publication date
- 1989
- Important places*
- Perú
- Epigraph*
- I'll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces
All day through.
In the small café,
The park across the way,
The children's carousel,
The chestnut trees, ... (show all)the wishing well,
I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day
In everything that's light and gay
I'll always think of you that way,
I'll find you in the morning sun
And when the night is new,
I'll be looking at the moon,
But I'll be seeing you.
(Irving Kabal and Sammy Fain 1938
Grabado por Frank Sinatra en 1961.) - Dedication*
- In memoriam Bruce Chatwin
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- Reviews
- 1
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- (3.57)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 2
