The Armies

By Evelio Rosero

Book Overview

Ismail, the profesor, is a retired teacher in a small Colombian town where he passes the days pretending to pick oranges while spying on his neighbor Geraldina as she lies naked in the shade of a ceiba tree on a red floral quilt. The garden burns with sunlight; the macaws laugh sweetly. Otilia, Ismail's wife, is ashamed of his peeping and suggests that he pay a visit to Father Albornoz. Instead, Ismail wanders the town visiting old friends, plagued by a tangle of secret memories: Where have I existed these years? I answer myself: up on the wall, peering over. When the armies slowly arrive, the profesor's reveries are gradually taken over by a living hell. His wife disappears and he must find her. We learn that not only gentle, grassy hillsides surround San Jos? but landmines and coca fields. The reader is soon engulfed by the violence of Rosero's narrative that is touched not only with a deep sadness, but an extraordinary tenderness.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0811218643
• ISBN13: 9780811218641
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Very Rewarding

I bought this book on a recent trip to Spain. I was looking for a worthwhile novel to practice reading in Spanish, and also to learn about Spain. I feel like I hit the Jackpot. The prose is *not* easy. Within a single paragraph, the time and location can shift almost imperceptibly, and there are many characters to keep straight. (The website has a family tree.) But even through the cloudy perspective of my weak Spanish, I can admire the richness and grace of Grandes' prose. Often I go back to re-read a chapter, not only to clarify details, but also for more enjoyment. I am in no hurry to finish this book; I'm loving being right in the middle of it ! Every tourist guide I read before going to Spain said "Don't ask the Spaniards about the Civil War. Nobody wants to remember those times." Good advice, but it seems that the Spaniards themselves may have taken it too far. Corazon Helado explores not just the events of that time, but how the facts of those times, the denial of those times, the taboo against speaking of those times, all combine to tug and squish and prod at the souls of children; children who grow to become adults, who grow to make up "the Spanish people". More than just a well-told story, I think this book might be part of an important stage of growth of this fascinating country. At least for an outsider, it provides perspectives that aren't readily available anywhere else.

un libro muy pero muy interesante y bien escrito

Este es un libro que te enseña y te dice lo que no puedes leer sobre la guerra española y la época de Franco. Es un buenísimo libro

Buen libro.

Muy buen libro. Vale la pena comprarlo. Solo les sugiero que lean el principio sin apuros, tanto mi esposo como yo tuvimos que empezar de nuevo para poder aprendernos los personajes, despues uno no quiere que se acabe. Buen final. Disfrutenlo.