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katherinevarga 's review for:
Reputations
by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
For me, the most enjoyable part of this book was its use of language- its detailed sentences, lengthy but controlled. I'm not an expert on translations but this seemed like a very strong one (the prose was absolutely gorgeous, and I kept forgetting that it was actually a translation). In terms of plot, I wasn't blown away, but that's largely since it was too male-POV-centric for my taste, and not much really happens (it's definitely a novella-sized plot). However, I kept reading it for its lovely sentences, such as:
"But where is it? Where does the past go when it changes? In which folds of our world are they hiding, cowardly and ashamed, the events that had been unable to remain, to keep being true in spite of the wear and tear of time, to win their place in human history?" (144) Pretty resonant in this first week of "alternative facts."
and:
"There, thought Mallarino, lay the origin of our dissatisfaction and sadness: the impossibility of sharing memory with others." (145)
"But where is it? Where does the past go when it changes? In which folds of our world are they hiding, cowardly and ashamed, the events that had been unable to remain, to keep being true in spite of the wear and tear of time, to win their place in human history?" (144) Pretty resonant in this first week of "alternative facts."
and:
"There, thought Mallarino, lay the origin of our dissatisfaction and sadness: the impossibility of sharing memory with others." (145)