Κόκκινος Απρίλης

Félix Chalcatana #1

by Santiago Roncagliolo, Μαργαρίτα Μπονάτσου (translator)

«Πάντα ήθελα να γράψω ένα θρίλερ, δηλαδή, ένα αιματοβαμμένο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα με κατά συρροήν δολοφόνους και τερατώδη εγκλήματα. Και βρήκα τα απαραίτητα συστατικά στην ιστορία της χώρας μου: μια εμπόλεμη ζώνη, μια γιορτή θανάτου όπως είναι η Μεγάλη Εβδομάδα, μια πόλη που κατοικείται από φαντάσματα. Τι άλλο ήθελα;

Τις δολοφονίες ερευνά ο αντιεισαγγελέας πρωτοδικών Φέλιξ Τσακαλτάνα Σαλντίβαρ. Του αρέσει να τον αποκαλούν έτσι, με τον πλήρη τίτλο του. Ο εισαγγελέας Τσακαλτάνα δεν έχει κάνει ποτέ τίποτα κακό, δεν έχει κάνει ποτέ τίποτα καλό, δεν έχει κάνει ποτέ τίποτα που να μην ορίζεται σαφώς από τον κανονισμό λειτουργίας της υπηρεσίας του. Αλλά τώρα πρόκειται να γνωρίσει τη φρίκη. Και η φρίκη δεν έχει διαβάσει τον ποινικό κώδικα. Πάντα ήθελα να γράψω ένα μυθιστόρημα για αυτά που συμβαίνουν όταν ο θάνατος γίνεται ο μοναδικός τρόπος ζωής. Και να το!»

Ένα εκπληκτικό μυθιστόρημα, στο οποίο οι περιγραφές για τις μεθόδους επίθεσης του «Φωτεινού Μονοπατιού», καθώς επίσης και οι αντιτρομοκρατικές μέθοδοι ανάκρισης, βασανιστηρίων και εξαφανίσεων είναι πραγματικές.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Spanish Literature, Latin American, Thriller, Historical Fiction

317 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Santiago Roncagliolo ha vivido en México, Perú y España. Su libro Abril rojo (Alfaguara, 2006) lo convirtió en el ganador más joven del Premio Alfaguara de Novela. y está en vías de traducción a más de diez idiomas. Su novela Pudor (Alfaguara, 2004) ha sido llevada al cine. Además, ha publicado El príncipe de los caimanes y los cuentos de Crecer es un oficio triste.

También ha escrito guiones de cine y televisión, traducciones literarias y libros para niños. En la actualidad, reside en Barcelona y colabora con el diario El País de España y varios medios latinoamericanos.

Reviews

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 4 out of 5]

آوریل سرخ، کتابی است از سانتیاگو رونکاگلیولو، نویسندهٔ اهل پرو، که در آن جنایت، سیاست، ترس و تاریخ به شکلی نفس‌گیر به هم گره خورده‌اند. رمان در بستر پُرتنش دوران پس از دیکتاتوری آلبرتو فوجیموری روایت می‌شود ، دورانی که سایهٔ گروه شورشی راه درخشان هم چنان بر شهر و روستاهای پرو حضوری سنگین دارد .

گروه راه درخشان :
راه درخشان یکی از خشن ترین و بدنام ترین جنبش‌های چریکی قرن بیستم در آمریکای لاتین بود . خودش را وارث راستین مارکسیسم–لنینیسم–مائوئیسم می‌دانست و هدف اصلی‌اش سرنگونی دولت پرو و جایگزینی آن با یک حکومت انقلابی بر پایهٔ دیکتاتوری پرولتاریا بود . راه درخشان به خشونت شدید و بی‌رحمانه شهرت داشت. این گروه نه‌تنها علیه نیروهای دولتی، بلکه علیه دهقانان، معلمان، فعالان اتحادیه‌ها، و حتی مردم عادی نیز دست به خشونت می‌زد . هر کسی که با آن‌ها همکاری نمی‌کرد یا به اندازهٔ کافی انقلابی به نظر نمی‌رسید، ممکن بود هدف قرار گیرد ترور و مثله‌کردن مخالفان ، بمب‌گذاری در مناطق شهری و اعدام دهقانانی که حاضر به همکاری نبودند از شیوه های رایج راه درخشان بود .
داستان کتاب :
قهرمان داستان، فلیکس چاکالتانا ، دادستانی قانون‌مدار و منزوی‌ست که مأمور رسیدگی به پروندهٔ جسدی سوخته و بی‌نام شده. در روند تحقیقات، او با زنجیره‌ای از قتل‌های مشکوک، نمادهای مذهبی، و سکوت و عدم همکاری نهادهای امنیتی روبرو می‌ شود.
هرچه پیشرفت چاکالتانا در پرونده بیشتر می شود، مرز میان قانون و خشونت، وجدان فردی و اطاعت اداری هم بیش از پیش مخدوش می‌شود. روایت داستان، نه‌تنها فساد ساختاری ، زخم‌های فراموش‌شدهٔ جنگ داخلی و جهل و ترس مردم را نشان می دهد ، ، بلکه تصویری از آشفتگی روان انسان در تقابل با ترس، تردید و حقیقت را نشان می‌دهد.
چاکالتانا قهرمان داستان ، شخصیتی پیچیده دارد .مردی تنها و غمگین که با عکس مادر از دست رفته حرف می‌زند، از روابط انسانی گریزان است، در برابر خشونت، ابتدا منفعل و سپس دچار دگرگونی می‌شود. در روند داستان، او از یک کارمند قانون‌مدار به شخصی بدل می‌شود که خود نیز مرزهای قانون را زیر پا می‌گذارد و این تحول را باید یکی از نقاط درخشان رمان دانست.
چاکالتانا دیگر آن کارمند سادهٔ اداره نیست. او به عمق فساد سیستم پی برده و دریافته خشونت منحصر به راه درخشان نیست . پلیس، ارتش، و دولت نیز به همان اندازه، شاید هم بیشتر، خشن‌اند. با نگریستن به چهره جامعه ؛ او دیگر مردم عادی، همسایگان، دوستان و همه را خشن و خون ریز و وحشی می بیند و سرانجام، خود او؛ دادستانی که روزی بی‌طرف و مؤدب بود، اکنون می‌ بیند که خشونت در رگ‌های خودش نیز جریان دارد.
در نهایت، آوریل سرخ فقط روایت یک قتل سیاسی یا داستان جنایی و تلاش برای پیدا کردن قاتل نیست؛ بلکه کالبدشکافی خشونتی‌ست که در تار و پود جامعه پرو ریشه دوانده ، خشونتی که نه‌تنها در ارتش و شورشیان، بلکه در نگاه‌های بی‌تفاوت، در کاغذهای رسمی، و حتی در وجدان افراد هم پیداست . آوریل سرخ با جسارت، چهره ای را نشان می دهد که بسیاری ترجیح می‌دهند نبینند: خشونتی معمولی، بوروکراتیک و روزمره. آوریل سرخ راه‌حل نشان نمی دهد، اما مخاطب را با پرسشی روبرو می‌کند که مدت‌ها در ذهنش خواهد ماند ، وقتی قانون خشن‌تر از شورش باشد، عدالت یعنی چه؟

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

" از من پرسیدید آیا به بهشت اعتقاد دارم. من به جهنم اعتقاد دارم آقای دادستان، تویش زندگی می کنم، جهنم یعنی اینکه نتوانی بمیری."
کتاب تموم شد، چند روز گذشت، سعی کردم از اون فضا فاصله بگیرم تا بتونم بنویسم اما نمیشه، جهنم آوریل سرخ توی ذهنم هنوز ادامه داره..
آوریل سرخ فقط ی داستان ترسناک معمایی_جنایی نیست، واقعیت سلاخی جسم و روح ی جامعه ی بحران زده س، تصویر واضحی از گورهای دسته جمعی بی نام و نشون ه ، مادریه که در جستجوی بقایای پسرشه و یادآور مادرهای نام آشنای زیادیه، توصیف قتل های فجیع سریالی ه و قصه ی قربانی شدن ها اما نرسیدن به رهایی ه...!
ریتم تند کتاب در کنار ی پایان غافلگیر کننده، جذابیت خاصی به این روایت داده و بخش های عمیق و مهمی از کتاب یاداوری میکنه که آسمون، در هر جغرافیا و زمانی که فساد و جنایت از بالاترین سطح قدرت سرچشمه گرفته، رنگ یکسانی داره!
" اگر کسی با بمب دست ساز کسی را بکشد اسمش تروریست است اما اگر با گرسنگی و مسلسل بکشد، اسمش دفاع است. این بازی با کلمات است، نه؟ می دانید فرقش چیست؟ مرگ برای ما مهم نیست. اما آدم های شما اگر مسلسل دست شان نباشد خودشان را خراب می کنند."

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta novela es para leerla una vez como policial y otra como relato anclado en factores históricos, sociales y culturales del Perú en el año 2000. El relato se desarrolla a lo largo de abril de ese año en la localidad de Ayacucho, ubicada justo entre la Cuzco inca y la Lima española o blanca. El protagonista es un fiscal muy circunspecto que aprende a lidiar con las brasas todavía calientes del movimiento guerrillero Sendero Luminoso.

En "Abril Rojo", Santiago Rocangliolo despliega su capacidad para intercalar el factor sorpresa de las novelas de misterio con pasajes históricos, las tradiciones centenarias que aún se mantienen en Perú, los persistentes rencores sociales, la burocracia militar, la violencia de la historia reciente y el cambio abrupto que supuso la apertura de la ciudad al turismo internacional, un fenómeno reciente en esa localidad.

Y en el medio de todo eso, aparece una suerte de Frankenstein formado por los cadáveres de cuatro muertos. O más. Cada una de esas víctimas representan a un estrato o sector de la sociedad. Lo más notable de esta novela son las reflexiones del autor sobre las cicatricas -o heridas abiertas- que dejaron en el pueblo años de violencia.

[Ends of the Word · Rating 4 out of 5]

How best to express the horrors of a bloody civil war whose memory is still painful? How can one probe into wounds which are still open and smarting? An answer might be provided by literature in general, and genre literature in particular. One could cite as an example Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s “Cemetery of Forgotten Books” series, haunted by the memories of the Spanish Civil War. Zafon’s bestselling novels have shown that how the Gothic, so often dismissed as ‘mere’ entertainment, can successfully engage with and comment on troublesome recent history.

Peruvian writer and journalist Santiago Roncagliolo did something similar with his crime thriller Red April (Abril Rojo), originally published in Spanish in 2006 and subsequently in an English rendition by veteran translator Edith Grossman (it won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for 2011).

The civil war which acts as a backdrop to the events in this book is the armed conflict in Roncagliolo’s native country between the Government, the Communist Party (also known as Sendero Luminoso or Shining Path) and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. The conflict started in 1980 and has been largely dormant since 2000, albeit with occasional resurgences of violence.

The plot unfolds around the period of the presidential elections before Holy Week in the year 2000. In the context of this campaign, the Government is keen to make a statement that communist insurgents have been defeated. However, during Carnival, in the town of Ayacucho, a gruesome murder raises suspicions that Sendero Luminoso might once again be rearing its head. Associate District Prosecutor Félix Chacaltana Saldívar investigates the matter and prepares a convoluted report which conveniently makes no mention of terrorism. And, possibly for this very reason, when this murder is followed by others, all bearing the stamp of a deranged serial killer or ritual murderer, the authorities assign the case to none other than Chacaltana. He is hardly the ideal detective but, in the eyes of his seniors, appears to be an official who can be easily manipulated.

As evidenced by the style of the legal reports spread throughout the text, Chacaltana is well-versed in the letter of the law, which he tries to follow with pedantic conscientiousness, but this hardly equips him for the complexities of life and for the intricacies of the tense political climate of his country. Abandoned by his wife and obsessed with the memory of his long-dead mother, the Prosecutor is often naïve and ingenuous, reminding me of Umberto Eco’s claim that “real literature is about losers”. Perhaps for this very reason, the novel’s protagonist brought to my mind failed journalist Colonna in Eco’s own Numero Zero or, to cite another Italian novel, Paolo Laurana in Sciascia’s A Ciascuno il Suo: hapless figures who end up embroiled in matters beyond their ken. Over the course of the novel, Chacaltana starts to wise up, and this change is not all to the good. Indeed, some unsavoury aspects of his character come to the fore and contributed to some of my dissatisfaction with what is an otherwise engrossing book.

As a crime novel, Red April is thrilling and intriguing. Much of its dark feel is given by the elements it borrows from the horror – and particularly the folk horror – genre. Indeed, we start to realise that the serial killer is borrowing imagery both from Christian traditions linked to Holy Week and from pagan Andean myths and rituals. An underlying theme of the novel, is the friction between Andean/pre-Colombian culture (as represented by the Quechua-speaking “natives”) and the subsequent Christian traditions imported by the Spanish-speaking settlers. It is suggested that underneath the veneer of Christian ritual, the old rites have never died out. The language/culture barrier becomes a symbol of this perennial conflict, which seems to fuel present-day violence. As one of the characters puts it:

"Ayacucho is a strange place. The seat of the Wari culture was here, and then the Chanka people, who never allowed themselves to be subjugated by the Incas. And later were the indigenous uprisings because Ayacucho was the half-way point between Cuzco, the Inca capital, and Lima, the Spaniards’ capital. And independence in Quinia. And Sendero. This place is condemned to be bathed in blood and fire forever."

Some readers have been put off by the very graphic murders. To be honest, however, an act of senseless sexual violence towards the end disturbed me much more than the admittedly gruesome crime scene descriptions. Plot-wise, the solution to the “whodunit” is rather too convenient – I believe that this is a novel which is best enjoyed by soaking up its dark atmosphere tempered by a streak of black humour.

Full review, with music to listen to at: http://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/201...

[Paul Fulcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get one thing in your head: in this country there is no terrorism, by orders from the top. Is that clear?

Abril rojo by the Barcelona-based Peruvian author Santiago Roncagliolo was a best-seller in Spain and won the prestigious Premio Alfaguara de Novela in 2006.

And rendered into English by Edith Grossman (known for her translations of Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, Álvaro Mutis, and Miguel de Cervantes) it won the 2011 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (forerunner of the Man Booker International) from a very strong shortlist which also included:

Jenny Erpenbeck's Visitation (translated by Susan Bernofsky);
Per Petterson's I Curse the River of Time (Charlotte Barslund, with the author);
Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence (Maureen Freely);
Alberto Barrera Tyszka's The Sickness (Margaret Jull Costa);
Marcelo Figueras's Kamchatka (Frank Wynne).

(https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...)

The novel blends both a political perspective on the bloody war between the Sendero Luminoso insurgents and the Peruvian authorities' counterinsurgency forces, an atmospheric murder mystery and a wider perspective on how violence ultimately corrupts and breeds more violence.

Set in the weeks around Holy Week in April 1990, it is told from the perspective of Associate District Prosecutor Felix Chacaltana Saldivar, who has returned from Lima to his native Ayacucho, where the Sendero Luminoso insurgency began.

Chacaltana is a by-the-book functionary, drawn in a rather comic fashion, the sort of person who would rather send a memo than talk to someone:

Prosecutor Chacaltana wrote the final period with a grimace of doubt on his lips. He read the page again, erased a tilde, and added a comma in black ink. Now it was fine. A good report. He had followed all the prescribed procedures, chosen his verbs with precision, and had not fallen into the unrestrained use of adjectives customary in legal texts. He avoided words with ñ—because his Olivetti 75 had lost its ñ—but he knew enough words so he did not need it. He had a large vocabulary and could replace one term with another. He repeated to himself with satisfaction that in his lawyer’s heart, a poet struggled to emerge.

He removed the pages from the typewriter, kept the carbon paper for future documents, and placed each copy of the document in its respective envelope: one for the files, one for the criminal court, one for the case record, and one for the command of the military region. He still had to attach the forensic report. Before going to police headquarters, he wrote once again—as he did every morning—his supply requisition for a new typewriter, two pencils, and a ream of carbon paper. He had already submitted thirty-six requisitions and kept the signed receipts for all of them. He did not want to become aggressive, but if the supplies did not arrive soon, he could initiate an administrative procedure to demand them more forcefully.

When a burned body is found, he is assigned to the case, to his initial pleasure:

As he walked, the corpse in Quinua produced a vague mixture of pride and disquiet in him. It was his first murder in the year he had been back in Ayacucho. It was a sign of progress. Until now, any death had gone directly to Military Justice, for reasons of security. The Office of the Prosecutor received only drunken fights or domestic abuse.

Officially the insurgency is over - and when he comes initially to suspect that the terrorists are back, he encounters strong opposition to his investigation from the local police and representatives of the military, opposition that initially largely takes the form of simply ignoring him.

The prosecutor identified himself. The sergeant seemed uncomfortable. He looked to one side. The prosecutor thought he saw someone, the shadow of someone. Perhaps he was mistaken. The sergeant wrote down the prosecutor’s name and left reception, carrying the paper. The prosecutor heard his voice and another in the room to the side, without being able to make out what they were saying. In any event, he tried not to hear. That would have constituted a violation of institutional communications. The sergeant returned eight minutes later.

“Well, the fact is . . . today’s Thursday, Señor Prosecutor. On Thursdays the captain only comes in the afternoon . . . if he comes . . . because he has various proceedings to take care of too . . .”

But then one killing is followed by another, increasingly violent, almost ritualised killings, which take place against the backdrop of Ayacucho's famous, and intense Holy Week celebrations (https://www.go2peru.com/peru_guide/ay...), which the novel notes are only rivalled by those in Seville in the Spanish speaking world, and Roncagliolo effectively blends the two to create a disturbing atmosphere to his tale.

Chacaltana starts to suspect that perhaps a serial killer may be behind them, but who and what is his - or her - motive?

Although purely as a murder mystery though, the novel felt a little disappointing, and rather cliched. The bumbling bureaucrat Chacaltana felt exaggerated, albeit Roncagliolo has commented that the portratal is actually autobiographical:

As press officer and "image counsellor", the young Roncagliolo had the task of correcting and presenting reports on atrocities and abuses brought in from the ravaged countryside. When he fashions Chacaltana, the bumbling do-gooder, as a comic figure in a tragic place, "That was autobiographical, I'm afraid! Many of the things that happened to him, happened to me. That was my life. I had this middle-class, white, urban, university-boy philosophy in my mind."

Soon he came to grasp that the brutality of law had met and matched the brutality of revolt, and so underwent "a feeling of complete moral ambiguity". "I realised the violence that had been developed to protect me - and it was no better." Early on, he had to supervise a report on women who had been raped in jail by policemen, using truncheons. "It was so horrible. And my job was to correct the commas and periods. That was my first Chacaltana moment."
from the Independent

And the plot is one of those where almost every character, Chacaltana included, seems a suspect, usually right up until the point when they themselves become a victim, yet the eventual resolution is rather unsatisfactory.

The novel is stronger in its portrayal of how the insurgency and the equally violent counter-insurgency - 35,000 were killed by either side - and the resulting fear and violence ultimately led to the moral corruption of all those involved. Even Chacaltana himself, as the killings progress, performs acts of violence that seem inconceivable from the mild-mannered paper-pusher he once was.

"You think we're a gang of killers. Isn't that right, Chacaltana?"
...
The prosecutor felt obliged to explain himself.

"We waged a just war, Commander." He said it like that, using the first person. "That is undeniable. But sometimes I have difficulty distinguishing between us and the enemy. And when that happens, I begin to ask myself what exactly it is that we fought against."
...
"Have you ever felt surrounded by fire and known that your life at that moment is worth less than a piece of shit? Or have you found yourself in a town hall full of people and not known if they wanted to help you or kill you? Have you seen your friends falling in battle?... Have you? When that happens you stop having friends because you know you'll lose them. You get used to the pain of losing them and simply try to avoid being one of the empty chairs that keep multiplying in the dining rooms. Do you know what that's like? No. You don't have the slightest idea of what that's like. You were in Lima, after all, while your people were dying. You were reading nice poems by Chocano, I suppose. Literature, right? Literature says too many pretty things, Señor Prosecutor. Too many. You intellectuals have contempt for military men because we don't read. Yes, don't make that face, I've heard your jokes, I've seen the faces of old politicians when we speak. And I understand. Our problem is that for us, reality is a pain in the balls; we've never seen the pretty things your books talk about."

Overall: 3.5 stars. I felt the murder mystery element of the novel, which I suspect supported the high sales in Spain, slightly detracted from the more political elements.

[Vahid · Rating 4 out of 5]

فکر نمی‌کردم قلم سانتیاگو رونکاگلیولو تا این اندازه خوب و دلپذیر باشد علی‌رغم داستان جنایی و توصیف صحنه‌های خشن، قصه روان و یکدستی را شاهد بودیم مضافاً بر اینکه ترجمه خانم جیران مقدم بر جذابیت کار افزوده بود.
ماجرا از آنجا آغاز می‌شود که دادستان بخش الحاقی فلیکس چالکاتانا سالدیوار پرونده قتلی مرموز را به دست می‌گیرد که سرآغاز جرایمی دیگر می‌شود این دادستانِ پیگیر و وظیفه شناس که بعضاً سمج به نظر می‌رسد کم‌کم سرنخ‌هایی به دست می‌آورد که  او را به منشاء اصلی این جنایات می‌رساند.
کتاب در قالب رمانی خواندنی به ریشه های تروریسم و فساد حکومت و زد و بندهای پشت پرده می‌پردازد و ارتباط شوم نهادهای مذهبی و کلیسا را با قدرت حاکمه فاش می‌کند.
اولین کتابی از این نویسنده بود که خواندم و همه چیز بر وفق مراد بود؛ از بابت داستان خوب و ترجمه عالیِ مترجم( که مستقیماً از متن اسپانیایی ترجمه شده بود)  کیفیت خوب کاغذ و چاپ، متن بدون غلط و علائم نگارشی درست،خواندن این رمان فوق العاده چسبید!
 البته صحنه‌های قتلِ خشن و آزار دهنده‌ای داشت ولی از قدیم گفتند وسط دعوا که حلوا خیرات نمی‌کنند! داستان که جنایی باشه همینه!!
توجه به یک نکته جالب ضروری است متن‌های پر غلطی از قاتل یا قاتلان مابین فصول کتاب جا گرفته  و در نگاه اول غلط چاپی به نظر می‌رسد و ممکن است خواننده عجول  در مورد مترجم یا انتشاراتی دچار قضاوت زود‌‌ هنگام شود. الحمدلله برای من که به خیر گذشت!
سخن آخر اینکه رمان آوریل سرخ به دوستداران کتاب توصیه می شود.

پ.ن:
اصل ششم نیوتن !
در هر کتابی که از ادبیات آمریکای لاتین می‌خوانیم یک قهرمان یا ضد قهرمان یا کاراکتری با نام "سالازار" هست!

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Santiago Roncagliolo has written a novel that is evidently aimed at the popular taste for a mixture of lurid violence, rapid-moving story and surprising twists. If you have seen Alex de la Iglesia's Christmas movie Balada Triste de la Trompeta, you get the idea that this stuff sells.

The intelligent parts of the book drop out of the characters' mouths like the scrolls in medieval paintings. This is story-telling for people who like to see things written in capitals with double underlining and exclamation marks in felt-tip pen. Who better than the priest, for example, to give us lectures on Incan mythology, even if he has to stop listening in the confessional to do so?

It was an easy read. But if you want something less cinematic and more thought-provoking try Los de Abajo or Pedro Páramo

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW what a book. This book should be a 4.5 star in my opinion. The author was suggested by a Goodreads friend and this book hooked me from the first page. The book itself won the Premio Alfaguara de Novela in 2006 and I can see why. This is a tense, political thriller set during Holy Week that Roncagliolo used his own country's recent war with the Shining Path guerrillas as material.

"Red April" begins with the gruesome find of a body burnt beyond recognition as reported by the Assistant Public Prosecutor, Felix Chacaltana Saldivar. Our central character is a young man who is good with his words but oddly lives in his dead mother's house and talks to her frequently. He meets a young woman working as a waitress in a nearby restaurant and they hit it off . When he is sent off to oversee the elections in a remote region, things begin to take a turn for the worse. Chacaltana soon discovers that "whoever he talks with, ends up dead" as the story twists around the events leading to Easter Sunday. This is "one hell of a wild ride story".

One cannot help but compare him to his more famous Peruvian colleague, Mario Vargas Llosa but Roncagliolo has a different style which stands on his own. An amazing read - bravo!

[Práxedes Rivera · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good but not great. This novel is well-written, with captivating passages and creative imagery. But this detective story lacked coherence, a fatal flaw for that genre.

It speaks poorly of a novel when its last pages are devoted to the perpetrator explaining in detail what he did and why...if that's the case what do we need an investigator for? Better luck next time, Roncagliolo.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Puntaje: 4.5 Estrellas

Desde que leí “Y libranos del mal”, la más reciente novela de Santiago Roncagliolo, supe que quería leer sus demás obras. Una de las que más me llamaba la atención era “Abril Rojo”, pues fue ganadora del Premio Alfaguara en el año 2006.

Primero que todo, admito que fue una sorpresa para mí ver que esta novela fue reeditada y publicada por Editorial Planeta. Por tratarse de un ganador del Premio Alfaguara, pensé que los derechos de publicación de la novela se quedarían en Penguin. Ya vimos que no fue así.

Abril Rojo es una novela de ficción que, en mi opinión, es universal en América Latina, pues nos narra la realidad que se vive en muchos de nuestros países. Si bien la historia se desarrolla en Perú, estas situaciones pusieron suceder perfectamente en Colombia, y más teniendo en cuenta el conflicto armado que ha azotado al país por más de 50 años.

Gracias a esta novela aprendí un poco más acerca de la historia reciente del Perú. Ignoraba por completo que este país había tenido un conflicto con una guerrilla (Sendero Luminoso) y que, por ende, habían pasado por situaciones similares a las que miles de colombianos han vivido en estos años de conflicto.

Me encantó, además, que la novela es un thriller muy sutil. La historia se centra en el Fiscal Félix Chalcatana, pero el fuego de un misterioso asesino sigue vigente en las penumbras de la trama.
El ritmo de la narración me pareció estupendo. En ningún momento sentí que la historia se ponía pesada o aburrida, pues siempre estaba sucediendo algo (Tanto pasiva como activamente) que abría la puerta a que la historia continuara con su desarrollo.

Me parece también asombroso el cambio que tuvo el personaje principal durante la historia. Como lector puedes ser testigo de cómo Félix Chalcatana (O Chacaltana, como escuché en el audiolibro) pasa de ser un profesional 100% recto e impoluto, a ser alguien que toma decisiones cuestionables con tal de salir de la situación en la que se encuentra.

La corrupción, la ignorancia y el abandono es ejemplo de lo que Chalcatana encuentra tanto en Ayacucho como en poblaciones cercanas a las que fue a realizar sus investigaciones. La mediocridad o falta de profesionalidad llegaba a niveles muy elevados, desesperante no solo al protagonista sino a mí como lector. En este sentido logré conectar muy bien con el personaje principal.

Este libro cuenta con escenas brutales que no me esperaba. Por ejemplo, la escena de los perros que le dan la bienvenida a Chalcatana es impresionante y muy perturbadora. La descripción fue tan buena que me la imaginé en Full HD, no podré sacármela de la cabeza en un muy buen tiempo. Además, las escenas en las que se descubren varios cadáveres son también perturbadores y dejan un sentimiento de oscuridad y perversión.

Siento que, con cada libro que leo, Santiago Roncagliolo se está convirtiendo en uno de mis autores latinoamericanos favoritos. La próxima novela que quiero leer es “La noche de los alfileres”, libro que me trae un par de recuerdos, pues la portada me llamó mucho la atención cuando lo vi en los estantes de las librerías cuando fue publicado.

La verdad es que me he disfrutado mucho esta novela. “Abril Rojo” entra dentro de mis novelas favoritas latinoamericanas, aquellas novelas que narran la realidad de nuestros países y nos enseñan acerca de nuestro pasado, permitiéndonos comprender nuestro presente. Recomiendo muchísimo este libro, si les gusta las novelas sobre latinoamerica con crítica social y política entonces no se pueden perder esta novela.

[Stacia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mix of Peruvian political thriller/commentary along with a murder/serial killer type mystery. I feel the former held together better than the latter in this book.

The Author's Note at the back of the book includes the following:

"The Senderista methods of attack described in this book, as well as the countersubversive strategies of investigations, torture, and disappearance, are real. Many of the dialogues of the characters are in fact citations taken from Senderista documents or the statements of terrorists, officials, and members of the armed forces of Peru who participated in the conflict. The dates of Holy Week, 2000, and the description of its celebration, are also factual.... Like all novels, this book recounts a story that could have happened, but its author does not confirm that it did happen this way."

Ultimately, I think it shows the violence & manipulation between all involved sides, from the Senderista (Shining Path) to the government (military & police). The action mostly takes place during Holy Week in the town of Ayacucho (which is where Shining Path started), adding in plenty of religious & pagan symbolism to the action. The story also strongly suggests that the Senderista/government conflict is really just a continuation of generations of blood & war in this land -- a place that may never be at peace.

"Ayacucho is a strange place. The seat of the Wari culture was here, and then the Chanka people, who never allowed themselves to be subjugated by the Incas. And later were the indigenous uprisings because Ayacucho was the half-way point between Cuzco, the Inca capital, and Lima, the Spaniards’ capital. And independence in Quinia. And Sendero. This place is condemned to be bathed in blood and fire forever."

A harrowing but important look at a place/people/events that I didn't know much about. Stressful to read.

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not live up to its potential. The unusual protagonist, the historical backdrop, the thematic material, and the imagery should have come together to produce something much more compelling. Roncagliolo came up with a good story to tell, but does a poor job telling it. The writing is mostly shallow and boring. I can't blame it on Edith Grossman, who is one of the best translators working. Skip the book and hope someone adapts it into a movie.

[Rafa Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buen comienzo de novela y descripción de un entorno muy interesante y atractivo, con buenos personajes. Lamentablemente la trama policiaca se embrolla y no llega a nada a la altura del comienzo. Una pena.

[Moshtagh hosein · Rating 3 out of 5]

ستاره‌های درخشان که پیشتر یوسا وصفشان را در زندگی واقعی آلخاندرو مایتا،راز قتل پالومینو مولرو و مرگ در آند کرده بود،در اینجا با اصل و منش و شیوه‌های ربایش و ترور این گروه آشنا می‌شویم،روایت جالبی داره اما نمیشه با اثار یوسا قیاس کرد و در بُعد دیگری است که ارزش یکبار خواندن را دارد.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

He dicho más de una vez que estoy leyendo poco a poco todos los libros ganadores del Premio Alfaguara y esta vez es el turno de Abril Rojo, que combina el relato policial con la historia de Perú.

Roncagliolo introduce al fiscal Félix Chalcatana como nuestro protagonista. Este se ve envuelto en una investigación que aborda el primer asesinato de una serie de crímenes, dentro de un Perú amenazado por la guerrilla y la milicia propia de una dictadura, donde nuestro protagonista se dirige hacia lo que fue Sendero Luminoso y describe a la figura de Fujimori a lo largo de abril del 2000. Así, con tonos de thriller, Chalcatana va perdiendo la poca inocencia que le quedaba al toparse con los horrores que hay dentro de su país, sosteniendo conversaciones con testigos que, curiosamente, mueren tras haber hablado con él.



El peruano despliega su capacidad para intercalar la sorpresa con hechos históricos crudos. Se inmiscuye en las tradiciones centenarias que se practican, los rencores sociales, la burocracia dictatorial, la violencia propia y el nuevo turismo de su pueblo, a través de su protagonista, que se arma como un Frankenstein compuesto de muertos que le facilitan información y que representan estratos sociales, permitiéndole reflexionar sobre las heridas abiertas que deja la violencia sobre los pueblos.

Se basa en el último año de mandado de Fujimori, en el cual creó leyes para desmantelar al grupo subversivo del Sendero Luminoso. A partir de ahí, el escritor nos muestra las dramáticas consecuencias de las políticas de pacificación y de las personas que utilizaron su poder para vengar cuestiones personales. Abril rojo es otra de esas nuevas novelas latinoamericanas que destacan la violencia contemporánea desde un punto de vista alejado de lo ideológico, colocando al hombre en un ambiente que lo incita a ser violento, entre aspectos macabros, alucinantes y demenciales, como el terrorismo y las dictaduras.



De esta manera, consigue hacer que su relato siga una línea progresiva, en la que Chalcatana avanza de la ingenuidad hasta la inteligencia ante los crímenes que analiza. Combina el folklore y la mítica violencia casi ancestral, para desdeñar los problemas de Perú mediante la figura del fiscal, que gracias a su inocencia cae en las garras del poder, y conoce todo ese mundo. Rocangliolo construye un esquema policial que nos abruma con la sangre que derrama a medida que evoluciona, cerrando con un final idóneo.

Abril rojo es una novela recomendable, aunque no es mi favorita entre las ganadoras. Quizá para algunos puede resultar demasiado descriptiva en cuanto a la violencia y a la sangre, pero a mí esto me gusta bastante. Roncagliolo demuestra que sabe cómo trascender fronteras a través de una prosa limpia, ágil, que mantiene la tensión hasta el final y que le permite construir personajes y ambientes redondos. Una novela que conjuga elementos sociales, históricos y culturales propios de su país, que se unen para establecer una crítica implícita dentro del thriller.

http://mariana-is-reading.blogspot.co...

[Victoria Delgado - Libros para Buddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una gran novela que merece ser leída y re leída

Porque la vida es la misma, solo cambian los personajes.

[El Bibliófilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

video con mis comentarios:https://youtu.be/h-AXPI08Jhw

Es una novela negra muy bien lograda. Resalto especialmente la sorpresa narrativa que me dio al final (no lo esperaba). Y también pueden verse elementos que, comparados con la novela “Salvar el fuego” de Guillermo Arriaga, están mejor manejados, desde las críticas a las instituciones, a la discriminación de los indígenas, la participación del fuego, las transgresiones frente a hechos macabros y que logran ser claros y conmovedores sin ser tan explícitos. ¿Arriaga se habrá inspirado en la novela? Con los elementos comparativos podría sacarse alguna conclusión: juzguen ustedes mismos.

[Miguel Tresguerres · Rating 5 out of 5]

En "Abril rojo", Roncagliolo ha escrito una historia escalofriante, densa, de una inquietud que se acelera constantemente. Sus páginas se leen sin sentir la propia respiración. Es un relato en el que la diferencia entre su veracidad o su invención se vuelve irrelevante. De forma arrolladora y febril, sentimos la crudeza de una historia violenta sobre la memoria de Sendero Luminoso, sobre los muertos vivos en los Andes peruanos, sobre el terror que el Estado es capaz de engendrar.

[Mohsen Hasanpour · Rating 2 out of 5]

اسمش هیجان آور هستش خود کتاب هیچ
جزو محدود کتاب های هستش که نیمه تموم گذاشتمش

عناوین سازمانی داره که اصلا مشخص نیست چی هستش و نمیتونی با جایگاه و شخصیت طرف آشنا بشی

[Rai ReVel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un día nublado, tengo el corazón en la mano, me siento en un parque, termino el libro. Llueve. Estoy un poco destrozada. Llego a casa, comienzo a escribir esto.

Abril rojo es un libro como pocos, es un thriller que entremezcla las cotas de violencia del género con un período histórico que fue de por sí muy violento.
A manera de brindarles contexto, en los últimos 20 años del siglo pasado el Perú atravesaba una especie de guerra civil que muchos entendidos nombran conflicto armado, una parte del país pedía cambios y para hacerse notar usaban la violencia, el estado entonces combatió violencia con violencia, entre estas dos partes, el ciudadano común sufría, no sólo a nivel económico, sino también a nivel social, psicológico y emocional, eventualmente se capturaron a algunos de los cabecillas de los grupos terroristas y también se juzgo a los militares que hicieron matanzas. Es precisamente terminando ese período de conflicto que se sitúa este libro.
Roncagliolo entonces, entremezcla hechos reales con personajes ficticios que es muy probable que hayan existido (no con esas características pero casi), juega con la mente de sus creaciones y con la nuestra, nos sitúa en una ciudad marcada por la violencia desde tiempos inmemoriales (en ese territorio sobrevivieron los últimos incas, se gestó la rebelión contra los españoles, se hizo la batalla de independencia peruana, y como no, fue el semillero de al menos un grupo terrorista) y nos acerca a lo que muchos sentían al inicio del milenio, esa esperanza de que todo saliera bien ahora si, de que había que trabajar porque no había otra forma de salir de la pobreza, nos pone en la piel de funcionarios que quieren hacer las cosas correctas, en los zapatos de gente común, de presos, de militares, de campesinos, pero así como pinta el querer del promedio de compatriotas tambien dibuja la precaria situación de una buena parte de instituciones, te deja el sabor amargo en la lengua, desesperanza en el corazón y la terrible certeza de que los que tuvieron la mala suerte de vivir esa época están marcados de por vida.

La escritura es buena, la forma de narrar también, al ser peruana reconozco muchos modismos y expresiones típicas, eso sólo hace que disfrute más el libro; los personajes, humanos, complejos, terribles, inocentes o culpables, son creaciones magistrales; la historia, incomoda por momentos, te despierta la memoria colectiva, te hace notar los daños, a muchos seguro que les abre los ojos, a nadie deja indiferente. Este es un thriller de ficción que tiene demasiado de real, eso es lo que lo hace tan bueno y al mismo tiempo tan difícil de digerir. Todo peruano debería leerlo.

P. D: Soy hija de la paz, nací cuando el conflicto estaba terminando, he viajado por mi país, conozco la tierra en donde el terrorismo ha campeado a sus anchas, he visto el olvido del estado y la precariedad de las instituciones, pero también he visto el ahínco que le ponen los peruanos para no repetir el plato, que si bien es cierto hay funcionarios que valen menos que medio rábano, también hay quien pone el pecho por el país, puedo ver las cicatrices a veces invisibles de lo que la época dejó en muchas de las personas que me rodean, nada puede borrar esos recuerdos, pero quizás los juicios, los responsables juzgados y encarcelados sirvan como bálsamo. La violencia genera violencia, esa es quizás la lección más importante, no importa de quien venga, simplemente no se debe aplicar.

[Neva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Из архивите - рецензия за в. "Гласове"

Марио Варгас Льоса (1936) и Алфредо Брайс Еченике (1939) са най-внушителните съвременни разказвачи на Перу, сред най-добрите в испаноезичната литература. Незнайно защо Варгас Льоса е доста познат в България, а Брайс Еченике – почти никак. Така или иначе, през 90-те първият се умори откъм автентичност и вдъхновение, малко по-късно вторият изненадващо бе уличен в плагиат. Колосите се олюляха, но зад гърба им изведнъж се провидя не просмукана със самосъжаления пустош или неотличима тълпа литературни подрастващи, а Сантяго Ронкалиоло – сигурно стъпил на краката си, в целия впечатляващ ръст на автор с мнение, око и сърце.

Ето как се описа той в началото на международната си слава: "Напуснах майчината утроба през 1975-та след четири дни яростна съпротива. Бях депортиран в Мексико на две години от военното правителство... Върнах се в Перу години по-късно и там публикувах първите си детски книги и една пиеса. Дойдох в Мадрид по собствено желание през 2000 г. и оттогава насам издадох роман, "Принцът на кайманите", сборник с разкази, "Порастването е печално занимание", и нов роман, "Свян". Бил съм литературен негър, сценарист на сапунени сериали, преводач, домашен помощник..."

В Перу Ронкалиоло работи и към правозащитна организация, оттогава датира травмата-вдъхновение, довела до "Червеният април": "Разговарях с невинни, които излежаваха присъди, с изтезавани и с роднини на безследно изчезнали. Открих, че държавата не се е отнасяла към хората много по-различно от "революционерите", с които уж се е борила. Трудно е да избереш кои убийци предпочиташ... Дълги години се чудех как да пиша по този въпрос. Ужасът е голямо предизвикателство за разказвача, защото започва там, където свършват думите. Перуанското общество, за което исках да говоря – както и колумбийското, и аржентинското, и много други в различни исторически моменти – е било общество на психопати: свят, в който всички са се превърнали в серийни убийци и убийството е единствена форма на живот. Така че реших да напиша история за серийни убийства... Декорът беше идеален: Аякучо, епицентър на насилието през 80-те и крайно религиозно място, със зрелищна култура на смъртта, която намира проявление главно в злокобните тържества през Страстната седмица... Нуждаех се от "детектив", така се появи чиновникът Феликс Чакалтана Салдивар, нелеп човек, дошъл от Лима със сума идеи за това, какъв би трябвало да е светът, и нито една за това, какъв всъщност е – действителността избухва в лицето му, колкото и да се опитва да не я види. С две думи: аз самият, когато бях държавен служител..." (сп. Piedepágina, бр. 12, август 2007)

"В хаоса няма грешки", осъзнава някъде към края на премеждията и илюзиите си главният герой на "Червеният април" (2006) Чакалтана – там всичко е не на мястото си. Градчето, страната, времето, в което живее, са хаос от насилие, недомлъвки, виновности и абсурд и Ронкалиоло предава това по възможно най-изчистения, напрегнат и несантиментален начин. Както в класическите кримки Чакалтана е малко над 40-годишен, "тялото му служи за изпълнение на основните жизнени функции", никой не го очаква и не го иска, в разследването влиза почти неволно – намира обяснението на поредица жестоки смърти без особена гениалност, с инатлива чиновническа последователност. Работата е там, че докато класическите кримки се навъртат с фриволно задоволство около границата между нормалността и чудовищното изключение, "Червеният април" не разполага с нормалност. В романа няма чиста страна, на която да застанеш. И истински страшни са не убийствата, а всеобщият дух на незачитане на човешката крехкост и личност, както и следващата от това невъзможност за доверие. Майсторска, реалистична, информативна книга, над която се носи суров мирис на кръв и в която животът пулсира на отчаяни пристъпи.

ПРОБЛЕМИ С БЪЛГАРСКОТО ИЗДАНИЕ
Първо, кориците на Ронкалиоло (аз бих го дала Ронкальоло, фамилията е италианска, произношението е същото, не виждам защо това ИО), трудно биха имали по-малко общо със съдържанията на двете книги.

Второ, за два дни четене "Червеният април" се разпадна в ръцете ми.

Трето. Истинското ми притеснение е друго. Докато в "Свян" Боряна Цонева се е справила чудесно, с "Червеният април" явно не е потръгнало. Без да е лош като цяло, преводът е пълен със стилистични шупли, от чието натрупване читателят губи доверие. Те на свой ред са бял кахър пред няколкото по-едри опущения. Бележките не са на ниво: някои (вкл. в аз-форма!) са недопустимо завличане на читателя в "кухнята" на превода; други се позовават на "интернет" като на източник (точно толкова сериозно, колкото да цитираш "една жена по радиото") и докато половината са излишни, липсват такива, които да осветлят важни за сюжета обстоятелства. Например – че "президентът Гонсало" е прякор на идеолога на Сендеро Луминосо Абимаел Гусман, арестуван 8 години преди разказваните събития... или каква е ролята на Алберто Фухимори в десетте години, в които въздава особената си справедливост из страната. Най-съществено е объркването в религиозната терминология, което води до грубо насилване на времевата рамка на романа. На с. 185 el Señor de la Parra фигурира под черта като "Богът на лозето", докато всъщност става въпрос за статуя на Христос с гроздове, символ на тъждеството между виното и кръвта Му. На същата страница палмовите листа за Цветница (еквивалент на върбовите клонки в България) са обяснени не като спомен от влизането на възседналия осличка Христос в Йерусалим, а като "символ на победата на мъченика срещу инфорналните сили" ("инфорнални" е написано, честно). На с. 215 Христос от Гетсиманската градина (el Señor del Huerto) е обяснен като "Богът закрилник и покровител на зеленчуците и овошките", при положение че три реда по-долу авторът казва в прав текст за какво става въпрос.

Най-големият проблем проличава черно на бяло на с. 191, където преводачката обяснява под линия нещото, в което е вярвала през целия превод: "В оригинала е Miércoles de Ceniza, Viernes de Dolores (Срядата на пепелта, Петъкът на страданието), т.е. наименованията на дните от Страстната седмица, така както са познати в Перу. Тук даваме за повече яснота нашите означения (Велика сряда, Разпети петък)." Лошо недоразумение за книга, базирана изцяло на хронологията на Великите пости. Великите пости започват от Пепеляна сряда, която не само не е същото като Велика сряда, но и е близо два месеца преди нея. Т.нар. "Петък на страданието" е предхождащият Лазаровден (седмица преди Разпетия!) и в католическата традиция е посветен на терзанията на Богородица. Ронкалиоло е поделил текста на глави, носещи дати вместо заглавия – от 9 март до 3 май: било е достатъчно просто да се погледне съдържанието и да се осмисли, че нещата не се случват от сряда до петък, а в много по-дълъг период.

Много препоръчвам тази книга, но на друг език.

[Maria Thomarey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Αγάπη μόνο. Αγάπη γι’ αυτό το συγγραφέα αγάπη για την αστυνομική λάτιν αμερικανική λογοτεχνία ή και γενικά για την la την αμερικανική λογοτεχνία, αγάπη μόνο. Όλα τα άλλα είναι το κόκκινο ενώ Σταύρου σε υαλοπωλείο ιερός Απρίλη που έχει κοκκινίσει από το αίμα του Χριστού η των προδοτών του. Ένα περίεργο περίπου αστυνομικό που δεν είναι αστυνομικό, όπως όλα τα βιβλία του Ρ κάνει όλο. Ένας περίεργος ήρωας ένας ανθρωπάκος τυπολάτρης τύπο λάγνος τίποτα. Αυτός όμως μπλέκεται στην ιστορία και προσπαθεί να βγάλει άκρη. Στο τέλος το θήραμα γίνεται ο ίδιος. Γιατί πάντα όταν δεν παίρνεις θέση γίνεσαι το θήραμα. Και ναι είναι ένα μυθιστόρημα για την θέση. Όχι για την αντίθεσή αλλά για την θέση που πρέπει να παίρνουμε τα πράγματα. Για το πόσο ακραίο τελικά είναι το κέντρο Μαρίτσα είναι το ε καλά που να μπλέκεις τώρα είναι το έλα μωρέ δεν έγινε και τίποτα ακραίοι είναι οι άνθρωποι που λένε συνήθως για τους ακραίους αυτού του κόσμου ενώ στην πραγματικότητα α��τός που το λέει μπορεί να είναι πιο ακραίος γιατί ποτέ δεν έχει καταλάβει ούτε τον έναν ούτε τον άλλον. Για αυτή την περίφημη θεωρία των δύο άκρων. Ο θεός να την κάνει.. Γιατί δεν υπάρχει τίποτα χειρότερο από το να μην παίρνεις θέση στα πράγματα. Στο τέλος τα πράγματα θα σε πλακώσουν. Και μετά θα κλαίγεσαι ότι εσύ δε φταις. Ευτυχώς ο ήρως δεν κλάφτηκε. Έγκαιρα κατάλαβε ότι ακόμα κι αν δεν πήρες θέση τότε που έπρεπε προς το τέλος έπρεπε απλά να πάρεις εσύ άλλη να πάρει και την κατάσταση στα χέρια του. Από ότι γνωρίζω συγκεκριμένος ήρωας και υπάρχει και στο και σε ένα άλλο βιβλίο το κάνει όλο το την εσχάτη των ποινών. Δεν ξέρω Τι ακριβώς συμβαίνει με αυτό το βιβλίο αλλά ενώ στην αρχή ξεκίνησα θυμωμένη με αυτόν τον ήρωα μετά όταν έφαγε τις φάπες του, που να τα λέμε κι όλα ήθελε να το στείλει να του της δώσω πρώτη εγώ, τότε ναι άρχισε να μαρέσει Μικρή λεπτομέρεια ο συγκεκριμένος ήρωας κάποια στιγμή στη ζωή του είχε πάρει πολύ σοβαρή θες τα πράγματα τόση θέση ούτε γύρισε να κοιτάξει πίσω του να δει την άφησε η θέση που πήρες. Αλλά το είχε διαγράψει από τη μνήμη του. Και μετά από κει είχε γίνει το τέλειο θύμα ίσως και θήραμα. Ώσπου κάποιος το ξανά θύμισε το παρελθόν. Και ο ταύρος βλέποντας το κόκκινο το Απρίλη όρμησε.

[Marc Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I invested in this book on the strength of a review I read. I hope I can transmit the same fervour to you now having read it. Forget your "2666", this is as they say in the Old World, 'the dog's bollocks'.

It is set in the post civil conflict of Peru, with Sendero Luminoso's (a Year Zero Communist guerilla movement) leader Abimael Guzman jailed and the movement having faded away. Sendero's campaign was brutal, as was the government's counter-insurgency to meet it. Guzman himself and some of the ideology of the group suggest much of mystic Cults. Sendero Luminoso itself means "Shining Path".

The book takes place over the prolonged Easter celebrations in Ayacucho province, the founding place of Sendero, as the country tries to settle back down to rhythms determined by agriculture and Catholicism. A partially burned body missing a limb is discovered and Assistant Prosecutor Felix Chalcaltana Saldivar is given his first serious crime to handle. Saldivar is a very middling functionary, adept only at writing reports. There is humour, pathos and slight lunacy in his relationship to his mother. He is a middle class everyman, adrift from the bucolic peasants and the churls in the police force.

The author effortlessly conducts us via his protagonist through the Kafka-like bureaucracy that undermines his role at every turn. From stationary requisitions, to the system of grace and favours in order both to attain the ever dangled promise of promotion (and a "Datsun") and even to gain access to seeing a superior in rank in the course of your work. This is the Third World depicted in all its corrupt, feckless venality and it's no surprise it's where a revolutionary ideology sought to sweep everything away and revive the soul of its ground-down people.

Saldivar is a naif steered increasingly blindly into the strange world of the case itself. Without revealing spoilers, he is cast between the Scylla and Charybdis of both the authorities and terrorists playing him. Gradually he has his eyes opened and through him the author guides us into some fascinating territory whereby the forces engaged against one another are far larger than the mere fate of these mortals. For this is an eternal battle being fought out across centuries, even if the uniforms and the weapons of the two hosts have changed. This is ancient Andean gods of blood sacrifice and renewal as much as Sendero, and the more recently imposed Catholic God. "We want to live forever. That is why we save bodies for resurrection". In order for either to offer renewal and resurrection, it has to deny the other, by cutting up their body and preventing it ever coming back together again. A chilling notion. This is a war of back and forth. No one can win it. It is as ingrained a rhythm as the seasons. This is the analysis, the context I felt was missing in Bolano's interminable chapter of murdered women. "This is the history of a country" and it really is. Sendero have been beaten, but the violence lurks everywhere, threatening to break out again like a prairie wildfire.

Saldivar is sucked into increasingly desperate behaviour as the pressure and the death toll mounts. By the end, this carefully constructed figure who elicited our sympathies at the outset, has sacrificed them all and falls apart. Now the question being asked seems to be, do all men possess these innate animal tendencies (what we used to call evil) just waiting to be triggered, or can even decent men be brutalised by their surroundings into committing heinous deeds? I did think the author lost a modicum of his sure-handedness in his treatment of this right at the end, when he did lurch over to one side of the debate, but still the build up towards it is superbly woven.

Whether you know anything about recent Peruvian history or not is immaterial. This book is germane to much of Latin America and should hopefully lay to rest the sentimentality of magical realism that has long had its day as a cipher into the complexities of the region. Peru is a big cocaine exporter to the US, put that in your magical realism pipe and smoke it. The author deservedly won the prestigious Alfaguara prize for Spanish literature with this debut novel and is the youngest ever winner, two notable achievements.

See, reviews can lad you to a rewarding read. I think this is my favourite new book so far this year. And considering it doesn't do anything tricksy with its form, that is saying something coming from me.

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Red April takes place from March through early May, 2000, largely in the provincial Peruvian city of Ayacucho. Associate District Prosecutor Félix Chacaltana Saldívar was recently transferred here from Lima -- the reverse of everyone's ambition. He requested the transfer: after the dissolution of his marriage he wanted to come back to his hometown, and his mother. His mother has long been dead, but she really, really lives on in his memory; indeed, at home he behaves as if she were still alive and right there with him .....

The mousy, pedantic prosecutor tries to be exact as possible in his official reports, but no one really wants the truth spelled out all too clearly. Even as he carefully and precisely twists the facts to the stories that have been decided on -- there are a few examples of his hilarious but sincere reports -- it eventually become clear to him that:

It had nothing to do with what was really important. In reality, none of his reports had anything to do with what was important. He thought the relevant information was precisely what the report did not contain

When, early on, he sees a connection to the Shining Path terrorists, who -- so the official line -- are no longer seen to pose a threat, and when he presses his case with the authorities, things grow a whole lot more complicated. He's sent on assignment as an election monitor -- clearly an excuse to get him out of the way (perhaps permanently ...), and when he returns finds he is completely out of the loop, a ghost in the Ministry of Justice: "No one had assigned him work. Not even an indictment, not even a memorandum."

Chacaltana remains stubborn, and continues to investigate. He encounters a good deal of unpleasantness, many locals looking the other way, and authorities who have their own way of taking care of business. And Chacaltana soon finds he has another problem: as he explains to a(n unfortunate) priest:

"All the people I talk to die, Father. I'm afraid. It's ... it's as if I were signing their death sentences when I leave them."

With events culminating in the celebrations of Holy Week, the frenzy of violence comes ever closer, pulling Chacaltana into it.

Along the way the prosecutor befriends a young woman named Edith, a relationship slowly developing between them -- though Mamacita and the prosecutor's devotion to her present something of an obstacle there. And Edith's dead parents also complicate matters.

As someone tells Chacaltana:

Ayacucho is a strange place. The Wari culture was here, and then the Chancas, who never let themselves be conquered by the Incas. And then the indigenous rebellions, because Ayacucho was the midway point between Cuzco, the Inca capital, and Lima, the capital of the Spaniards. And independence in Quinua. And Sendero. This place is doomed to be bathed in blood and fire forever, Chacaltana. Why ? I have no idea. It doesn't matter. We can't do anything.

Red April is an intriguing if somewhat messy thriller, with no easy answers and culpability (of different sorts) all around. Chacaltana is, for the most part, an appealingly clueless figure in this world gone bad, though his own transformation seems a bit much by the end; his relationship with Edith also strains some credulity. Nevertheless, it's a solid portrait of a place steeped almost hopelessly in the completely corrupted, with little sense of hope for change or a better future.

A somewhat uneasy mix of political and crime thriller, Roncagliolo does paint some very vivid and powerful scenes -- but it is of a dark and desolate world.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

«No eran sólo los errores ortográficos, era todo. En el caso no hay error, y en esos papeles ni siquiera la sintaxis tenía sentido. Chacaltana había vivido toda su vida entre palabras ordenadas, entre poemas de Chocano y códigos legales, oraciones numeradas u ordenadas en versos. Ahora no sabía qué hacer con un montón de palabras arrojadas al azar sobre la realidad. El mundo no podía seguir la lógica de esas palabras. O quizá todo lo contrario, quizá simplemente la realidad era así, y todo lo demás eran historias bonitas, como cuentas de colores, diseñadas para distraer y para fingir que las cosas tienen algún significado.»

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Santiago Roncagliolo (Lima, 1975) se ha convertido en el primer escritor peruano en obtener el Premio Alfaguara con Abril rojo, un relato policial ambientado en las celebraciones de semana santa ayacuchana del año 2000. En ese contexto, el fiscal Félix Chacaltana tiene que descubrir la identidad de un misterioso asesino en serie, pero sus investigaciones lo llevan más bien a encontrar las huellas de la violencia política, la guerra que se desarrolló en esa región durante las décadas pasadas. Desde desaparecidos y fosas comunes hasta pueblos sitiados por las fuerzas senderistas y las más crueles acciones militares. “Chacaltana, esto es el infierno. Le doy la bienvenida” le dice un oficial de policía.
Lo más valioso de la novela es el bien planteado “descenso al infierno” de Chacaltana, un proceso que abarca toda la primera mitad del libro. Se inicia en las salas de espera de los mandos militares ayacuchanos y culmina en la accidentada visita al pueblo de Yawarmayo, invadido cada noche por fuerzas subversivas cuya existencia (a finales del gobierno fujimorista) es oficialmente negada por todas las autoridades. Se trata de un pueblo de quechua hablantes, en el que el enfrentamiento frontal y directo de los bandos en guerra genera una atmósfera opresiva y angustiante, y donde la presencia de la muerte, una constante de toda la novela, se hace sentir con más fuerza.

Un libro simpatico, bien escrito con muchas descripciones y se da uno cuenta de la burocracia de los militares de un pueblo peruano.

[Juan Araizaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

326 páginas después. 4 días después. Me recordó al viejo Perú. Si tan sólo yo hubiera leído éste libro en el momento que leí "La cuarta espada" o "Toda la sangre" hubiera ejemplificado perfectamente la época sombría que vivió Perú con el terrorismo. La narrativa es súper fácil de digerir (no significa que sea barata). Me gustan los hechos, la tensión, los giros. Buen final, buen encauzamiento; sin perder de vista el trasfondo de las fiestas religiosas. Bien señor Rocangoglio.

[Ana Ligia López J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sé cómo abordar esta novela, quizá haya tres maneras: la primera, como novela policial. La segunda, como retrato histórico del Perú bajo los actos de Sendero Luminoso. La tercera, desde el narrador quien se va hundiendo en una especie de espiral de muertos, asesinatos que provocan vómitos en los investigadores. Parece ser que en este mundo narrado, la muerte es la única certeza y que sobre esas calles se camina sobre muertos que siguen sin tener justicia.

[Paola · Rating 1 out of 5]

Iniziato.
Arrivata a pag 50 o giù di lì mi son chiesta che stavo facendo.
Risposta: sprecando tempo e neuroni.
Me lo hanno regalato, un'amica che si liberava di libri che non vuole più tenere. Per fortuna non mi é costato nulla.
Ciofeca.

[Pere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente relato histórico sobre el Perú posterior a la etapa más sangrienta de Sendero Luminoso, un período situado entre los años 1980 y el 1992. Santiago Roncagliolo sitúa su acción en la Semana Santa del año 2000 en la localidad de Ayacucho, en la que un fiscal recientemente destinado allí, Félix Chacaltana, comienza a investigar la muerte de un desconocido hallado semi quemado y con signos de haber muerto tras una cruel tortura. Así es como arranca la trama de la novela y la peripecia del fiscal Chacacaltana. En los días que van del 3 de marzo al 3 de abril, la trama se convertirá en thriller que nos mostrará la corrupción y la parálisis que impera en la sociedad peruana y especialmente en unas fuerzas armadas que han resultado muy castigadas tras el terror de Sendero Luminoso. Por otro lado, tenemos un retrato de la miseria económica, espiritual y educativa en la que se desenvuelve el pueblo llano. En medio de todo, el voluntarioso fiscal Chacaltana que intentará por todos los medios actuar con honestidad de acuerdo a los preceptos legales que unos y otros parecen despreciar.

"La literatura dice demasiadas cosas bonitas, señor fiscal. Demasiadas. Ustedes los intelectuales desprecian a los militares porque no leemos. Si, no ponga esa cara, he escuchado sus bromas, he visto la cara de los viejos políticos cuando hablamos. Y las comprendo. Nuestro problema es que estamos hasta los huevos de la realidad, nunca hemos visto las cosas bonitas de las que hablan sus libros."

"Las balas le habían llegado a su familia desde las dos orillas de una batalla que, seguramente, esa mujer jamás entendió del todo, igual que el fiscal."

Magnifico el trabajo de Roncagliolo en el perfilado de los personajes y también en el ritmo frenético que va adquiriendo la narración a medida que avanza. El resultado es muy cinematográfico y en él se mezclan elementos de novela histórica con marcados acentos de novela negra. Una tarea en la que el autor no esconde su visión personal que la que intenta comprender las diferentes posturas enfrentadas en el conflicto.

"Un informe de verdad, concluyó, solo podía ser escrito por Dios, al menos por alguien que tuviese mil ojos y mil oídos, que lo pudiese saber todo."

Al final, la imposibilidad de conciliar las posturas de unos y de otros. La realidad es un carnaval de sangre que los sepulta a todos. Roncagliolo es un narrador inmenso en la tradición de otros como García Márquez o Vargas Llosa.

"En el caos no hay error, y en esos papeles ni siquiera la sintaxis tenía sentido. Chacaltana había vivido toda su vida entre palabras ordenadas, entre poemas de Chocano y códigos legales, oraciones numeradas u ordenadas en versos. Ahora no sabía qué hacer con un montón de palabras arrojadas al azar sobre la realidad. El mundo no podía seguir la lógica de esas palabras. O quizá todo lo contrario, quizá simplemente la realidad era así, y todo lo demás eran historias bonitas, como cuentas de colores, diseñadas para distraer y para fingir que las cosas tienen algún significado."