For readers who love Bolaño, a new voice of Latin American fiction, winner of the Mario Vargas Llosa Prize. Recurring blackouts envelop Caracas in an inescapable darkness that makes nightmares come true. Real and fictional characters, most of them are writers, exchange the role of narrator in this polyphonic novel. They recount contradictory versions of the plot, a series of femicides that began with the energy crisis. The central narrator is a psychiatrist who manipulates the accounts of his friend, an author writing a book titled The Night; and his patient, an advertising executive obsessed with understanding the world through word puzzles. The author shifts between crime fiction and metafiction, cautioning readers that the events retold are both true and manipulated. This is a political novel about the financial crisis and socio-political division in Venezuela from 2008 to 2010. The title of the book, originally also in English, is a gesture towards Chavism's failure to resist US influence. Yet, the form is unapologetically literary, a reflection on the depiction and distortion of reality through storytelling. Blanco Calderón said about the potential of language, "I am convinced that all the evil in the world begins in them: in words."

The Night

Literature & Fiction

Blanco Calderón, Rodrigo

United States

Seven Stories Press

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE Rodrigo Blanco Calder n has established himself as one of the great voices of Latin American literature with his debut novel The Night, and his short story collection Sacrifices. Simpatia is a suspenseful novel with unexpected twists and turns about the agony of Venezuela and the collapse of Chavismo. Simpatia is set in the Venezuela of Nicolas Maduro amid a mass exodus of the intellectual class who have been leaving their pets behind. Ulises Kan, the protagonist and a movie buff, receives a text message from his wife, Paulina, saying she is leaving the country (and him). Ulises is not heartbroken but liberated by Paulina's departure. Two other events end up disrupting his life even further- the return of Nadine, an unrequited love from the past, and the death of his father-in-law, General Martin Ayala. Thanks to Ayala's will, Ulises discovers that he has been entrusted with a mission-to transform Los Argonautas, the great family home, into a shelter for abandoned dogs. If he manages to do it in time, he will inherit the luxurious apartment that he had shared with Paulina. This novel centers on themes of family and orphanhood in order to address the abuse of power by a patrilineage of political figures in Latin America, from Sim n Bolivar to Hugo Chavez. The untranslatable title, Simpatia, which means both sympathy and charm, ironically references the qualities these political figures share. In a morally bankrupt society, where all human ties seem to have dissolved, Ulises is like a stray dog picking up scraps of sympathy. Can you really know who you love? What is, in essence, a family? Are abandoned dogs proof of the existence or non-existence of God? Ulises unknowingly embodies these questions, as a pilgrim of affection in a post-love era.

Simpatía: A Novel

NOVELA GALARDONADA CON EL III PREMIO BIENAL DE NOVELA MARIO VARGAS LLOSA Premio Rive Gauche (Francia) Premio de la Crítica (Venezuela) Una fábula sobre la Venezuela de hoy, por Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, el autor revelación en la literatura latinoamericana de los últimos años. «Estoy convencido de que todo el mal del mundo empieza en ellas. En las palabras.» Caracas 2010. La crisis energética es aprovechada por el gobierno revolucionario para decretar cortes eléctricos que, durante horas, funden a negro todo el país. En esos lapsos de tiempo, Venezuela parece retroceder en la historia hacia una nueva Edad de Piedra que se filtra por todas las rendijas. En medio de esta atmósfera, dos amigos, un escritor frustrado y un psiquiatra acostumbrado a involucrarse en la vida de sus pacientes, conversan sobre una serie de crímenes ocurridos en el último año. Pedro Álamo, otro de los personajes de esta novela polifónica, busca obsesivamente en los juegos de palabras -los que crea y los que sueña de su admirado Darío Lancini- la clave para entender el desquiciado mundo en el que vive. Como si buscara convertir la realidad en algo diferente cambiando el orden de los elementos que la forman, intentando encontrar así su exacto significado. Literatura, rock, sueños, violencia, política, amor, ausencias y miedos se entremezclan en la mente de los protagonistas. Abren laberintos, crean encrucijadas y producen cortocircuitos vitales. Con esta historia en la que todo parece caminar al borde del delirio. Donde la Venezuela actual se ve reflejada en un espejo atravesado por sombras apocalípticas y sus habitantes se enfrentan al destino que les aguarda inexorable; sea este el cumplimiento de sus obsesiones o la muerte. Sobre el autor se ha dicho... «Utiliza recursos de ironía, parodia, juegos de lenguaje. Ofrece una lectura profunda donde explora la escritura y el dilema de la creación.» Jurado del Concurso de Cuentos de El Nacional «Al leer los relatos de Rodrigo Blanco Calderón uno alberga la nostalgia por esos días ya remotos en que uno leía por leer; en que uno leía porque se le antojaba y lo que se le antojaba, al punto de desarrollar una fruición por la literatura que cualquiera asociaría a una adicción.» El Mundo, Venezuela. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION A fable about modern-day Venezuela by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, the recent breakout author in Latin American literature. "I am convinced that all the evil in the world begins in them: in words." (Caracas, 2010). The energy crisis is taken advantage of by the revolutionary government in order to demand electrical outages that leave the entire country in darkness for hours. In those lapses of time, Venezuela seems to go back in time to a new Stone Age that seeps into every crevice. In the middle of this atmosphere, two friends, a frustrated writer and a psychiatrist accustomed to getting involved in the lives of his patients, discuss a series of crimes that have occurred in the last year. Pedro Álamo, another of the characters in this polyphonic novel, searches obsessively in word games—those he creates and those he dreams up from his admired Darío Lancini—for the key to understand the mad world in which he lives. As if searching to convert reality in to something different by changing the order of its elements, and thus trying to find its exact meaning. Literature, rock, dreams, violence, politics, love, absence, and fear all mingle in the minds of the protagonists.

The Night / The Night (Spanish Edition)

Alfaguara

La nueva novela del ganador del Premio Bienal de Novela Mario Vargas Llosa por&nbsp;The&nbsp;Night «Así nos&nbsp;marchamos&nbsp;los que nos quedamos&nbsp;--pensó.» Ulises Kan es huérfano y cinéfilo. Paulina, su mujer, como tantas personas que huyen del país en ruinas en que viven, ha decidido irse. Sin él. Dos sucesos más terminan de trastocar su vida: el regreso de Nadine, un amor inconcluso del pasado, y la muerte de su suegro, el general Martín Ayala. Gracias al testamento de este, Ulises descubre que se le ha encomendado una misión: transformar Los Argonautas, la gran casa familiar, en un hogar para perros abandonados. Si logra hacerlo antes del tiempo indicado, heredará el lujoso apartamento que había compartido con Paulina. El polémico testamento desencadenará una trama que envolverá a Ulises entre las intrigas de Paulina y la sombra de Nadine, que no alcanza a descifrar. Mientras, los otros habitantes de la casa proyectarán sobre la extraña arquitectura sus propias historias y fantasmas. En una sociedad en bancarrota, donde todos los lazos humanos parecen haberse disuelto, Ulises es como un perro callejero que va recogiendo las migajas de la simpatía. ¿Se puede conocer de verdad a quien se ama? ¿Qué es, en el fondo, una familia? ¿Son los perros abandonados una prueba de la existencia o de la inexistencia de Dios? Ulises encarna sin saberlo estas preguntas, como un peregrino del afecto en una época posterior al amor. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION The new novel by the winner of the Mario Vargas Llosa's Biennial Novel Prize for The Night. That's how we who stay leave, he thought. Ulysses Kan is an orphan and a movie buff. Paulina, his wife, like so many people fleeing the ruined country in which they live, has decided to leave. Without him. Two more events end up disrupting his life: the return of Nadine, an unfinished love from the past, and the death of his father-in-law, General Martín Ayala. Thanks to his testament, Ulysses discovers that he has been entrusted with a mission: to transform Los Argonautas, the great family home, into a home for abandoned dogs. If he manages to do it before the indicated time, he will inherit the luxurious apartment that he had shared with Paulina. The controversial will unleashes a plot that entwines Ulysses between the intrigues of Paulina and the shadow of Nadine, which he cannot figure out. Meanwhile, the other inhabitants of the house will project theirown stories and ghosts onto the strange architecture. In a morally bankrupt society, where all human ties seem to have dissolved, Ulysses is like a stray dog picking up scraps of sympathy. Can you really know who you love? What is, in essence, a family?Are&nbsp;abandoned dogs proof of the existence or non-existence of God? Ulysses unknowingly embodies these questions, as a pilgrim of affection in a post-love era.

Simpatía / Simpatia (Spanish Edition)

Varias

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Books by Blanco Calderón, Rodrigo

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Blanco Calderón, Rodrigo. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Night

Simpatía: A Novel

The Night / The Night (Spanish Edition)

Simpatía / Simpatia (Spanish Edition)

The Night