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jimmypat's review against another edition
2.0
Great premise, but not terribly compelling or interesting.
blackoxford's review against another edition
2.0
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.
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.
mafalditabaires's review against another edition
2.0
Lo dejé al 32% en el Kindle. No me engancha ni me gusta como está escrito este libro. En principio el tema parece muy interesante, pero la forma en que está escrito le quita todo interés, al menos para mí.
sarah42783's review against another edition
1.0
Although the idea behind the book is very good and I liked the beginning very much, I found it a bit tedious to read and ended up skipping a few pages here and there. Then again, I've never liked Mexican & South-American litterature much so this is no surprise for me. I did find the historical facts really interesting, especially the Amphitryon Project (I'll probably do some research about it).
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