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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Interesting premise, fluid language, but the characterization is not deep enough to affect me.
Great first read of 2017 about a political cartoonist in Colombia. This is a beautiful translation with the atmosphere and weighted artistry of a darker Almodóvar film. Meditative and thought-provoking.
Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vásquez is a seashell of a novel: a small, tide-polished discovery, perfectly and fully formed, with whirling details that reveal more and more beauty the closer you look.
The novel takes place over a several day period (plus flashbacks), during which a lauded political cartoonist reckons with his lifetime as Colombia's caricature-wielding moral conscience. It is both the high-point and--in some ways--the low-point of his career; a prestigious award and a visitor from his past force him to grapple with the role he has played in chipping away at the reputations of so many prominent figures, as well as reflect on how that antagonistic position has intertwined with his standing in society and with his personal relationships.
There's not a lot of action over the course of the book, it mostly follows conversations between characters or sits inside the protagonist's head. Like a Philip Roth book, it doesn't shy away from putting speeches onto the page, allowing us to sink fully into the events rather than just skimming the surface. The depth of detail and rumination never seemed ponderous, and I felt pulled along until the end. This is novel seeped in the contradictions of a complex, imperfect, but honorable man.
A final note: One thing I enjoyed was existing in a world where I could pretend a single political cartoonist could matter so much. I don't know if it's a Colombia-vs-USA or a past-vs-present issue, but it's almost laughable to imagine such a person having significant national impact today in the midst of the decline of newspapers. But we all exist within our own circles, and in those circles the priorities and drivers probably make no sense to outsiders. Even if political cartoonists no longer have widespread notoriety, I can imagine entering the circle of newspapers and politicians where the knife's edge of reputation is a minute-by-minute bargain.
The novel takes place over a several day period (plus flashbacks), during which a lauded political cartoonist reckons with his lifetime as Colombia's caricature-wielding moral conscience. It is both the high-point and--in some ways--the low-point of his career; a prestigious award and a visitor from his past force him to grapple with the role he has played in chipping away at the reputations of so many prominent figures, as well as reflect on how that antagonistic position has intertwined with his standing in society and with his personal relationships.
There's not a lot of action over the course of the book, it mostly follows conversations between characters or sits inside the protagonist's head. Like a Philip Roth book, it doesn't shy away from putting speeches onto the page, allowing us to sink fully into the events rather than just skimming the surface. The depth of detail and rumination never seemed ponderous, and I felt pulled along until the end. This is novel seeped in the contradictions of a complex, imperfect, but honorable man.
A final note: One thing I enjoyed was existing in a world where I could pretend a single political cartoonist could matter so much. I don't know if it's a Colombia-vs-USA or a past-vs-present issue, but it's almost laughable to imagine such a person having significant national impact today in the midst of the decline of newspapers. But we all exist within our own circles, and in those circles the priorities and drivers probably make no sense to outsiders. Even if political cartoonists no longer have widespread notoriety, I can imagine entering the circle of newspapers and politicians where the knife's edge of reputation is a minute-by-minute bargain.
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.7. Byla pro mě radost číst Vasquezovu krásnou, přesnou prózu. Ohromila mě řada jeho vypointovaných popisů detailů i jeho schopnost plynule přecházet do větších měřítek a zase zpátky. Práce politického karikaturisty je podle mého samo o sobě zajímavé téma, myslím, že ho Vasquez dobře uchopil, a nahlédnout do světa, kde má taková postava určující vliv na politiku své země, pro mě bylo fascinující bez ohledu na realističnost. Na druhou stranu, postava Samanty Lealové, která karikaturistovi Mallarinovi vstupuje po letech do života, je papírová a v knize jako by pro ni nebylo dost místa. Možná i proto nepůsobí změny, které v Mallarinově životě způsobí, jako skutečně motivované. Podobně na mě nedělá velký dojem většina Vasquezových úvah o povaze paměti, které tvoří podstatnou část textu.
(četla jsem anglicky)
(četla jsem anglicky)
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
A beautiful and compelling novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the story as well as the eloquent writing.
"Great caricaturists don't expect applause from anyone, and that's not what they draw for: they draw to annoy, to embarrass, to be insulted." So declares Mallarino upon receiving the highest tribute for his forty years as Colombia's foremost political cartoonist - his self-portrait on the country's newest postage stamp.
Juan Gabriel Vásquez places Javier Mallarino front and center in his short novel, Reputations.
But just because the author is from Colombia, please don't think Gabriel García Márquez or magical realism. Educated at the Sorbonne and having spent fifteen years of his adult life in Europe, Juan Gabriel Vásquez told an interviewer his literary influences have been European and American. Indeed, the author's themes of memory and identity will bring to mind Patrick Modiano; his clear, crisp language (many thanks to translator Anne McLean ) will remind readers of Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, even Richard Ford.
Reputations makes for a compelling, moving story. On the heels of his award ceremony, Javier Mallarino receives an unforeseen telephone call from a journalist, a request for an interview. However, once fetching Samanta Leal is in Mallarino's home and following a conversation revolving around cartooning, Samanta spots a particular painting on the wall. She confesses: she's not a journalist at all, her visit has a much different purpose: to probe Mallarino's memory of the time twenty-eight years ago when she was a seven-year-old girl and a friend of Mallarino's daughter Beatriz, that dreaded day when she paid a visit to this very house.
Yiyun Li wrote in her New York Times review, "Reputations can be read and enjoyed on many levels: for its reflections on art, memory and fate; for its account of recent Colombian history at a slant, which is Vásquez's trademark approach; for its Jungian exploration of lives intersecting."
With Ms. Li's words in mind, I'll let readers discover the many facets of the tale on their own. For the purpose of my review, I'll zero in on what I judge the most captivating aspect of the novel: Mallarino's ideas and feelings regarding the power of art and political cartooning.
“The black square, the slender strokes, the line of text of brief dialogue beneath the frame: the scene that left his desk each day and was praised, admired, commented on, misinterpreted, later repudiated in a column of the same newspaper or another, in the irate letter of an irate reader, in a debate in some morning radio show. Yes, it was a terrible power.”
Juan Gabriel Vásquez is keenly aware of the ways power can influence a person's sense of identity and self-esteem. The author explores the various dimensions of Mallarino's sense of self-worth, most especially his stature in the eyes of Magdalena, both back when Magdalena was his wife and now, living and drawing on his own.
“Painting was his thing. . . . So at that time the caricatures were a short-term way of earning a living.”
How many artists and writers have abandoned their true calling and employed their talents in a much different manner as a way to pay the bills? And once the money starts flowing in, how easily the short-term can turn into long-term, consuming an entire lifetime.
“Why was he still doing what he did, what real effect would his cartoon have on the out-of-focus and remote world that began at the edge of his worktable, that slim wooden precipice.”
The key word here is "real." Sure, Mallarino's political cartoons capture the public's attention, but has he reduced himself to what Nietzsche termed "the hero of the hour"?
“Mallarino was beginning to wonder if it had been worthwhile giving up his oils and canvases for this: the adrenaline rush he no longer felt, the imaginary reactions of imaginary readers he never got to meet, this vague and perhaps false sensation of public importance that caused him private trouble; relatives who greeted him less warmly, friends who stopped inviting him to dinner with their wives. For what?”
Mallarino, the great conscience of an entire country. . . but at a price: friends and family must be sacrificed. Mallarino wrestles with the pros and cons throughout.
“Good cartoons seek and find the constant in a person: something that never changes, what stays the same and allows us to recognize someone we haven’t seen in a thousand years.”
I reflect on Mallarino's statement here in light of the book's teasing, quizzical epigraph, "Identical noses do not make identical men."
“Ricardo Rendón, my master,” he hurried to say, “once compared the caricature to a stinger, but dipped in honey.”
What's a political cartoon without an element of humor? After all, we all enjoy that distinctively human capacity: laughing. Outstanding cartoonist Ricardo Rendón, now long dead, continues to cast his shadow in Mallarino's life. On the beginning pages of the novel, Mallarino even sees Ricardo Rendón walking down a street in Bogotá. Juan, is this an instance of magical realism? I suppose an author growing up in the land of Gabriel García Márquez just can't help himself.
“Life is the best caricaturist. Life turns us into caricatures of ourselves. You have, we all have, the obligation to make the best caricature possible, to camouflage what we don’t like and exalt what we like best.”
The cartoonist's statement reminds me of a quote from German philosopher Artur Schopenhauer, "After a certain age every man is responsible for his face." On a personal note, do you, reader, take responsibility for your face?
“I don’t like them. I don’t even make digital corrections, which is something many do. I don’t. I draw by hand, and what comes out is what goes out. Digital technologies make everything boring, predictable, monotonous.”
This is an aesthetic worthy of respect; particularly since mistakes, so called, frequently enhance an artist’s individuality and signature when creating a work.
Again, I took a particular angle for my review. Many more areas of intrigue within Juan Gabriel Vásquez's fine novel await a reader.
Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez, born 1973
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was surprised at the direction this book went, It was a random pick at the thrift store and it sounded interesting but it covered a variety of topics and I felt they were done (for the most part) really well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced