L'ombra di quel che eravamo

Ironico e amaro nello stesso tempo. Un libro che scorre via veloce e ti accompagna per il tempo di una serata o due, legandoti a doppia mandata a personaggi delineati con pochi tratti ma che ti sembra di conoscere da sempre. Un libro fatto da un intreccio di sorrisi e sospiri, di entusiasmi e disillusioni, di giovinezza e vecchiaia. Bravo Luis.

In this short novel, which won the Premio Primavera de Novela in 2009, three aging Chilean anarchists are summoned by their former leader, Pedro Nolasco, to conduct one last revolutionary act, 30 years after a spectacular bank robbery after the fall of Salvador Allende's Marxist government to a coup d'état led by General Augusto Pinochet. Before the meeting can take place, Nolasco is felled in a bizarre accident by the wife of another former revolutionary, Coco Aravena, a bumbling dreamer who spends his days watching classic American crime novels and drinking red wine while his wife fantasizes about her past life in Berlin. Coco strips Nolasco of his gun and a piece of paper with a phone number on it, and attends the meeting, to the show more shock and chagrin of the other anarchists. The men decide to go ahead with their act despite the loss of Nolasco, in a tribute to the spirit of their former comrade.

Despite the interesting story line, this book was somewhat disappointing, as the characters and their motives were not as fully developed as they could have been, and the author spent too many pages on the political history of Chile before and after Pinochet, which I could not fully appreciate. I would guardedly recommend this novel for those readers familiar with Chilean history, but not for the general reader. show less

(kindly provided for review by Europa Editions)

Summary (from inner cover): Three old comrades-in-arms have been called together at the behest of the anarchist, Pedro Nolasco - a.k.a. The Shadow - to carry out one last recolutionary gesture before time and age get the better of them. They agree to reunite in a warehouse in Santiago. it will be their first meeting since going underground after Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup. They settle on a date, a location, a secret password. But a cruel and darkly comic destiny waylays their illustrious leader.

Firstly, the translation is excellent - the tone is consistent, characters are identifiable by their style of dialogue and a flavour of the original language has remained in the economical show more writing.

The story reminded me of 100 Years of Solitude, with the bleakly humorous misadventures of the imperfect characters and the rambling dialogue. I was horribly ignorant of the history, so the little bit of education I received about the Pinochet coup and what followed was rather useful, especially in such an easily-digested form. The references to European locations made it a little more accessible for me, particularly the recurring mentions of Germany.

Some gems I enjoyed:

- the opening gambit of the bank robbery story

- "historical glaucoma" - Sepùlveda hit that nail on the head...

- the flying gramophone passage reminded me very strongly of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

- the old man and young woman police partnership.

The book was a mere 132 pages long and I liked the publication style, paperback but with inner flaps like a hardback.

Not a book I loved, but that's no fault of the book itself, just that it didn't quite push all my buttons. show less

I enjoyed the black comedy of it, but my lack of knowledge of anything beyond the basics of Chilean history left me at a bit of a loss. It was so short that by the time I started to feel acclimated it was over!

See my complete review at Shelf Love.

Es un muy buen libro es corto pero dentro de sus menos de 200 páginas nos muestra gran parte de lo que fue Chile y como la gente fue cambiando con su historia.

En un viejo almacén de un barrio popular de Santiago de Chile tres sexagenarios esperan impacientes la llegada de un hombre. Cacho Salinas, Lolo Garmendia y Lucho Arencibia, tres antiguos militantes de izquierda, derrotados por el golpe de estado de Pinochet, condenados al exilio y al desarraigo, vuelven a reunirse treinta y cinco años después, convocados por Pedro Nolasco, un antiguo camarada al que esperan para ponerse a sus órdenes y ejecutar una temeraria acción revolucionaria. Pero cuando Nolasco se dirige a la cita en el almacén, muere de forma grotesca, golpeado por el destino ciego en forma de un tocadiscos lanzado desde una ventana en medio de una violenta discusión conyugal. El plan parece haberse ido al garete por la show more muerte del líder hasta que Garmendia se dirige a sus compañeros y, recordando la expresión favorita de su difunto compañero, les dice: " Qué, nos la jugamos?". La sombra de lo que fuimos es un virtuoso ejercicio literario puesto al servicio de una emotiva historia crepuscular y una reivindicación de los perdedores. Una novela escrita con el corazón y con el estómago, que no puede dejar de conmover al lector, arrancar su sonrisa y hasta su carcajada y, a la postre, hacerle reflexionar. show less

Un très joli petit livre. Beaucoup de nostalgie, une bonne dose d’humour déjanté… Un vrai plaisir de lecture, comme il n’y en a que trop rarement !
L’ombre de ce que nous avons été est, sous couvert d’une réunion d’anciens gauchistes de toutes tendances contraints de fuir leur pays, le Chili, après le coup d’Etat contre Allende et récemment revenus d’exil, un livre sur la difficulté de l’exil et du retour, sur les idéaux de jeunesse à l’épreuve du temps qui passe et de la bedaine qui pointe.
Il y a parfois quelques maladresses dans l’écriture, mais elles sont vite oubliées grâce aux personnages qui sonnent juste, et avec lesquels il est agréable de faire un bout de chemin !
Dommage que je ne puisse show more raconter l’histoire, j’aurais aimé relever certains passages et certaines anecdotes qui m’ont plus plus que les autres, mais je préfère vous laisser le plaisir de la découverte ! show less