El último caso de Rodolfo Walsh

by Elsa Drucaroff

En diciembre de 1976, Rodolfo Walsh contó públicamente, en su célebre
"Carta a mis amigos", cómo murió su hija María Victoria, en desigual combate armado contra las fuerzas del Ejército. A partir de ese texto breve y extraordinario, Elsa Drucaroff imagina una trama de acción, espionaje y suspenso, recreando sin tabúes la resistencia guerrillera al comienzo de la más sangrienta dictadura militar latinoamericana.
Esta nueva novela histórica de Drucaroff es un thriller de ritmo vertiginoso donde Walsh oficia de detective, como en sus mejores relatos policiales. Con personajes complejos de uno y otro bando, pinzados entre sus amores y su pasión política, y una electrizante sucesión de intrigas y conspiraciones, El último caso de Rodolfo Walsh es una ficción audaz que discute la historia reciente argentina, más allá de los lugares comunes.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Elsa Drucaroff (Buenos Aires) es una escritora y crítica argentina, profesora en Letras (ISP JVG) y doctora en Ciencias Sociales (UBA).

Investiga y enseña Literatura argentina contemporánea y Teoría y crítica literarias en la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UBA) y ejerce ocasionalmente el periodismo cultural. Sus obras de ficción cruzan géneros populares como la novela de aventuras, el policial o el melodrama con la novela histórica. Su teoría sobre la semiosis y los discursos se nutre de la sociosemiótica materialista y neomarxista de Raymond Williams y de propuestas de Mijaíl Bajtín, cruzadas con líneas del feminismo de la diferencia y las lecturas que éste hace del psicoanálisis freudo-lacaniano. Desde este marco leyó políticamente, cruzando género y clase, la narrativa argentina que de los años noventa a 2010 escriben las generaciones de postdictadura, amplio corpus literario que contribuyó a difundir.

Está casada con el ensayista e investigador argentino Alejandro Horowicz.

Reviews

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

between a 4 and a 4.5 -- not perfect but seriously strong writing.
(read earlier this month -- full post at my reading journal here:
https://www.readingavidly.com/2024/07...)


In the author's Afterword, she notes that the idea for this book came to her while having her students read various works by Rodolfo Walsh. One of these, "Letter to my Friends" as she says,
"in which he recounts the death of his daughter, it struck me that concealed within this extraordinary text lay subtle elements from which a full history could be imagined."

Rodolfo Walsh was a crime novelist/detective story writer who went on to become an investigative journalist, an activist and eventually the chief intelligence officer for the Montoneros, who were, in a nutshell (and for this novel's purposes) left-wing Peronist guerillas active in their opposition to the right-wing military dictatorship in Argentina. His book Operation Massacre (1957) had broken new ground in (as a back-cover blurb of my copy from Seven Stories Press notes) "personal investigative journalism." Walsh had also founded the clandestine news agency ANCLA in 1976 as a response to government censorship as well as the "Information Chain," which produced pamphlets of information meant for "hand-to-hand" distribution." In this story, the author imagines Walsh as a "protagonist living in those times, a detective, an artist and a militant," saying that he was "all those things" ...

"doing what he always did, intervening in events the only way he knew how: as a detective in search of the truth."

Here, that search for truth is paramount as Walsh sets out to investigate reports of his daughter's death.

While it may be set up as a sort of detective story, Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case is a solid piece of historical fiction, set during one of Argentina's darkest times, and the author has captured the danger, the insecurities and the uncertainties of the period as well as the fault lines that are developing among various sections of society, including Walsh's own Montoneros. The green Ford Falcons slowly making their way through the streets of Buenos Aires are constant reminders of state surveillance, and anyone at any time could be in danger of being picked up, carted away and tortured, killed or disappeared by government agents. At the same time, the novel probes the psychological effects of people caught up in this maelstrom, as the author explores the internal contradictions of the main characters, which takes this book in a direction I did not expect. Due to the subject matter it's a difficult story to read at times, but to her credit, Drucaroff never veers off into the sentimental, nor does she load the novel down with standard detective-story fare.

Considering I chose this book completely at random, it turned out to be powerful and compelling, a novel I couldn't stop reading, and one I can certainly recommend to readers who have an interest in this time period.

[Camila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[fairy books · Rating 4 out of 5]

increible cómo a través de la ficción literaria puede expandirse, desplegarse y entenderse el mundo de agonía de un padre investigando la muerte de su hija. y también es impresionante cómo a través de esos sucesos puede comprenderse tan de cerca la guerra en un gobierno en dictadura.
la ficción en diálogo con la realidad en este libro me permitió entender más la vida de rodolfo walsh y cómo esta se vió atravesada por la militancia, cómo lo dicho y lo no dicho en su historia se entrelaza en esta novela.
me encantó 💞💞

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's strange how life works sometimes. Up to this year, aside from knowing the general story of Eva Peron, that Jeremy Clarkson has nearly started a diplomatic incident over a car number plate, and that the UK was once at war with them over a small island about as far from this country as you could imagine, I had little to no knowledge about Argentina or it's intense and troubling political and military history. Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case is the second book I have read this year set in Argentina, although this one is more of a clear historical novel, drawing directly from history to form the basis of the story. I had never heard of the eponymous character before, and yet it is very clear to see what a large part he played in events in the seventies up until his own murder in 1977. It's a fascinating part of their history and whilst this book may not take us directly into some of the more disturbing truths of the so called 'Dirty War', it is present in the undulating sense of threat that bobs along as a backdrop to the main story.

This book is, in parts, a true story. That is that the precipitating event, the attack on the Montoneros members which resulted in the death of Rodolfo Walsh's daughter, Victoria, really did happen. It was one of many attacks designed to bring down the organisation who were aligned to former Argentine president Juan Peron. The Montoneros were considered, by the Military Government, to be a terrorist organisation, and Walsh was a very key part of their intelligence team. Author, journalist and activist, he is rally a fascinating character, and whilst in this book we only get a glimpse of the man in some of the darkest days of his life, Elsa Drucaroff has done a really good job of bringing him to life. I felt the conflict between the desire to do right by the organisation and the need to do right by his daughter. The tension created by the conflicting accounts of what happened to Victoria and her compadres felt real, almost visceral at times and it certainly inspired me to read up more on Walsh and what happened. It's a dangerous thing to start, believe me, as it can take you down all manner of rabbit holes with all the various parts of history ripe to be studied.

This is a slow burn of a book, allowing the reader time to get to grips with the various code names and elements of espionage that are undertaken by the main players of the story. I think that had it been faster paced it might have been difficult to follow as perspective changes between characters quite frequently. But it is laced with intrigue and subterfuge and at times I wasn't quite sure who to trust, who to believe in. Not knowing Argentine history all that well, it could have been difficult to know if I should really be rooting for the Montoneros or not, but when yuo look beyond this you are faced with a story of a father who just wants to know the fate of his daughter. Politics and conflict aside, there is something very human about it that any reader could empathise with.

I liked the way the author portrays the many players within the story. We are able to build a connection to some of them, smile with their joy and feel their pain. But, perhaps more importantly, it means that some of the scenes towards the end of the book are all the more shocking. It you read up on the 'Dirty War' and the 'death flights' then some of what happens at the end of the book takes on all the more weight and significance. There are times when the pace of the book, the flow and the speed of the narrative, really kicks up a notch and you can feel the jeopardy that comes with each and every action taken by the main players. But there are also times when I really had to concentrate to make sure that I hadn't missed any of the subtleties of what happens and why.

Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case is a fascinating look into Argentina's past, the politics and uprising that formed part of a very dark moment in history, and a unique take on the story of a key stakeholder in the country's history that many of us will have never heard of.

[Gabriel Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy buen ritmo narrativo y se deja devorar. Nos mete en el horror de la guerra sucia, en lo peor de la dictadura argentina de los 70. Remeda el estilo Walsh y lo reivindica, pero la trama de ficción puede ser un poco forzada para que todo cierre, lo que lo aleja del reportaje, de la crónica y de toda posibilidad de profundizar en lo que pasó o no pasó en esos días del asesinato de Vicki Walsh. Se recomienda leer este libro y complementarlo con el imprscindible Oración de María Moreno.

[Gon Zalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encantó. Muy bien llevada y va ganando fluidez y potencia en los diálogos. No entiendo cómo estuve tanto tiempo sin haberla leído.

[Valen · Rating 3 out of 5]

mejor de lo que espere

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good....but not great.

[Mary Picken · Rating 5 out of 5]

ThIs book is fiction, but based on Walsh’s own narrative on factual events. It is a book that really gets inside what it means to be heavily engaged in armed opposition to a government – and not just any government, but one run ruthlessly by a military dictatorship.

Rodolfo Jorge Walsh was a journalist based in Buenos Aires. Though not a Peronista, because he refused to choose between the barbarity of that regime and the subsequent junta, he nevertheless recognised the people’s like of the benefits that Peron had brought to industrial workers in the form of wage increases and fringe benefits. Peron had nationalized the railroads and other utilities and financed public works on a large scale, creating employment. So when subsequent military run governments failed to improve the lot of the working classes, there did tend to be a bit of rose coloured vision around Peron’s regime.

Walsh’s journalism very much focussed on what was happening in Argentina, and his ‘true crime’ investigative journalism book, Operation Massacre, was published in 1957.

Rodolfo Walsh is based around the time that Walsh had joined the Peronist Armed Forces, which in 1973 merged with the militant Montoneros. He was an important cog in the organisation, working on the press notices for the movement, and the spread of vital intelligence. In this secretive organisation he was known by the code name ‘Esteban’.

Rodolfo Walsh is based on a letter he wrote : A Letter to My Friends, and Elsa Drucaroff has taken that as her starting point for a novel in which Walsh investigates the disappearance of his own daughter. Victoria Walsh was just 26 years old when, on her birthday, the military junta sent 150 troops to attack the house she and her four friends were living in, and sought to kill them all.

Vicky disappeared and Rodolfo does not know whether she is alive or dead. In recounting his investigation into what exactly had happened Drucaroff shows us the picture of a man who is by no means a perfect individual. With traitors in both camps, he has to rely on an out of favour Colonel he knows rather than rely on his own information sources. Colonel König is old school and while he has doubts about his General’s approach and intent, he is keeping them to himself, while Rodolfo is seeking to challenge the Montoneros on both their approach and the way they seem to be separating their cause from the ordinary workers. He believed that sending their people out on suicide missions was both foolhardy and unnecessary as well as being a fundamental breach of human rights.

These two men come together to seek to help each other and latterly to see if a truce can be brokered. Any novel about a father searching for his missing child would be emotional, but in these circumstances it is truly heart-breaking, though there’s little emotion expressed here. Rather it is all unsaid, and must be read between the lines as Rodolfo methodically searches for news of Victoria, knowing that in some ways, her death would be preferable to her torture and disappearance.

It is also quite thrilling to be in the heart of a political debate like the ones Walsh has with the Montoneros which would have happened for real. To understand the sacrifices that these young men and women were willing to make for their country and to blindly accept orders that would send them to their deaths. It’s also heart-breaking for a man like Rodolfo to have to seek information from his enemies. Yet he does and he also helps König, because the leader of the army, General Oddone will stop at nothing to ensure he wins this battle with the Montoneros and Rudolfo needs answers wherever they come from.

Drucaroff's writing in this translation by Slava Faybysh is clear and unambiguous and the story is immersive and utterly fascinating. It is also thrilling and quite shocking when you consider the tactics used. This could so easily be an adventure film, such is the power and latterly, the pace of the events that took place.

Rodolfo Walsh is a book that makes you want to learn much, much more about the complex and ruthless nature of Argentinian politics and how successive governments reached power. I feel enriched by this book which is both excellent literary fiction and a truly fascinating look at a world where democracy comes a poor second to brutal violence and the absence of human rights. It’s not a world that’s as far away as I would like.

[David Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a war outside still raging
You say it ain't ours anymore to win...,
- Bruce Springsteen, No Surrender

I'm grateful to Corylus Books for sending me a copy of Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case to consider for review, and to Ewa for inviting me to join the book's blogtour.

This really was something new for me - an intense thriller, based on real events and featuring as its central character a real person. Rodolfo Walsh was an Argentinian author, who in the 1950s and 60s wrote classic mysteries. He also originated the true crime genre with an account of a massacre carried out by the country's dictatorship in the 1950s.

Set in the 70s under another military regime, Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case sees Walsh, who was also a political radical, forced to investigate his own daughter's disappearance - or perhaps she survived? - at the hands of the military. For fellow UK readers, this is the same dictatorship with which the UK ended up at war over the Falkland Islands/ Islas Malvinas in the 1980s. While that was towards the end of their rule, in this book they have only recently come to power and are busy disappearing their opponents, their imagined opponents and basically anyone (hair too long perhaps? Studying something suspicious at uni?) who even looks as though they might be an opponent. It is a scar that Argentina still carries, and here we see the wound inflicted: Walsh's experiences here act as something of a microcosm of the suffering that took place.

It's a busy novel, following, first, the military, then, Walsh and the opposition organisation of which he's part, but also a retired colonel with whom he's acquainted. In the gaps, as it were, we see individuals' stories, both of horror - the pregnant woman dragged off to a secret prison - and heroism - the conscript who spies for the rebels. One can't say too much here, because Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case deals in ambiguity. In a truly tense thriller, we are aware of the possibility of double and triple crosses, of ruses and - a nod to the mystery writer at the centre of things - of red herrings.

It would be wrong though to see this is simply a thriller. There is plenty of action, and there are tense scenes with lives hanging by a thread, but at its centre Rodolfo Walsh's Last Case has a truly human perspective. It focuses on the dreams and nightmares (sometimes they are blurred), the lost hopes and the very present fears, and the passions of a group of very believable and empathetic characters.

Aside from Walsh himself, his wife Lila and his daughter Vicki we see army conscripts becoming aware of the horrors being carried out by the regime, and the moral choices they're forced to make - collaborate? Look the other way and try to forget? Resist? We see young people forced to flee the country, and older ones finding their own loyalties divided. There's the dilemma faced by an opposition out of its depth. Everywhere, there is the military, dragging young people away, raging at a political, cultural opposition it can't understand, an opposition that is less about armed resistance than simply about being something else.

In the time period of this story, that rage at the modern world carries the day, despite heroic, desperate but totemic acts of defiance. In the longer run, as we know, it did not, does not and will not triumph. We don't see it but the dictators fall, while the writings of figures like Walsh are still available to speak to us - and their lives and stories can be told by writers like Drucaroff.

All in all, this is a marvellous book, both tense and beautiful, full of hope but so sad.

The transition by Slava Faybysh is vivid and readable, taking one immediately to the centre of things and capturing the vivid pace of events.

[J Fearnley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a man, Rudolfo Walsh, whose daughter Vicki is involved in a standoff with the military. Vicki is a member of the Montoneros organization who went by the name of Hilda.

Rudolfo is listening to an account of a military operation on the radio when he realises that it is his daughter and four compañero who are involved in the fight or, one might say, massacre since the five guerrillas were outnumbered by 150 military personnel – troops, snipers, a tank and helicopter!

Rudolfo is beside himself with what has been reported and is determined to find out what happened and if his daughter is dead or was taken and is alive.

Now begins a complex and beautifully crafted story of his search for the truth. We meet a large cast of players in this book some of whom have more than one name. Rudolfo, for example, a writer, journalist is also in charge of intelligence gathering for the Montoneros and known as Esteban.

All the characters are valuable and intricate pieces in what transpires and the way that Elsa Drucaroff weaves their stories together and draws you into each of them is nothing less than brilliant.

These characters stories will come to tell parts of what happened. They will lead the Montoneros to consider talks with the Military, the way each of these sides think through Rudolfo, the Montoneros executive, through Colonel König who agrees to help find out if Vicki is alive, through General Oddone who is determined to be victorious, of the rank and file of both sides who are brave and willing to fight for their cause. Of the heroes who may just be traitors. Yes, there are red herrings, there is betrayal and as the truth becomes clear there is a tense and dangerous race to stop another deathly encounter.

This is a gripping, breathtaking book in which the author has taken an historic event involving people who actually lived and woven a possible scenario of what transpired. Fiction based on facts. Can there really be an agreement between the two opposing sides? Will Rudolfo be able to find out if his daughter is alive or dead? Is there a future, a return for the missing to their families and a better life for the ordinary, working people of Buenos Aires, of Argentina.? This is a book of heartbreaking sadness but also a story of hope. Will hope win out? Well I certainly enjoyed the ending but Elsa Drucaroff doesn’t pull any punches. She stays true to the history and she stays true to her story. It is often the case that a person, group or event in history can only be recalled, remembered or honoured through a fictional telling until time and tide, as they say, allow History to be written. That is why this book is important as well as being thought provoking it is a record and a comment until the time comes.

This is a fantastic story. Interesting with well drawn characters that is compelling, engrossing and a terrific read.

Rudolfo Walsh’s Last Case is a story that will get you wanting to find out about the real Rudolfo, about what happened to Vicki, about Argentina’s political and social history. I think this would be a really good book for schools, book clubs and history groups to read and discuss all the things that arise in it. The personal stories, the politics, the crimes and the history.

It is only when a book is translated into English that I’m able to read it. So thanks go to Slavya Faybysh for the translation and also to Corylus Books for publishing translated works.

[Peter Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot centres on a real-life event, a shoot-out on 29 September 1976, subsequently known as the Battle of Corro Street in which Walsh's daughter María Victoria (nom de guerre "Hilda", or "Vicki" to family and friends) was involved. It was reported that all five Montoneros where killed, but rumours persisted that one, a woman, was captured alive. It is here that the fiction takes over. Rodolfo does what every caring parent would do, try to establish the truth and if she were alive save his daughter. If she were alive would the military use her for their own ends, as bait or a pawn in negotiations. It is here that Rodolfo does indeed take on his last case.

The story switches between the viewpoints of the venal and corrupt military and the political opposition who were effectively treated as rebels. Here they cling onto the spirit and ideals of the student protests of 1968, a movement for the workers lead by an intelligentsia despised by the military. The spirit of resistance, as well its likely futility against unsurmountable odds, is captured to perfection, the reader is convinced these characters would die for their cause. There is also a deep sense of fear that is ultimately faced a brazen almost cavalier attitude to life, one where it is better to die an honourable death than to live on your knees in servitude.

Trust and betrayal are the central themes, though there are also explorations into camaraderie, love and family. As both sides via to establish the intent of the opposition they face the dilemma of relying upon the trusting of one’s comrades, but simultaneously on the betrayal of the opposition by those within. If you can infiltrate the opposition, can they not do the same to you. Here we are given a sense of the scheming and paranoia involved, where betrayal could lead to torture and death. I thought initially it took a little getting into the story, probably due to the constantly switching perspectives, but this builds up a nice vein of tension and urgency throughout leading up to a magnificently created set piece as Rodolfo battles to avert disaster. The translator has done a great job in pulling this together and retaining a sense of urgency.

Rodolfo is clearly the central character and wonderfully drawn, at times working in bed whilst his wife lies asleep beside him. For me the big surprise was the characterisation of the military. It would have been easy to portray them as evil, as many clearly were, but there is more nuance here and a reminder that many were conscripted into the forces and one courageous soldier plays an important role within the storyline.

In the end, as the story has its foundations in fact, we know that Rodolfo follows the path of his daughter, dying the day after publishing Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta when he refused to surrender to a group of soldiers. Rodolfo Walsh’s Last Case is wonderfully imaginative piece of speculative fiction and a fine testament to a talented and courageous writer.

[Andy Wormald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corylus are a publisher from whom I always anticipate something different to norm, books that will intrigue, grip me with their narrative, this book did both

This maybe a small book in terms of pages but boy does it pack a punch, it lays down a powerful statement, blending fact seemlessly into addictive fiction.

I know next to nothing about Argentinian politics of the 70s, but feel as though I now understand a little more.

I would say that this is not a fast paced read, but one which slowly drew me in with its strongly written narrative giving a strong read, taking you straight to the heart of the matter.

The story is superbly plotted, there are man facets to the novel all intricately layered into a deep thought provoking read, it is also a read sprinkled with twists, n someways it comes down to who you can trust.

Equally the book is wonderfully character driven, well drawn out giving a sense of who they were, the story is told from differing viewpoints, giving a well rounded story

In someways this is rather a poignnat and heartfelt read, you can feel torment hidden within Rodolfo as he searches for what maybe an uncomfortable truth. The book builds a level of suspense as the truth is slowly revealed

It is not always easy to take a factual situation and weave an engaging narrative around it, however, the author does this with aplomb, you also get a sense of place and time with the writing.

Credit to the translator for ensuring a gripping and addictive read

This is not your usual thriller, but one that is well worth reading

[Sonja van der Westhuizen | West Words · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her first novel translated into English Argentinian writer, Elsa Drucaroff, uses true historical events and imagines a possible scenario in which a father searches for his missing daughter.

The father is Rodolfo Walsh, a well-known and significant figure in Argentina’s politics and literature. Walsh was a prolific writer and journalist credited with founding investigative journalism in Argentina. He was also head of Communications and Intelligence for Montoneros, an Argentine far-left Peronist national liberation movement that originated in Argentina in the 1970s during the dictatorship. Drucaroff’s novel is set in this turbulent time period.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.co...