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A review by anusha_reads
Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
#IBPCHALLENGE2024 BOOK 3: UNDISCOVERED, GABRIELA WIENER, TR. JULIA SANCHES, LONGLISTED FOR #INTERNATIONALBOOKER2024
"THE STRANGEST THING ABOUT BEING ALONE HERE IN PARIS, IN AN ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM GALLERY MORE OR LESS BENEATH THE EIFFEL TOWER, IS THE THOUGHT THAT ALL THESE STATUETTES THAT LOOK LIKE ME WERE WRENCHED FROM MY COUNTRY BY A MAN WHOSE LAST NAME I INHERITED."- These are the opening lines of the book.
This work is rather unconventional: Is it an autobiography or fiction?
The protagonist is the author, Gabriela Wiener, herself. The book is primarily a reconnaissance into the life of her great-great-grandfather Charles Wiener (a Jewish-Austrian explorer). It’s a quest to unravel her family legacy, or history, which she believes remains largely undiscovered.
"MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A HUAQUERO OF INTERNATIONAL REPUTE. HUAQUERO IS NOT A EUPHEMISM. IT’S HOW I REFER TO THE LOOTERS WHO TO THIS DAY REMOVE CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC PROPERTIES FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES." She is horrified by all this, and he has even been accused of stealing and selling an indigenous child.
She is traumatised to have her brown body associated with an Austrian surname. In one instance, she recounts being mistaken for her own child's nanny and, at a dinner party, being mistaken for a maid despite being a journalist.
The book seamlessly blends facts into the narrative, making it challenging to distinguish between reality and fiction. Throughout the book, she narrates events about Charles Wiener, delving deeply into his true identity. She also discusses her father’s life, his infidelity to her mother, his mistress, and his daughter born out of wedlock. After her father's death, she further investigates her lineage.
The narrative also touches on her polyamorous life, her two spouses, and her other relationships. The book explores themes of identity crisis, discrimination, racism, slavery, colonial wounds, child theft during colonialism, ancestry, and infidelity, and presents a plethora of facts.
Did you know Cristopher Columbus ordered six of the natives to be seized and work for him?
“ALL OF US HAVE A WHITE FATHER. BY THAT I MEAN, GOD IS WHITE. OR AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN TOLD. THE COLONIZER IS WHITE. HISTORY IS WHITE AND MALE.”
The author reads One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is her dad's favourite book, too. This part resonated with me as my dad had many favourites that he would recommend.
"POWER IS REPUDIATED BECAUSE POWER IS ALSO RACIAL."
Wiener is a witty, bold, and fluid narrator who has skillfully woven this blend of fact and fiction into her composition.
Julia Sanches was also the translator for #internationalbookerprize2023 shortlisted book BOULDER by Eva Baltasar.
This could be the one!
"THE STRANGEST THING ABOUT BEING ALONE HERE IN PARIS, IN AN ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM GALLERY MORE OR LESS BENEATH THE EIFFEL TOWER, IS THE THOUGHT THAT ALL THESE STATUETTES THAT LOOK LIKE ME WERE WRENCHED FROM MY COUNTRY BY A MAN WHOSE LAST NAME I INHERITED."- These are the opening lines of the book.
This work is rather unconventional: Is it an autobiography or fiction?
The protagonist is the author, Gabriela Wiener, herself. The book is primarily a reconnaissance into the life of her great-great-grandfather Charles Wiener (a Jewish-Austrian explorer). It’s a quest to unravel her family legacy, or history, which she believes remains largely undiscovered.
"MY GREAT-GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A HUAQUERO OF INTERNATIONAL REPUTE. HUAQUERO IS NOT A EUPHEMISM. IT’S HOW I REFER TO THE LOOTERS WHO TO THIS DAY REMOVE CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC PROPERTIES FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES." She is horrified by all this, and he has even been accused of stealing and selling an indigenous child.
She is traumatised to have her brown body associated with an Austrian surname. In one instance, she recounts being mistaken for her own child's nanny and, at a dinner party, being mistaken for a maid despite being a journalist.
The book seamlessly blends facts into the narrative, making it challenging to distinguish between reality and fiction. Throughout the book, she narrates events about Charles Wiener, delving deeply into his true identity. She also discusses her father’s life, his infidelity to her mother, his mistress, and his daughter born out of wedlock. After her father's death, she further investigates her lineage.
The narrative also touches on her polyamorous life, her two spouses, and her other relationships. The book explores themes of identity crisis, discrimination, racism, slavery, colonial wounds, child theft during colonialism, ancestry, and infidelity, and presents a plethora of facts.
Did you know Cristopher Columbus ordered six of the natives to be seized and work for him?
“ALL OF US HAVE A WHITE FATHER. BY THAT I MEAN, GOD IS WHITE. OR AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN TOLD. THE COLONIZER IS WHITE. HISTORY IS WHITE AND MALE.”
The author reads One Hundred Years of Solitude, which is her dad's favourite book, too. This part resonated with me as my dad had many favourites that he would recommend.
"POWER IS REPUDIATED BECAUSE POWER IS ALSO RACIAL."
Wiener is a witty, bold, and fluid narrator who has skillfully woven this blend of fact and fiction into her composition.
Julia Sanches was also the translator for #internationalbookerprize2023 shortlisted book BOULDER by Eva Baltasar.
This could be the one!