Santa Evita

by Tomás Eloy Martínez, Helen R. Lane (Translator)

Among the great corpses of our age are Lenin, Mao Zedong and Stalin. Mao, at least, is still on view for the masses to see, some two decades after his demise. But no corpse engendered as much intrigue as that of Eva Peron. Elevated to near sainthood in Argentina after her death in 1952, her perfectly preserved corpse was seized by the Argentine Army following the ouster of her husband in 1955. By then, her corpse was the equivalent of a sacred relic, and while army officials wanted to keep it out of the hands of Peronists, they were loath to destroy the corpse for fear of the wrath that might follow. Tomas Eloy Martinez has reassembled the story of the corpse of Eve Peron in Santa Evita, and in the process, produced a riveting, rich book that not only tells the tale of one of the more bizarre sagas in the history of South American politics, but that also gets to the heart of the age-old human impulse to create myths and tell stories.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Spanish Literature, Latin American, Magical Realism, Literature, Latin American Literature

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Tomás Eloy Martínez obtained a degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of Tucumán, and an MA at the University of Paris. From 1957 to 1961 he was a film critic in Buenos Aires for the La Nación newspaper, and he then was editor in chief (1962-69) of the magazine Primera Plana. From 1969 to 1970 he worked as a reporter in Paris. In 1969 Martínez interviewed former Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón, who was exiled in Madrid. These interviews were the basis for two of his more celebrated novels, La Novela de Perón (1985) and Santa Evita (1995). In 1970 he and many former writers of Primera Plana worked at the magazine Panorama, where Martínez was the director.

On 15 August 1972 he learned of the uprising of political prisoners in the jail at Rawson, Chubut Province. Panorama was the only publication in Buenos Aires that reported the correct story of the affair in Rawson, which differed significantly from the official version of the de facto Argentine government. On 22 August he was fired at the behest of the government, whereupon he went to Rawson and the neighboring city of Trelew where he reported the Massacre of Trelew in his book The Passion According to Trelew. The book was banned by the Argentine dictatorship.

For three years (1972-75) Martínez was in charge of the cultural supplement of La Nación, after which he lived in exile (1975-83) in Caracas, Venezuela, where he remained active as a journalist, founding the newspaper El Diario. In his book "The Memoirs of the General" he recounts that he was threatened by the "Triple A", the Alianza Anticomunista Argentina, and on one occasion, gunmen held a pistol to the head of his 3-year-old son because they were witnesses to a crime Martínez believed to be an operation led by the far-right paramilitary group. He subsequently started the newspaper Siglo 21 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and created the literary supplement Primer Plano for the newspaper Página/12 in Buenos Aires.

Martínez has also been a teacher and lecturer. He taught (1984-87) at the University of Maryland. In 1995, he took a position as distinguished professor and director of the Latin American Studies program at Rutgers University, New Jersey. He lived in nearby Highland Park, New Jersey until about 3 years ago when he returned to Argentina to live. He wrote columns for La Nación and the New York Times syndicate, and his articles have appeared in many newspapers and journals in Latin America.

He has published a number of books, one of which, Santa Evita, has been translated into 32 languages and published in 50 countries. He was awarded the Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellowships, and won the 2002 Alfaguara award for the novel Flight of the Queen. His works deal primarily (but not exclusively) with Argentina during and after the rule of Juan Domingo Perón and his wife, Eva Duarte de Perón (Evita).

Martínez died in Buenos Aires after a long battle against a brain tumor.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Santa Evita' is a great novel blending fact and fiction about the life, or more precisely - the death and thereafter of Eva Peron. Wonderfully written compelling narrative, this is a bizarre but fascinating world where truth seems often stranger than fiction - the world of Eva Peron, the cult of Evita, the mythology of Santa Evita.

[Sarah ~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

سانتا ايفيتا - توماس ايلوي مارتينيث .

هذا العمل عن ايفيتا، سانتا ايفيتا، ايفا دوراتي بيرون .
سيدة الأرجنتين الأولى - زوجة الرئيس خوان بيرون .

حقيقة لا أعرف الكثير عن هذه الأسطورة الأرجنتينية، والتي اعتبرها شعبها قديسة،
ولفترة طويلة كنت اخلط بينها وبين زوجة بيرون الأخرى (ايزابيلا بيرون) والتي كانت رئيسة لـ لأرجنتين في السبعينات .
أكتب هذه المراجعة الآن وأنا اشاهد وثائقيًا عن حياتها، استمتعت بقراءة عمل توماس ايلوي ولكن رؤية ايفا وهي تلقي خطاباتها الموجهة للشعب على الشاشة والتي قرأتها كان هذا شيئًا مذهلًا .

على خطين متوازيين وعلى التوالي، تسير أحداث الرواية وهو ما لا تكتشفه لـ لوهلة الأولى :
الجزء الأول؛ عن حيَاة إيفا، يتقصى توماس ايلوي مارتينيث فصول حياتها بأدقّ التفاصيل، هذا الجزء يبدأ من النهاية، من وفاتها ثمّ كيف تحولت ايفيتا لأسطورة حيّة وكيف أصبحت معبودة الشعـب وكيف تزوجت الكولونيل بيرون و لاحقًا بداية حياتها كممثلة وهكذا حتى نصل إلى طفولتها المبكرة .
الجزء الأخر من الرواية هو ما حدث بعد وفاتها، وتحنيط جسدها وعرضه على العامة وبعد الانقلاب العسكري، وهرب بيرون وكيف تصارع الجميع من أجل الحصول على الجثة، في هذا الجزء نتتبع مذكرات كولونيل أوكلت إليه مهمة التخلص من ايفيتا ودفنها بعيدًا، كان رئيس مخابرات الحكومة الجديدة، الكولونيل الذي كان يترنم دائمًا بقصيدة تشيزاري بافيزي : "سيأتي الموت وستكونً له عيناك".
تحول بسبب هذه المهمة إلى مجنون ومهووس بإيفيتا ويخشاها بذات الوقت، وكانت تتذبذب مشاعره بين الكره الشديد والحب العنيف، كان يخطط لطريقة حتى يتخلص من جثتها ولا تقع أبدًا بين يدي مؤيديها ومؤيدي زوجها،

ايفا، ممثلة وسياسية بالفطرة، ذكية ومقدامة وحافظت على استقرار حكم بيرون، وناضلت بقوة من أجل المرأة الأرجنتينية وحقوقها الاجتماعية والسياسية- ولا ننسى أن هذا كان في الأربعينات وفي بلاد مثل كثير من دول العالم (حينها) لا تعترف بدور المرأة ومن هنا نعرف مدى شجاعتها ..
كانت محسنة، ومحبوبة من قبل البسطاء والفقراء، لكن ليس من المجتمع المخملي في الأرجنتن، أولئك الذين احتقروها ورأوا أنها متسلقة وأميّة وغير لائقة بمنصب السيدة الأولى .
ايفا التي ينسب إليها قول : "سأعود وسأكون ملايين "، اخترعت أسطورتها الخاصة وعاشت على هذا الأساس .

هناك شيء جذاب حول هذه المرأة، ربمَا هو الغموض والغرابة التي تحيط بها وربمّا لأنها
ماتت شابة (كانت في الثالثة والثلاثين من عمرها حين ماتت) كانت كـ نجم أفلَ في عزّ سطوعه .

يلاحق توماس ايلوي قصّة ايفا عبر جمع خيوط حكايتها والحديث مع من عرفوها عن قرب وأولئك الذين عاصروها، وبخلط الخرافة بالوقائع ويكتب كلّ هذا بشكل ساحر..
في النهاية ماذا نتذكر وماذا ننسى، تتحول القصص وتضيع بفعل الذاكرة وتتشوه وحتى يختفي الفاصل بين الحقيقي والمتخيل..

أنهيت الرواية وأنا أسأل نفسي: كبف تركت هذه الرواية على الرف طوال هذا الوقت؟
"بعض الكتب هي التي تختار وقت قراءتها"، على ما يبدو هذه المقولة حقيقية .

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fascination on Evita Peron started when I heard Julie Covington sang "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" over the radio when I was still in high school. Since our island-town had no electricity, i.e., no television, yet and almost no FM radio stations reached us during daytime, we contented ourselves with listening to whatever was played on the AM dials. Since there was nothing else to be busied about aside from studying, helping in the household chores and some puppy loves, listening and scrutinizing songs played on the radio were almost the only hobbies every student in our high school had.

Who is this lady and why is she asking for a country Argentina not to cry for her? My dad, who loved sad songs, really liked this song too and he told me that it was a song supposedly sang by the former lady of Argentina, a Latin American country. I had no interest on global events then so I just let it pass.

Fast forward to 1996. I was already a father of an infant when Madonna starred in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita and this song became number 1 in the Billboard Chart:

The movie answered many of the questions that I had regarding Evita Peron. The movie came out 10 years after President Marcos left the Malacanang Palace during the 1986 People Power revolution but the memories of her wife, Imelda Marcos, were still fresh in people's minds. Somehow, comparisons to these two ladies came so easily that a similar stage play, Meldita was also staged and later an independent film, Imelda was also shown.

Back to Evita and Argentina.

After the song has been sung by many artist after Covington, the play has hit the Broadway and West End several times and the 1996 movie staring Madonna, we all know about Evita Peron's life: born as Eva Duarte a bastard, she became a prostitute in her early years in Buenos Aires, worked as a radio, stage and movie actress before she met the political fast-rising star, Coronel Juan Peron during a charity ball for the victims of an earthquake. They fell in love and she used her charm as a former peasant and worker to win the votes of her descamisados "shirtless workers." She was being drafted as a Vice Presidential (to her husband) candidate when she was diagnosed of having cervical cancer. In 1927, she was 15 when she left her small hometown Junin to try her luck in Buenos Aires, married Juan Peron at 23 (1945) and died of cervical cancer at the age of 33 (1955).

Although Argentine journalist and novelist Tomas Eloy Martinez (1924-2010) basically focused on what happened to Evita Peron's corpse after her death, he used a lot of flashbacks detailing the same story covered in the play and in the movie. The real protagonist of this book, however, was not the living Evita but the dead Evita. After all, the corpse of a popular political figure sometimes become dangerous after the person's death. (President Marcos knew this when people rallied behind President Corazon Aquino after the death her husband Senator Ninoy Aquino in 1984.)

The rumor was that since Evita Peron was really the "star" of Peron's presidency, when President Peron lost her, his career would have ended too. So, whoever would have the possession of her corpse would have the power. What President Peron did was to have a least 3 replicas of the corpse already ready even prior to Evita's death. So, this book is actually about those four corpses and what they went through. One corpse was buried. One was smuggled abroad. One was kept by a colonel to himself. One was mummified by a major who was so in love with Evita at he tried to use egyptology powers to resurrect the corpse from death. He even killed his own wife when he was discovered to be spending almost of his waking moments in the attic with Evita Peron's corpse.

These were actually rumors because as per Martinez's admission in the book, he actually only met the two people, President Peron and Evita, among all those who he used as characters in this book. This was probably the reason why he did not make this a biography but a novel. As he, as the book's narrator, explained it towards the book's last few pages: As you said, it's a novel. In novels, what is true is also false. Authors rebuild at night the same myths they've destroyed in the morning."

It is an easy read and one that you will not have a hard time following when you are coming back to it regardless after how many days in between reads. Maybe because of the songs, the play, the movies and all the previous knowledge you have about the well-loved (or well-hated according to her detractors) first lady in Argentine history. For me, the fact that she was able to rally many people to vote for her husband was a marked of a true leader and she deserves to be remembered. For her followers, she was even so loved that they thought of her as a saint. That explains the title: Santa Evita

The picture taken when she was the First Lady of Argentina in 1945 at the age of 23.

[Nada Elshabrawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

ليست عظيمة وليست رديئة، عادية.

[Emily]

As intrigued as I was by the idea of a novel whose main character is a corpse, the parts of Tomás Eloy Martínez's Santa Evita that ended up interesting me most had almost nothing to do with its so-called plot. Because as much as Santa Evita is a novel "about" the late wife of a deposed politician (in which an ensemble cast of characters transport, steal, curse, duplicate, switch, covet, and defile the embalmed body of Eva Perón, in a non-chronological seesaw back and forth over the pivot-point of her death), it's also a playful, extended essay that meditates on the nature of storytelling itself: what makes a story "true"; when are sources "reliable"; exactly how real is "reality," and what is its relationship to text? Late in the novel, two characters have this exchange:

     "As you said, it's a novel," I explained. "In novels, what is true is also false. Authors rebuild at night the same myths they've destroyed in the morning."

     "Those are just words," Corominas said emphatically. "They don't convince me. The only thing that means anything are facts, and a novel, after all, is a fact."

Throughout Santa Evita, Martínez is grappling with just this question: to what extent is a novel an amorphous web of myths and legends, capable of telling "truth" only metaphorically, through a recreated web of lies? And on the contrary, to what extent is a novel a tangible, solid fact, capable of being argued with, contradicted, analyzed? To what extent can these two states coexist? At first, I assumed Martínez to be making a case for the lack of connection between reality and fiction, a case that, since a novel cannot recreate reality exactly, any wild fiction will say as much about reality as the most careful reportage. I saw him portraying the role of the author, as stated above by the character "Tomás Eloy Martínez," as someone destroying and rebuilding the same mythos over and over—a kind of impotent yet all-powerful Lady of Shalott, interacting with reality only at a vast remove. I heard him telling me not to look in his pages for a literal truth about Evita Perón, because written language can't transmit literal truth, but to seek instead for salient metaphors.

That, I thought, is where written language falls short. It can bring back to life feelings, lost time, chance circumstances that link one fact to another, but it can't bring reality back to life. I didn't yet know—and it would take longer still for me to feel it—that reality doesn't come back to life: it is born in a different way, it is transfigured, it reinvents itself in novels. I didn't know that the syntax or the tones of voice of the characters return with a different air about them and that, as they pass through the sieves of written language, they become something else.

They become "something else"—but what relation does this "something else" hold to its original model? Is it "only" the stuff of myths, reflecting what the audience needs or believes rather than the experience of the original human? Is there, indeed, any "reality" inherent in the subjective experience of an individual, or any reality that should be privileged above the transfigured reality of history and myth? If I felt frightened in a given situation, and a storyteller tells a convincing version of my story in which I feel instead angry or tender, are those two versions of my story different but equal? Or is one more "real" than the other?

With the response of Corominas above, I realized that Martínez's stance is more complicated than I had at first assumed. True, the "real people" who feature as characters in this novel are different than their actual real-life counterparts, but different in a way not easy to articulate. They are "transfigured," but only incompletely, problematically. Their transfiguration doesn't replace one thing (the dead reality) with another (a new reality), but layers new perspectives on top of old until "reality" becomes a palimpsest of texts and real-life events inscribing themselves on top one another ad infinitum. About the Peróns' marriage certificate, for example, the narrator writes:

The marriage is not false, but almost everything the document says is, from beginning to end. At the most solemn and historical moment of their lives, the contracting parties, as the phrase was in those days, decided to perpetrate an Olympian hoax on history. Perón lied about the place where the ceremony was performed and about his civil status; Evita lied about her age, her place of residence, the city she had been born in. Their statements were obviously false, but twenty years went by before anyone questioned them. In 1974, in his book Perón, the Man of Destiny, the biographer Enrique Pavón Pereyra nonetheless declared that they were true. [...] They lied because they had decided that, from that moment on, reality would be what they wanted it to be. They did the same thing novelists do.

In Martínez's analysis, the marriage certificate is a figurative "novel": it represents something true (the marriage between Juan and Eva Perón), which is nonetheless made up entirely of lies. And yet, Martínez's own narrative goes on to demonstrate that the Peróns' power to dictate their own reality by fiat was limited: "deciding reality would be what they wanted it to be" could not stop the rumors of illegitimacy that plagued Evita's public image, could not elide the age difference between them or erase the existence of Juan's first wife. These issues could not be declared away; on the other hand, as Martínez points out, the marriage itself was incontrovertibly real.

In other words, I believe Martínez is arguing for a middle ground between the collective and the individual, between "what's-true-is-also-false" and "novel-as-fact." The Peróns exercise real power in dictating their identities via their marriage certificate, but that power also has real limits. Text is an interactive part of reality, although it cannot replace reality or even, necessarily, represent it directly. A novelist cannot repeat reality, so he invents it again; but he cannot reinvent it in a way unconnected from the reality that came before. And once he reinvents it, the new reality exists somewhere between his invention and the state that preceded it; neither can exist without the other.

One of my favorite intersections of reality and text (or actually, text and meta-text) happens throughout the first half of the novel, when the narrator is repeatedly struck by the resemblance between real-life events and the Jorge Luis Borges story "Death and the Compass." Initially, the narrator only mentions the story as a passing reference to the way in which Peronism influenced Borges himself:

Without Perón's terror, Borges's labyrinths and mirrors would lose a substantial part of their meaning. Without Perón, Borges's writing would lack provocations, refined techniques of indirection, perverse metaphors.

But the similarities between Santa Evita and "Death and the Compass" become stronger as the character of Colonel Moori Koenig is fleshed out. A little background: in Borges's story, a detective becomes obsessed with the murder of a rabbi who died surrounded by kabbalistic books, and with two subsequent murders that seem to be connected to the first. In a Poirot-style exercise, he confounds his action-based colleagues by "solving" the murders using only textual analysis of the late rabbi's books, and the application to a map of the city a geometrical cypher based on equilateral triangles and rhombi. All this only to find, when he arrives at the murderer's lair, that the whole series of crimes has been a setup, engineered to trick him to his own death; the entire narrative leading him into the villain's obsessively symmetrical labyrinth lair has been false.

Similarly, the narrator in Martínez's novel initially notes that Colonel Koenig becomes obsessed with an assignment that leads to his own destruction. But the similarities don't stop there: it turns out that the Colonel, like Borges's villian, is obsessed with symmetry, even going so far as to excuse a freakish swarm of bees on the excuse that "the bees were not disrupting the symmetrical order of life." He superstitiously avoids saying Evita's name, even in his own mind, an aversion that mirrors the Orthodox Jewish prohibition on uttering the Name of God. Later on, when trying to dispose of Evita's body and its copies, the Colonel actually employs almost the exact same geometrical cypher to a map of Buenos Aires that Borges's detective did in "Death and the Compass." At this point, as readers, we are reacting not only to the likelihood of such symmetry between a fictional Colonel and a fictional detective, but remembering that Martínez's narrative is to some extent based on FACT—did this scene from Borges actually come to life? The narrator himself interrupts his informant, Cifuentes, to remark on the surreal similarity between the Colonel's real-life actions and Borges's short story—doesn't Cifentes think it incredible that both men overlaid equilateral triangles/rhombi on a map of the city?

He refused to concede the fact. Although I have read little Borges, he said [or rather lied], I have some memory of that story. I know that it is influenced by the Kabbala and by Hasidic traditions. To the Colonel, the slightest allusion to anything Jewish would have been unacceptable. His plan was inspired by Paracelsus, who is Luther's counterpart, and at the same time the most Aryan of Germans. The other difference, he said to me, is more important. Detective Lönnrott's ingenious game in "Death and the Compass" is a deadly one, but it takes place only within a text. What the Colonel was plotting was to happen, however, outside of literature, in a real city through which an overwhelmingly real body was to be transported.

The layers of irony are almost overwhelming here, but let me try to unpack them. First of all, Cifuentes's response highlights a huge difficulty with transfiguring any set of events into story-hood: who can agree on which elements are "key"? To me, it's a pretty incredible coincidence that a real-life Colonel would happen across the same bizarre, geometric method of corpse-disposal as one used in a particular short story; the equilateral triangles/rhombi, the obsession with symmetry, the aversion to saying a given name, all line up quite eerily. But to Cifuentes, these points are irrelevant because the Colonel was anti-Semitic and the details of Borges's story concerned Judaism. Not only is this ironic because the Jewish backdrop of the story seems (to me) a petty detail, but also because, within Borges's own context, it turns out to be totally faked—the murders actually involve no kabbalistic attempt to know the name of God; they are just a ploy to murder the main character.

What's more, Cifuentes's second objection takes on a layer of irony given that, as he and his narrative are transfigured into parts of Martínez's novel, the events he describes ARE taking place within literature, and for all the reader knows, they may be just as fictional as those evoked by Borges! And can we really claim that Eva Péron's body is "overwhelmingly real" when it has been artificially preserved to the point when nobody can tell the difference between it and a wax copy? To top it all off, Cifuentes's entire denial of the "Death and the Compass" similarities is rendered suspect by Martínez's own parenthetical claim that Cifuentes is lying about how much Borges he has read.

In short, the Argentine mantle of meta cast off by Borges and Cortázar has obviously not been abandoned. A big thanks to Richard for introducing me to the next generation of South American literary mind-games in the shape of Tomás Eloy Martínez and Santa Evita.

[Emejota (Juli) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tiene un comienzo muy potente al presentar la historia del cadáver de Evita. Historia que en sí misma supera la ficción del libro. Después hay pasajes ficcionados sobre el recorrido del cuerpo que se intercalan con la investigación que hace el periodista/narrador. Se agregan sucesos inventados que no están mal pero es ahí donde se empieza a desdibujar la narración. Se desordena, se estira, se aleja y me terminó aburriendo.

[Maritza Buendía · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Santa Evita" es una mezcla entre novela, biografía y reportaje sociopolítico de una turbulenta época en Argentina. Una historia que entrelaza datos de Evita Perón viva y muerta. Viva, desde su humilde infancia, su lucha por realizar sus sueños de artista hasta su encuentro con Juan Perón que daría un vuelco a su vida para convertirla en un ícono político. Y es también la historia del cadáver de Eva Perón desde que su ilustre esposo la puso en manos de un embalsamador, hasta su recorrido errante de aventuras inverosímiles que hace por varios países. Un cuerpo que fue copiado, escondido, profanado y hasta amado por el Coronel Koenig: un loco, alcohólico y verdugo, cuya obsesión por protegerlo lo convierte en un personaje necrófilo y perturbador.

La historia narra sobre las idiosincrasias de un pueblo profundamente divido. Sobre un personaje ambiguo, visto por unos como un símbolo de salvación y por otros de su perdición: amado y despreciado, pero sin lugar a dudas afianzado en la imaginación de todos. Una leyenda que trasciende el tiempo. Un relato cuya veracidad, como la vida propia, es una mezcla entre la realidad y lo inventado: la memoria que tergiversa y engaña para poder darle significado a lo vivido y para seguir viviendo.

El libro es fascinante; su prosa es mágica y contiene citas inolvidables que perduran en la imaginación del lector. Un relato conmovedor que inquieta. La catarsis de una obsesión. Muy recomendable.

[Mari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seré sincera, no lo acabe. Pero considero que después de leer casi 170 páginas, escribir un ensayo y tener que leer sobre los “pezones adolescentes” y el “raro clitoris oblongo” de un cadaver que lleva tres años muerto mientras un señor se lo sabroseaba, este libro h yo hemos llegado a una relación más íntima de lo que desearía. Es suficiente para saber que podría haber vivido igual de bien sin haberlo leído. Incluso mejor, porque me habría ahorrado 300 páginas de demasiadas personas queriendo cogerse a un cadaver.

Bonita escritura, demasiada necrofilia. En resumen…. Mucho texto. Casi me da un bloqueo lector. Nada mas que agregar, simplemente no conecté con el libro y nuestra relación se vio afectada por el hecho de que fui obligada a leerlo. Será un clásico y admiro el trabajo, pero no gracias. Buenas noches.

[Mar&Lecturas · Rating 4 out of 5]

No le doy cinco estrellas porque las ultimas cien páginas se podrían resumir en dos, por lo demás una maravilla: voz narrativa, estructura, desarrollo de personajes… una novela dentro de un libro autobiográfico y el cuerpo embalsamado de Evita como protagonista.

[wasteland baby · Rating 4 out of 5]

much more interesting than i expected based on the horrible "graphic design is my passion" Croatian cover! (for all my non-bookclub friends: it's just pictures of Madonna with weird Poweroint shading and borders 😭😭😭 camp thy birth year is 1997 and thy place of birth is the semi-obscure Varaždin print from whence this visual atrocity came)
now, does "more interesting than i expected" translate to "good"? yes and no! which is, i think, the best possible answer for a book club read, so i am very pleased with the outcome.

first, the things it liked (including some lore drop)!
the thing is, as a kid i was a diehard fan of crime procedurals of middling quality. the chief among these palatable packages of capaganda was CBS's Cold Case, a show where a waifish, sad-eyed blonde leads a team of brave truth-seekers who ask people intrusive and re-traumatizing questions about their horrifically murdered loved ones. every time one of these poor people starts talking to the detectives, we get a sepia-toned flashback to the past, and interview by interview, flashback by flashback, the detectives build a picture of who the victim was and what happened to them. and middle school wasteland baby was just riveted by this mode of storytelling. what better way to tell the story of someone's life than through a series of displaced, often contradictory walks down the memory lane, which revel as much about the person remembering as about the person they are trying to remember?

Eloy Martínez does kind of a similar thing in this novel, in that he very deliberately lets the reader in on the process of creating the narrative of Evita's life, the smoke-filled rooms, late-night interviews and hand-writen notes that make up the invisible labor of compiling a well-sourced biographical account. this was, i think, my favorite aspect of the novel, along with his descriptions of Evita's religious following. i liked that he makes it clear that you can't really know who a person *was* even (or especially) if they were a national icon - you can only try to make sense of what they meant to the people who were left behind, and try to form a sort of mosaic image of the space the departed person took up while they lived.

of course, i am a casual observer reading this in 2020s Europe, so i have no real notion of what the depiction provided in this novel, or Evita herself, means in the political and cultural landscape of Argentina today (i look forward to learning more from our brilliant book club moderator heh). and here we get to what's bugging me about Santa Evita -the ethics of it all.
this is a novel, so Eloy Martínez is of course free to take whatever liberties he wants with the truth (or what can ever be known of the truth). that being said, the whole investigative biography framing does incline the reader to buy in (at least to an extent - the novel does depict some things that are i think intended to be seen as whimsical and fantastical interventions). on the other hand, this novel *is* very obviously influenced by post-modernist questionings of history/truth/narrative, so i don't know to what extent it's even fair to complain about the author sensationalizing and editorializing the story of a woman's life, death, and the misadventures of her corpse.
this last bit is actually the one that bothers me the most, partly because i personally just didn't find it as interesting lol, but also because, while i think that "people behaving weirdly about a dead woman's body and developing an unhealthy, life-ruining obsession with it" is a subject that *can* be conducive to interesting and even feminist writing, here it just...wasn't? and it's hard to me to determine to what extent my distaste for the handling of this topic has to do with Evita being an actual historical figure rather than a fictional character, and to what extent i simply did not find the author's approach interesting enough to excuse the stuff i found unpalatable and weird.

all in all... a 3.5 or 3.75 read, i think? despite the somewhat harsh note i left the review off on, please note that i also left behind my copy for my mom to read, so i do think that there's *something* here to captivate and entertain. and this is imo perhaps the perfect book club read, because i can absolutely see this one ranging anywhere from a 1-2 star (for those put off by Eloy Martínez's narrative treatment of Evita's corpse) to a 4-5 star (for those who, like myself, love them some metafiction). sadly i read this one way in advance so i have to wait for almost a month for our discussion!!! as Lily Allen would say (and Evita would surely concur), it's hard out here for a bitch :(

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really a very strange novel about not so much the life of Evita Peron but about her corpse after she died and what happened to it. For me, this was really hard to get through. Although this is a novel and fictional, it is hard to tell what is really true and what is not. The author injects himself into the novel and describes various interviews he had with key figures in the story so it makes it seem as this is more biographical than fiction. His writing style made it very tedious and I had a hard time finishing this.

Interwoven into the story are vignettes about Evita who was an actress who rose out of poverty and became both heroine and saint to the Argentine people. After her death, she is embalmed so that her body was preserved indefinitely. But there were also some copies of the body made using wax and vinyl which made it difficult for anyone to really identify the true body. The embalmed corpse ends up going back and forth across the ocean and in and out of the possession of the Peronists who wanted to preserve her legacy. But the representatives of the military junta that drove Juan Peron into exile want to demonstrate her mortality and corruptibility. The novel has some somewhat interesting characters including the Colonel who is tasked with finding and burying the body, Eva's hairdresser who tells first-hand experiences of Eva and her fixations, and the celebrated embalmer who tried to preserve her corpse.

Although this was a somewhat interesting take on Evita's story, as I've said, the style of the novel kept me wanting it to end. I found it to be overlong and really a chore to get through. But it did make me want to find out more about the Perons and the Argentinian government of the 40s and 50s. I may have to watch the musical "Evita"! The rioting in the streets by the poor and the fascist leanings of the men in power did remind me somewhat of America's current leadership and situation. We need to learn from the past!

[Inês · Rating 5 out of 5]

estou pronta para escrever um texto de dez páginas em times new roman, tamanho doze, espaçamento simples, sobre o fenómeno evita, a mestria na construção desta obra (+ os seus defeitos) e a minha experiência de leitura sem contexto prévio.

[diego ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¿cómo has podido, Evita, morir tanto?"

Si la vida de la icónica primera dama argentina fue excéntrica y polarizante, su muerte lo fue aún más.

El cadáver de Evita Perón, a pesar de todas las tribulaciones que vivió durante tantos años, es lo único que se mantiene constante en una novela en la que cada acontecimiento narrado es más inverosímil que el anterior.
A pesar de tener una segunda parte un poco demasiado confusa y marcada por la tenebrosa demencia de varios de los protagonistas, especialmente del coronel Moori Koenig, es evidente por qué Santa Evita es muchísimo más que una novela histórica dedicada a la Guía Espiritual de Argentina: la prosa es brillante, la estructura, construida sobre diversos episodios cuya narración se asemeja al realismo mágico, es única, y los protagonistas, (un cadáver, un fanático coronel y el propio narrador) son excelentes.
Aunque me hubiera gustado más Evita y menos desquicie colectivo (hay momentos en los que el libro casi parece una novela de terror), entiendo que el punto de la historia no es explicar de manera científica el fenómeno Eva Perón, sino narrar, de manera paralela y a veces entrecruzada, el viaje delirante del cuerpo de la primera dama y el del propio autor para encajar todas las piezas del puzle de una mujer que aún muerta, siguió dictando los destinos de todos los argentinos.

[Diane Zwang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am embarrassed to say that most of my knowledge of Eva Peron is from the musical Evita, I was looking forward to expanding my knowledge. The story is more about what happens after her death but there are many flashbacks so you do get a sense of history. This story is non-linear and with multiple narrators which I did not like at times. I enjoyed how the story started in Eva's voice as she struggled with the inevitable. Then it picks up with the Embalmer, then the Colonel and the adventure begins. Overall I enjoyed the journey but sometimes my interest waxed and waned. I am inspired to read further about Eva Peron as I am not sure what is fact and what is fiction but I think that was the point of the novel.

“The worst part about death was the whiteness, the emptiness, the loneliness of the other side: one's body racing off the like a galloping steed.”

“That woman is even more dangerous dead than she was alive.”

“Fame. You yourself explained at the Academy of Medicine that giving a dead corpse the sensation of life was like discovering the philosophers' stone.”

“Whoever has the woman has the country in the palm of their hand, do you realize?”

[Aye Rossi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Más allá de que es una historia que la mayoría conocemos no deja de sorprenderme y angustiarme todo lo que hicieron con los restos de Evita. La mujer más importante de nuestra historia, víctima de la misoginia y el odio aún después de muerta.
Me es muy difícil puntuar el libro, pero para hacerlo tengo en cuenta el excelente manejo de la estructura de la novela y la forma de construir la historia por parte del autor

[Rafael · Rating 3 out of 5]

No se en que momento exactamente mi imaginación de niño o adolescente se maravilló con la figura de Eva Perón. Recuerdo haber oído a Licha platicarme del dictador argentino depuesto y refugiado en España y tengo una vaga conciencia de haber leído en alguna revista en la peluquería mientras esperaba turno, un reportaje sobre el embalsamamiento del cadáver de Eva Perón.
Esta historia, como la de Rasputín y otras que Licha me platicaba y cuyo conocimiento servía de acicate para nuevas lecturas, estaba ahí en alguna parte de mi memoria esperando, sin saberlo, topar con nuevos datos. Por los caprichos del azar no dí con nada interesante hasta que leí el libro de “Contra Viento y Marea” de Vargas llosa En ese libro Vargas Llosa comenta que leyó Santa Evita de Tomás Eloy Martínez, esto me llevó a buscar el libro y leerlo. En realidad en dos etapas.
En la primera, tomé el libro para leerlo en el avión en un viaje a Francia; había avanzado como la mitad de la lectura cuando llegué a Toulouse y fui atendido a cuerpo a de rey por mis amigos Touzeau. Daniel, al final de una de las exquisitas comidas y conversaciones, se levantó, fue al librero, tomó un volumen, muy bien encuadernado de las confesiones de Rousseau y me lo obsequió. Ese gesto selló la suerte de mi ejemplar de Santa Evita, se quedó en Toulouse.
Meses después compré nuevamente el libro y lo llevé en un viaje a Acapulco, ahí no se lo regalé a nadie. Completé su lectura.
Santa Evita tiene al menos tres hilos conductores del relato, el principal es la suerte que sigue el cadáver embalsamado de Eva Perón, pero no es la única trama narrativa; el libro va dando también su versión de algunos hechos históricos con Eva Perón viva, como sus audiencias para dar casas y recursos a la gente del pueblo, que recuerdan conocidas prácticas clientelares de la política mexicana, recientes y antiguas. Su obligada renuncia a la candidatura a la vicepresidencia, los celos políticos de Perón, el disgusto de los militares y una prolífica descripción de su enfermedad.
En algunos otros pasajes nos enteramos también como vivía Eva Duarte en su pueblo natal, con su mamá, de su huída a Buenos Aires con un cantante que la mantiene como amante clandestina porque es menor de edad, de cómo conoce y seduce al viudo Perón, después de penar en busca de oportunidades artísticas que incluyen las de posar para revistas masculinas.
Además de los dos anteriores ejes narrativos, Tomás Eloy Martínez incluye su reflexión introspectiva para contarle al lector sus dificultades en entrevistar a algún personaje, la manera como consiguió un documento, su amistad con algún testigo o hasta amores con la hija de un antiguo conocido que resulta ser importante en la reconstrucción de ésta historia que conmovió a Argentina, toda.
Incluye el autor reflexiones sobre la literatura y la vida cultural de Argentina. Me llamó la atención su referencia a algunas obras anteriores de ficción sobre el cadáver de Eva Perón, como “Esa Mujer” de Rodolfo Walsh, que narra la desgracia de un Coronel enamorado de un cadáver que debe vigilar y que entierra finalmente en algún lugar de Europa. Habla también de la semejanza del cuento de Walsh con “La Muerte y la Brújula” de Borges, de quien dice: “ Todos los relatos que Borges compuso en esa época reflejan la indefensión de un ciego ante las amenazas bárbaras del Peronismo”.
Sugiere, el autor de Santa Evita, una especie de maleficio que se cierne sobre todo aquel que tiene que ver con esta historia del cadáver de Eva Duarte -Persona- como la llamaba el Coronel Moori Koenig principal verdugo y víctima del cadáver. Ese maleficio no le hace dispensa tampoco al mismísimo Tomás Eloy, quien resulta víctima de varias calamidades y depresiones hasta estar a punto de abandonar la empresa de escribir el libro. Por supuesto no creo nada del supuesto maleficio y no se si es cierto todo lo que se platica del cadáver, pero la verdad es que de acuerdo a lo que narra el libro, todos los que tienen que ver con el cadáver tienen alguna desgracia: se quema su casa, asesinan a su mujer, se vuelven alcohólicos, etc.
El principal verdugo y víctima es el Coronel Koenig, enamorado del cadáver.
Un cadáver aun más bello que la mujer que fue. Rodeado de un halo de vapores azulosos y metálicos producidos por las sustancias que la habitaban para luchar contra la descomposición de la carne. Respondiendo con la soledad y terquedad de la muerte a todos los halagos, denuestos y vejaciones de sus custodios. Algo ciertamente para enloquecer, lo mismo a su embalsamador, Pedro Ara que a otros de sus custodios; todos los cuales, al decir del relato, celebraban esponsales periódicos y frecuentes con el cadáver. Koenig además orina sobre el cuerpo inerte, lo que le vale la destitución y destierro.
Las peripecias del cadáver no son solo de tipo sexual, aunque son quizás las más impresionantes, por las mismas razones que el sexo es siempre más atrayente.
Hay también la componente del miedo que produce a quienes derrocaron a Perón, el que alguien pueda robar el cadáver y darle un uso político: Ponerlo al frente de una gran manifestación popular y hacerse con el poder. Por eso el paradero del cadáver es considerado Secreto de Estado, por eso, dice el relato, se fabricaron copias en cera del cadáver embalsamado y se enterraron con diferentes nombres en varios sitios distintos, incluido alguno en Europa.
Estas necrológicas vicisitudes son las que va siguiendo el libro, acompañándolas de relatos históricos y de las reflexiones del autor sobre la escritura del texto, creando una atmósfera de misterio sobre qué va a pasar con el cuerpo, cómo regresará a Argentina. Por lo mismo se lee rápido, aunque al final resulta un poco decepcionante.
Lo que me deja al final el libro es la conciencia de lo difícil que es platicar La Historia en mayúsculas de cualquier cosa, lo que hay siempre son versiones de una historia. Está es la versión de Tomás Eloy a partir de las versiones que escuchó y documentos que analizó. Mientras tanto Eva Perón y su cadáver seguirán -al margen de cualquier pretendida verdad histórica- siendo leyenda, hasta que el poder, el sexo y la muerte nos dejen de facinar.

[Ángela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha sorprendido esta novela de Tomás Eloy Martínez porque creo que más allá del trasegar del cadáver de Eva Perón, esta es una novela sobre la escritura misma. Asimismo, no es una novela histórica sino una novela sobre la historia que pone en juego tres aspectos claves de la misma: memoria, archivo y testimonio. Por otro lado es muy interesante y puede dar para hablar extensamente —a alguien más hábil que yo, por supuesto— sobre el ícono y el mito, muy en la perspectiva de Benjamin, a quien de hecho hace alusión.
Más allá de estos tecnicismos, sin embargo, es una novela sobre la transformación, sobre la mutabilidad, con intertextos impresionantes y un juego de narración muy entretenido. He leído gente diciendo que la lectura es difícil, pero difiero: una vez uno deja de perseguir "la historia", la novela habla de manera muy fluida.
La recomiendo muchísimo, pero bueno, quién soy yo, finalmente.

[Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una novela de realidad ficcionalizada. La historia real de la travesía del cadaver de Eva Perón sirve de cimiento para una novela que cuenta la historia de los involucrados en la odisea del cadaver. De lejos una de las mejores novelas que he leído en los últimos años.

[Padmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Quello che non voglio è che la gente mi dimentichi, Juan. Non permettere che mi dimentichino».

Il romanzo è basato sulla leggendaria figura di Eva Perón e inizia là dove finisce l'esistenza della sua protagonista.
Attraverso l'avventurosa "vita" di un cadavere, ripercorriamo la vicenda umana di un'attricetta di provincia che fu capace di irretire il presidente della Repubblica Argentina prima, un intero popolo poi.
Subito dopo la morte (annunciata da mesi di grandi sofferenze), il corpo di Evita venne affidato alle cure di un imbalsamatore con il compito di renderlo immortale. Allo scopo di proteggerlo, venne moltiplicato in più esemplari, trasferito, nascosto, ed alla fine affidato addirittura ai servizi segreti.
L'aura carismatica che aveva circondato Evita Peron da viva si moltiplica nel corpo imbalsamato, che rimane intatto, quasi fosse una bambola di porcellana: qualcuno se ne innamora perdutamente; chi l'aveva amata continua ad amarla e chi l'aveva odiata continua ad odiarla. Come fosse viva. Il colonnello Moori Koenig dei servizi segreti (incaricato di occuparsene affinché Evita divenga una morta qualsiasi dal momento che "da morta quella donna è ancora più pericolosa che da viva"), quasi impazzisce, precipitando nell'ossessione di lei.
Un passaggio bellissimo descrive questa ossessione. Una sera, guardando la televisione che trasmette lo sbarco sulla luna, di fronte a Neil Armstrong che scava una buca per piantare la bandiera americana, il colonnello sbotta: "È lei. Quei figli di puttana l’hanno sepolta sulla luna".
Evita (e-vita), la Luna.
In parte romanzo, in parte resoconto, suffragato da fonti e ricerche accurate, il libro è, per ammissione stessa dell'autore, un racconto infedele: "Ogni racconto è, per definizione, infedele. La realtà, come ho già detto, non si può raccontare né ripetere. L’unica cosa che si può fare con la realtà è inventarla di nuovo".
Del resto, l'autore è argentino. Come Borges.
----------------
Non ho potuto fare a meno di condurre a mia volta qualche "ricerchina". Su Youtube ho visionato alcuni filmati d'epoca. Non era particolarmente bella, Evita; non era sexy, nonostante i costosissimi abiti. Una popolana che attraverso grandi sforzi (e suppongo anche studi) si era ricostruita completamente dalla testa -bionda- ai piedi, assumendo tratti quasi eleganti. L'assoluta devozione per il marito, e quindi per la causa che lui rappresentava, è il tratto che colpisce di più.
L'eloquio è vibrante, ma umile: cuore, anima, pueblo, patria e Perón sono i termini che ricorrono maggiormente. Il tono a volte è uniforme, ma velocissimo, senza grandi alti e bassi. Parlava sempre a braccio, e non so quanti sarebbero in grado di fare lo stesso.
La postura, dal palco su cui declama, è quella di una diva, una cantante da festival. Non afferra mai il microfono, ma porta braccia e mani in avanti, come volesse "donare" le sue parole a chi quelle parole "beve", letteralmente. E acriticamente, com'è ovvio.
Un bell'esempio di cosa veramente sia il populismo.

Qui la bellissima prefazione di Fabio Stassi
https://www.edizionisur.it/sotto-il-v...

[Angela McCallum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting book about the strange journey that Eva Peron's corpse took after Peron was overthrown. T. Eloy Martinez reminds us throughout the novel that truth is elusive. We may never really know what happened to her corpse during its 22-year journey because much like Eva herself, who became Evita (remembered more for what people said she did than for what she actually did) the tales surrounding her embalmed corpse are so fantastical they can't be true, or can they?

I also learned a lot about that period of Argentina's history and why people so love or so hate Evita. In terms of understanding Argentines and Argentinean culture, this book is fantastic. Absolutely eye-opening, jaw-dropping, page-turning... you know, add whichever cliche you like best and it will probably fit here.

[ايمان · Rating 3 out of 5]

أول مرة ألتقي بإطناب فظيع برواية لاتينية..قصة حميلة مستوحاة من التاريخ تاريخ الأرجنتين تحديدا لكن في النهاية ستخرج و تقول...وبعد ماذا استفدت...عرفت أين دفنت ايفيتا..هل هذا فعلا مهما !!!؟ كنت أتمنى لو ركز قليلا على تاريخ الأرجنتين.

[Karen Elisabet · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Caminaba siempre un paso detrás del marido, pero él parecía la sombra, el revés de la medalla."

Read for the Popsugar Challenge 2018, challenge number 6: a novel based on a real person (María Eva Duarte de Perón).

[Santiago L. Beltrán · Rating 2 out of 5]

En lo personal, esta fue una lectura que no disfruté mucho. Me pareció que tenía descripciones excesivamente mórbidas que inclusive llegaban a caer en lo lascivo y eso me causó cierto repele frente a la obra. Nunca terminé de comprender las intenciones literarias del autor, puesto que terminó escribiendo lo que yo veo como un extraño compendio de comentarios y experiencias personales en torno a su proceso de investigación.

Asimismo, no me agradó que la novela estuviera escrita en primera y tercera persona, pero que el autor siempre encontrara la forma de ser el personaje central en casi todos los capítulos del libro; por ratos, llegué a sentir que se rompió la cuarta pared. Sin embargo, lo que sí fue un gran acierto fue la forma en la que el autor nos muestra que Evita, aún muerta, era capaz de atraer la atención de las masas y de ejercer cierto poder sobre las personas que la rodeaban, pero también mantenía la capacidad de ser vengativa y de destruir la vida de las personas que la retaban.

Descripción del libro en tres palabras: Perturbador, Detectivesco y Descriptivo.

Instagram: @soysantibeltran

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, memorable, historical, biographical fiction novel about Eva Peron, the uncrowned queen of Argentina’s masses. Eva Peron died of cancer, aged thirty three. She began life as a poor illegitimate girl, becoming an actress at the age of fifteen. This book mainly focuses on what happened to her body after her death. Her embalmed body was hidden, hijacked, perfect castes were made, the embalmed body was smuggled abroad, buried and resurrected.

The author uses interviews, fictional and historical written records, to tell the story. There is not much plot momentum, however the book is a thought provoking account of Eva Peron and Argentina, particularly from the time of Eva Peron’s death in 1952.

This book was first published in 1995.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for the Garcia Marquez quote on the front and the crazy plot of a former First Lady of Argentina’s embalmed corpse being stolen. Later to find out that this actually happened and only parts of the book are fictional. So crazy and very weird. Glad to learn about Argentina’s history and Peronism.

[Luciana Ini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una novela?
Es una autobiografía?
Es investigación?
Es todo.
Me encantó leer por primera vez a Tomas Eloy Martinez. Me sacó de mi zona de confort.
Pero me gustó mucho.

[Bela Torrens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empezó entretenido, pero los últimos 6 capítulos me parecieron un perno… sinceramente tenía más expectativas siendo que se trata de unas de las figuras políticas más polémicas de la Argentina.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Os argentinos que se julgavam depositários da civilização viam em Evita uma ressurreição obscena da barbárie. Os índios, os negros candombeiros, os malandros, os gaúchos renegados, as putas tísicas (...) todos já tinham sido devidamente exterminados ou confinados em seus porões sombrios. A súbita entrada em cena de Eva Duarte vinha desmanchar os prazeres da Argentina culta. Aquela mina barata, aquela copeira bastarda, aquela merdinha - como era chamada nos leilões de terra - era o último peido da barbárie."

Trago esse trecho de Santa Evita (1995) porque me interessa muito o fato de Evita ter perturbado uma elite portenha que se achava "civilizada" e "europeia", quando na verdade representava a mais completa barbárie pela perseguição e extermínio de seus povos indígenas e negros. Aliás, esse barbarismo dos argentinos é uma realidade contemporânea (assista a um jogo entre argentinos x brasileiros e provavelmente você verá inúmeros casos de racismo).

Bom, vamos lá: me interessa demais a figura de Evita. Quando descobri esse livro, numa disciplina de mestrado chamada Literatura e Sociedade Argentina, anotei o título e só fui lembrar mês passado de sua existência. Comprei no sebo e lá fui eu.

A história das cópias e do cadáver embalsamado de Eva Duarte, bem como os esforços absurdos para que o corpo não caísse em mãos peronistas, adquire tons do mais completo realismo mágico nessa interessante obra. A escrita de Tomás Eloy Martínez é muito envolvente e imagética, o que sem dúvidas contribui para o impacto da história.

O livro me pegou sempre que focava na construção - mesmo que esquiva - da personagem histórica (e real) Evita. Quando o livro vira seu foco para Eva, é uma leitura muito prazerosa e instigante. Quando foca nos generais e militares que levaram o corpo de Evita para cima e para baixo, confesso que (algumas vezes) fiquei um tanto entediada.

As pessoas que surgem no livro parecem espelhar a obsessão do leitor em vislumbrar uma face de Evita, mesmo que breve. Assim, quando um capítulo não se preocupa em colocá-la no centro da narrativa, perde-se um pouco da riqueza. Evita é tão poderosa que você não quer perdê-la de vista em nenhum momento.

Talvez, confesso, essa expectativa tenha sido um erro meu: o livro não deseja ser uma biografia de Evita. Porém, Tomáz Eloy é tão excelente nas suas escolhas narrativas para construir o mito Eva Perón, que no fundo desejei que fosse, de fato, uma biografia ficcional, e não um relato do que aconteceu com o corpo embalsamado (que, de novo, tem ótimos momentos, mas outros um tanto enfadonhos). Acredito que esse seja o motivo da minha demora em terminar essa narrativa.

Minha avaliação final: 3,5.

[Rowizyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

È un libro un po' strano, che potrebbe mettere a disagio, perché parla delle peregrinazioni di un cadavere e delle vicende degli uomini che ne sono ossessionati in quanto simbolo e immagine non solo di una donna, ma di un intero periodo storico. L'idea di ricostruire la vita di Evita Peron a partire da ciò che succede dopo la sua morte, quando lei definitivamente non è più in grado di difendersi e diventa un oggetto, un simbolo, un'arma, mi ha intrigato molto. Il romanzo come genere si mischia all'indagine e alla cronaca, alla riscoperta di fonti dimenticate o ignorate per dipingere un ritratto di Evita "canonico" o almeno senza certe macchie. L'autore stesso diventa un personaggio ossessionato dalla storia che sta scrivendo, nei suoi viaggi e negli incontri che ha per rimettere insieme i viaggi travagliati di questo corpo ormai santificato. Ricostruisce un'Argentina che forse noi conosciamo poco e che abbiamo creduto esagerata nella finzione di uno spettacolo musicale.
Anch'io come molti lettori mi sono interessata a questo personaggio della storia recente grazie al musical di Andrew Lloyd Webber, ed è stato bello scoprire che è abbastanza rispettoso delle fonti storiche (forse lo scivolone più grosso è sul rapporto con Magaldi), e come altri ho avuto in testa le canzoni del musical leggendo in un trip abbastanza assurdo, ma non Don't Cry for Me Argentina. L'Argentina ha già pianto e continua a piangere la sua santa nel romanzo. Il lamento in latino, le parole beffarde del Che sotto la sua finestra, il suo saluto finale. Mi sono probabilmente lasciata suggestionare nella lettura, ma è stata intensa e interessante. Un'ottima scoperta casuale al Salone del Libro.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing that "the only thing that can be done with reality is to invent it again," Tomás Eloy Martínez brilliantly transposes Evita's postmortem journey into an outrageous postmodern fictional montage wherein the author, represented as a fictitious character and narrator in the novel, spins a web of biography, history and myth into a effervescently farcical and sombrely perverse narrative, mellifluously illuminating the woman who "ceased to be what she said and what she did to become what people say she said and what people say she did."

The end-result is a gripping tale which sheds new light upon details that biographers and historians commonly leave behind, seeking to unfold "the unexplained blank spaces" of her domain while tracking the political, mythical, historical body of desires which Evita's cadaver, the body of the nation, incorporates.

And quite marvellously, in the interim, the textuality of Santa Evita undrapes the roots of the complex set of relations which provide an understanding of the corpus of discursive regularities that extend the representation of Argentina to Evita's embalmed cadaver as the novel bares and reconstructs the miracles, desires, secrets, and mysteries including the fragments and revelations which triggered the narrative flow, as "little by little Evita began to turn into a story that, before it ended, kindled another." Simply put, a literary work of art.