A review by markeefe
The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

I loved a lot of this novel. For the most part, Vasquez deftly explores a key assassination in Columbian history (Jorge Eliécer Gaitán) through the prism of a conspiracy theorist with emotional ties to the event. Midway through, however, Vasquez completely breaks away from this compelling narrative to recreate an earlier political assassination (Rafael Uribe Uribe). This is no minor digression; it occupies more than 100 pages of the novel. It is, unfortunately, an unnecessary digression. (I skipped 70 pages and didn't feel like I missed anything integral to the larger plot.) I would cautiously recommend this novel, but with a strong caveat.