Borges Gone Haywire

Roberto Arlt meets Raymond Chandler in this noir-tale of shifting identities and uncertain motivations in exotic locations. Not until the final page is a possible reason for the reader's attention revealed. Well not quite. The reader discovers there may have never been a reason at all, no plot to be found, no sense in any of the events described, no point to the tale. So what justifies the time and energy devoted to the work (and it does take a great deal of both to keep the characters in place)? The prose, even in translation, is fluid and at times hypnotic. But the characters are clearly intended to have no depth or complexity in themselves; relationships are so thin as to be non-existent. Reasons for patently absurd actions have no real rationale. The story dissolves into itself without residue. The book's principle merit appears to lie in a certain cleverness which is meant to engage the reader through confusion rather than enchantment. So perhaps neither Arlt nor Chandler then, but a kind of Borgesian fable that has simply lost control of itself.

La presente novela es un claro ejemplo de las oportunidades que se abren cuando las corrientes literarias latinoamericanas dejan de hablar de las granjas bananera. Lo admito, generalicé y me excedí. Sin embargo el mensaje es el siguiente: me gusta leer historias escritos por mexicanos, donde el tema principal o ambientación sea hablar del campo, pobreza o problemas sociales de nuestro entorno latino. Ignacio Padilla, uno de los miembros del grupo del Crack, hace gala de narrativa ficticia combinando elementos del entorno global, en una historia por demás misteriosa. Sorprende encontrarse a un mexicano hablando de los alemanas, 1a y 2da guerra mundial, así como el ajedrez como línea de investigación. El buen Padilla nos cuenta la historia de las suplantaciones durante las grandes guerras, cuando la identidad no era lo suficiente valioso como para arriesgar la vida. A través de cuatro personajes, se entreteje la historia del proyecto Amphitryon, un proceso nazi que permitiría llevar a cabo la supervivencia de ideología, aún por sobre los líderes mismos. El autor nos lleva de viaje por la Europa bávara, Londres y hasta es mencionado Argentina, último refugio nazi de los años 60s. Vemos como los nombres y las personalidades se diluyen, manteniendo siempre la supervivencia de la idea. Usando el ajedrez como moneda de cambio, vemos el efecto de la mimetización en la vida de nuestros personajes. Ignacio vuelve a sorprender, no solo por la historia, sino además por su narrativa finamente elaborada.
En comparación con la novela de La Gruta del Toscano, la presente historia muestra un Padilla más osado, con una historia mejor elaborada, sin perder su estilo de narrador minucioso dedicado a los detalles de ambientación. Una novela recomendable para lectores que buscan saltar del nivel principiante a medio.

struggle to keep identities straight but strong ending redeemed it. wonder about translation or was just cultural literary habits of spanish writers???

Esse livro, apesar de ter um pano de fundo que gosto demais (xadrez) não conseguiu prender a minha atenção. Quando começava a me conectar com algum personagem, ele sumia. O começo ainda foi legal, mas à medida que a leitura foi avançando, inversamente, meu interesse foi diminuindo. Enfim, consegui terminar de forma arrastada.

Una reseña útil:
http://www.elcultural.es/version_pape...
Y una en inglés:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

Me encanta esta novela. Es un laberinto de personajes y los personajes sí mismos andan en sus propios laberintos.

Czytałam na literaturę. Pogmatwanie z poplątaniem. Pomysł na książkę fajny, motyw z szachami super, ale kompletnie nie ogarniałam kto jest kim xdd

A mystery about identity and the Second World War, a series of narratives by different people about a man who took on various identities. It̕s not something that makes you think very much, although there̕s that possibility. More, it̕s a dazzling performance by a Mexican writer, with nothing at all to do with Mexico.

Gripping. Surprising. Short.

I wanted to give this book a perfect score, because I started reading it based on another stellar review I’ve read elsewhere…he touted it as one of his most beloved novels of all time.

(I opt not to share the reviewer’s name because I don’t intend to shame him publicly here, he is an otherwise decent book reviewer).

The premise started strongly, as the “shadow” is shown stealing his first name by intentionally losing a chess match against the first narrator’s father.

But alas, I find it a somewhat tedious read. Told in the first-person perspective of four different protagonists who know the identity of a Jacob Efrussi/Thadeus Dreyer with four different names, the brilliance and depravity of that identity thief would not be revealed until the last narrator shows up on stage.

Maybe this is part of the different “voices” given by the author Ignacio Padilla to each narrator: I find the latter two narrators in the novel to be overtly tedious with their philosophical rambling.

So even when the big reveal behind the “shadow” Jacob Efrussi’s motivations are finally revealed in the last few pages of the final narrator’s rambling, I only find that denouement to be somewhat…. underwhelming.

I loved the solid narration of the first two “voices” in the novel though, which is why I decided to stick with it until the end.

Whoa. Wicked, wicked-good book. In particular the first three sections kinda swallowed me whole with their meditations on identity and memory blended into this plot that was oddly propulsive despite the novel's dearth of actual scenes. Just a masterful exhibition of using exposition, description, and generalization in ways that don't repel the reader but actually entranced me, and not even doing it with like a garish irresistable voice, but rather with subtly modulated 1P narration in all sections. And the chess motif, which I admittedly have a weakness for, was a great fulcrum for both the logic-chaos dynamics within the plot and the gameplaying between writer, narrator, and reader. Some of the stuff I love from Wolfe going on w/all that. Started to feel slightly too inherited w/the potboilery stuff of the final section, like Kobayashi and Keyser Söze were runnin shit, but even there Padilla tried to leaven that effect w/the narrator talking about his cheap-crime-novel background. Plus I thought the late metafictional twists were a nice touch to win back some of the losses in the final 50 pages. Seriously, I love this book and am now grieved that Padilla died young last year.

A very engrossing read, if a tad confusing at times. The endless switching of identities was both fascinating and frustrating but overall it held together.

Mais um exemplo de obra classificada como "alta literatura" que utiliza elementos da literatura de gênero, no caso o romance policial noir, resultando num livro híbrido, disposto a romper barreiras, mesmo que involuntariamente. O mexicano Ignacio Padilla lança o leitor no meio de um tenso jogo literário, movido a traições, identidades falsas e ambições frustradas ou recompensadas. O autor utiliza as brechas e as sombras da História, dos fatos sobre a Primeira e a Segunda Guerra Mundial, para brincar com a realidade de maneira inventiva e sutil, movido por uma ironia triste. A tradução irretocável de Sérgio Molina e Rubia Prates Goldoni faz com que nos encantemos com a prosa desencantada de Padilla. Partidas de xadrez são um elemento central na trama. Amphitryon se constrói justamente como um partida de xadrez calculada e minuciosa, na qual a movimentação errada das peças poderia custar a frustração do leitor. O que tornaria o livro algo meramente rocambolesco e confuso. Mas Padilla apresenta o jogo de um mestre.