Reviews

The Informers. Juan Gabriel Vsquez by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Juan Gabriel Vásquez

Only show reviews with written explanations

ageorge1877's review against another edition

4.0

Read this ages ago but just remembered it for no reason. 100% massive would reccomend its so beautifully written and its exploration of nazi blacklists in ww2 Colombia is so interesting and eye-opening to a part of history we never consider. Adding to goodreads in the hope of The Algorhythm recc'ing more contemporary Colombian lit.

donrepollo's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Una novela interesante con una historia que cuenta en pasado y presente la vida de sus personajes. Escrita prolijamente y con un gusto a crónica que la hace aún más agradable.

rsvp2sanjay's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Really liked the book. It's slow moving at parts and the scenes in the 40s appealed to me less than the narrator's voice in the present. But still it's a neat little carbon of an idea that is repeatedly honed from so many angles that it shines by the time you reach the end of the book! The concept of whether a person, no matter how significant his/her achievements in life, can be absolved of one gigantic error in the distant past and who has the power to grant that absolution is just brilliant. And the recent case of Paterno's involvement in the Penn State scandal and the tarnishing of his legacy is an eerie parallel where you can apply the problems raised in the book immediately.

theoglibrarianmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This was a hard read. It's really a 3.5 for me, but I didn't want to give him a 3 because of the goodreads rating. There's a lot of stream of consciousness writing which isn't my favorite. Then the plot itself I found hard to follow and to remember who was who or to really care about each. I wanted to like this story a lot more than I did. It does have some gems of beautiful writing which make it worth reading, but if this is your first book by the author, I'd say shelve it for now and read Sound of Things Falling first.

berlinda52's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Fascinating book on a little known topic: Jewish and German immigrants to Columbia before and during WW II. Well written (translated!). A bit hard-going, but definitely worth it.

germancho's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Es un libro con una muy buena historia ((hi)story), pero al que se le notan mucho las costuras. Su estructura anidada juega en perjuicio del libro. No sólo hubo varios momentos en que yo me perdí en quién estaba contando qué, sino que cuestionables decisiones sobre cómo abordar la historia de algunos de los personajes son barridas debajo de la alfombra en el epílogo, excusadas por "es que era un libro dentro de un libro", o "es culpa del que lo escribió, que no era yo, sino mi personaje". 3.5 estrellas redondeadas a 4.