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A review by adam613
The President and the Frog by Caro De Robertis
4.0
'''Well? So? What the hell else am I supposed to do?'
'Get ready.'
'For what?'
'The rest of your life.'"
The former president of an unnamed Latin American country is being interviewed in his garden by a Norwegian journalist to talk about his legacy, the country and the current state of the world. With alternating flashbacks to his time as a prisoner as a guerilla soldier fighting the authoritarian state and his conversations with a frog that may or may not have been real. In engrossing and clever language, Carolina De Robertis spins an entertaining tale that is contemporarily both personal and political.
"Everything real is in the deep end."
If we are to take one thing from The President and the Frog, it is that the real nitty gritty of life is found in delving a litter deeper into our spirits of resilience, integrity and faith. There is no easy way. There is no quick fix to the struggles of life. I am often reminded of the lines from one of my favourite Social Distortion songs that goes:
"That's the way that it goes
And I know how you feel
No ones immune now
To a world of problems
No one's exempt now
From a world of pain"
While in a hole for a prison cell, the unnamed protagonist learns about his mettle from a frog who steals the show and lends levity and humour to the dire situation of being a political prisoner. This magical frog could be God or it could be a hallucination. Or maybe it's just a frog or a ghost. All we know is that we all have mirrors that present us with the opportunity to take a true, honest look at ourselves, or we can take the deceivingly easy way out.
"You've got a terrible laugh. Like you're farting, or fucking, or both at once."
For me, the best books and art for that matter, help me learn a bit more about myself and the world around me and Carolina De Robertis has done so witht his book. The President and the Frog mixes insight with humour and universality with intimacy to an exceptional effect.
"If you could see it you would know where you are inside the telling. You would know the difference between the end and The End."
"The future belongs to dreamers, he thought, but not purists."
"Even horror is an opening. Every moment a new beginning until we reach the end."
"How strange it was, the inability to ever fully see yourself through another person's eyes."
'Get ready.'
'For what?'
'The rest of your life.'"
The former president of an unnamed Latin American country is being interviewed in his garden by a Norwegian journalist to talk about his legacy, the country and the current state of the world. With alternating flashbacks to his time as a prisoner as a guerilla soldier fighting the authoritarian state and his conversations with a frog that may or may not have been real. In engrossing and clever language, Carolina De Robertis spins an entertaining tale that is contemporarily both personal and political.
"Everything real is in the deep end."
If we are to take one thing from The President and the Frog, it is that the real nitty gritty of life is found in delving a litter deeper into our spirits of resilience, integrity and faith. There is no easy way. There is no quick fix to the struggles of life. I am often reminded of the lines from one of my favourite Social Distortion songs that goes:
"That's the way that it goes
And I know how you feel
No ones immune now
To a world of problems
No one's exempt now
From a world of pain"
While in a hole for a prison cell, the unnamed protagonist learns about his mettle from a frog who steals the show and lends levity and humour to the dire situation of being a political prisoner. This magical frog could be God or it could be a hallucination. Or maybe it's just a frog or a ghost. All we know is that we all have mirrors that present us with the opportunity to take a true, honest look at ourselves, or we can take the deceivingly easy way out.
"You've got a terrible laugh. Like you're farting, or fucking, or both at once."
For me, the best books and art for that matter, help me learn a bit more about myself and the world around me and Carolina De Robertis has done so witht his book. The President and the Frog mixes insight with humour and universality with intimacy to an exceptional effect.
"If you could see it you would know where you are inside the telling. You would know the difference between the end and The End."
"The future belongs to dreamers, he thought, but not purists."
"Even horror is an opening. Every moment a new beginning until we reach the end."
"How strange it was, the inability to ever fully see yourself through another person's eyes."