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Aside from My Heart, All is Well
Luis Cordóba, also known as Gordo, leads an unconventional life. His vocation as a priest has not stopped him from becoming a film critic, teacher, opera enthusiast, and passionate nibbler of chocolate and pepperoni. He lives in his childhood home in downtown Medellín with another priest, Aurelio Sánchez, or Lelo, among a slew of pets (war-mongering fish, a toucan, and parakeets aren’t the half of it). It is Lelo who shades in these details, writing across time to the day in 1996 when life changed. At fifty, Gordo learns he needs a heart transplant. He is forbidden from climbing stairs, and so he moves into a different neighborhood with a friend, her housekeeper, and their children. With the briskness of sunshine drying out wet clothes, and air rushing through and renewing old places, Lelo reflects on Gordo’s new era of thinking and feeling.
Luis Cordóba is inspired by the life of the priest and film critic Luis Alberto Alvarez, a friend of Héctor Abad’s, and an important figure in Colombian cultural spheres. To keep Aside from My Heart, All is Well from becoming a biography, Abad drew on a range of sources to conjure up Cordóba, a person who both is and is not Alberto Alvarez.
Luis Cordóba is inspired by the life of the priest and film critic Luis Alberto Alvarez, a friend of Héctor Abad’s, and an important figure in Colombian cultural spheres. To keep Aside from My Heart, All is Well from becoming a biography, Abad drew on a range of sources to conjure up Cordóba, a person who both is and is not Alberto Alvarez.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 21, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 15, 2026
Inspired by the real life priest who was a beloved cinema critic and classical music lover (and friend of the author), this account of the meaning of love and life is thoughtful and engaging. Narrated by Luis Cordoba's longtime friend, roommate and fellow unconventional priest, the central focus is on the great man's final months when his heart disease necessitated a move to a household run by two women and filled with the laughter of children, and the question of what a vow of celibacy demands, perhaps unfairly, of those who accept it.
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2026/06/26/to...
A longer review can be found here: https://roughghosts.com/2026/06/26/to...
May 17, 2026
"When needs and abilities, joy and scarcity, are shared among a small group, which we generally call family, the undeniable fragility of us all is made lighter."
"I've become convinced of something growing inside me like a vine climbing within my body: I must allow myself a new life."
"In any case, our destiny, whatever destiny we might have, we must face with valor, with love and with valor, because that is how life is."
"Art and beauty are a war declared against brutality and indifference, and therefore a reflection of love, which is the clearest and most palpable manifestation of the existence of God."
This book, in magnificently translated prose, delivered a stunning portrait of humanity, inhumanity, friendship, love, family, struggles, doubt, faith, injustice, hope, and beauty so real that it felt experienced more than read. I was truly sad to finish and almost immediately went back to the start to re-savor some favorite moments and passages.
In my teaching circles, we talk about how great books are meant to be windows, mirrors, or doors: Windows where we glimpse the hearts of others, mirrors where to see our own hearts more clearly, and doors through which we step into something new. For me, this book was all three.
"I've become convinced of something growing inside me like a vine climbing within my body: I must allow myself a new life."
"In any case, our destiny, whatever destiny we might have, we must face with valor, with love and with valor, because that is how life is."
"Art and beauty are a war declared against brutality and indifference, and therefore a reflection of love, which is the clearest and most palpable manifestation of the existence of God."
This book, in magnificently translated prose, delivered a stunning portrait of humanity, inhumanity, friendship, love, family, struggles, doubt, faith, injustice, hope, and beauty so real that it felt experienced more than read. I was truly sad to finish and almost immediately went back to the start to re-savor some favorite moments and passages.
In my teaching circles, we talk about how great books are meant to be windows, mirrors, or doors: Windows where we glimpse the hearts of others, mirrors where to see our own hearts more clearly, and doors through which we step into something new. For me, this book was all three.
August 21, 2026
Whoops! finished this a while ago! I’ll keep it short, it just was not my thing🙂↔️ I will say, the writing style was gorgeous!
June 18, 2026
Cursive on sandpaper. From Congregationalism examined from the inside (Robinson), to now Catholicism examined — quite obviously and superficially — from the outside. Witness to and precious defender of the sign over the signified. And how novel, to sacrifice the sacred at the altar of the earthly. Rare and risky and entirely missing the point. And missing any appeal, no? Who does this speak to? Whose emptiness does it make whole? I am all for reformation, but this is no form at all. The framing is about the only element of interest here; we can probably do better.
June 10, 2026
A masterpiece.
The story of two unconventional priests in Medellin is so unexpectedly compelling and wise and entertaining.
In feeling it is otherworldly, rising like a Callas aria.
I had taken a fall and bruised my rib cage recently, but I wondered if the tale of a too-big priest waiting on a heart transplant made my heart hurt as well. This film- and opera-loving pope, taken in while gingerly recovering and awaiting the next medical step, enriches the lives of an Italian woman abandoned by her husband, her cook-cleaner-masseuse helper, and their three kids. The other priest, Lele, tells the story.
it’s humanly over doctrine—and about learning from a person who seized the day long before he realized the days may be running short.
if you are thinking this story is about a famous Colombian film critic and opera lover, you are right, the author says at the end. The author’s fragile heart kept beating long enough to finish this, and he thanked three specialists for keeping him alive to do so.
At the end, this book is about love and unconventional families and finding joy where you can. it is needed.
The story of two unconventional priests in Medellin is so unexpectedly compelling and wise and entertaining.
In feeling it is otherworldly, rising like a Callas aria.
I had taken a fall and bruised my rib cage recently, but I wondered if the tale of a too-big priest waiting on a heart transplant made my heart hurt as well. This film- and opera-loving pope, taken in while gingerly recovering and awaiting the next medical step, enriches the lives of an Italian woman abandoned by her husband, her cook-cleaner-masseuse helper, and their three kids. The other priest, Lele, tells the story.
it’s humanly over doctrine—and about learning from a person who seized the day long before he realized the days may be running short.
if you are thinking this story is about a famous Colombian film critic and opera lover, you are right, the author says at the end. The author’s fragile heart kept beating long enough to finish this, and he thanked three specialists for keeping him alive to do so.
At the end, this book is about love and unconventional families and finding joy where you can. it is needed.
July 8, 2026
quietly one of the funniest books i’ve read this year
June 29, 2026
This is a many dimensioned meditation on the heart, that is on being human.
I enjoyed the leisurely pace of the writing, the feeling of sitting in a warm courtyard, conversing with good friends.
The 'message' is simple: life is loving and being loved. And the conversation is about the many ways of loving and being loved---in friendship, in families of all kinds--beyond genders, beyond age, beyond strict configurations. And because life is a gift, the only sin one can commit is unhappiness.
And, although I didn't try them out, the pages include QR codes to arias, loved by Fr. Luis and generously shared by him--then and now.
I enjoyed the leisurely pace of the writing, the feeling of sitting in a warm courtyard, conversing with good friends.
The 'message' is simple: life is loving and being loved. And the conversation is about the many ways of loving and being loved---in friendship, in families of all kinds--beyond genders, beyond age, beyond strict configurations. And because life is a gift, the only sin one can commit is unhappiness.
And, although I didn't try them out, the pages include QR codes to arias, loved by Fr. Luis and generously shared by him--then and now.
August 21, 2026
The novel focuses primarily on two Catholic priests (the narrator, and the protagonist, Cordoba), who are both individually more flawed and more brilliant than the church they represent. Though they champion their religion, their actions relate much more to humanism, especially Cordoba's, who is passionately devoted to film, music, and the arts. I suppose his religious fervor took on a tone of "man is the measure of all things" rather than reverence for an almighty creator.
The arc of this story really feels like one of coming to terms with this humanist embrace, and leaving the dogma of Catholicism behind. For Cordoba, this means desiring to leave the priesthood behind in favor of a family life, and for the narrator, this means shedding his shame around his sexuality.
This was a quieter story with perhaps more abstract themes than I can understand. I also don't have the benefit of a religious background to probably appreciate the religious thread fully. This is perhaps also why I was never fully bewitched by it either.
7/10
The arc of this story really feels like one of coming to terms with this humanist embrace, and leaving the dogma of Catholicism behind. For Cordoba, this means desiring to leave the priesthood behind in favor of a family life, and for the narrator, this means shedding his shame around his sexuality.
This was a quieter story with perhaps more abstract themes than I can understand. I also don't have the benefit of a religious background to probably appreciate the religious thread fully. This is perhaps also why I was never fully bewitched by it either.
7/10
September 17, 2026
Read this while traveling so I didn’t have the chance to listen/watch the different clips, but I really enjoyed this book. Minimal plot in the primary narrative of the story, but we see Córdoba’s interests/passions for his life change over the course of the novel, along with more plot-heavy interjections about his past. There’s a lot of nice reflections on faith, love, death, meaning of life, etc etc all stuff I love.
It’s also made me more interested in the history of Medellin/Colombia + making future attempts to read books in Spanish
It’s also made me more interested in the history of Medellin/Colombia + making future attempts to read books in Spanish
May 8, 2026
#first
Closer to a 4 than a 3 but I felt the need to round down, idk why.
Is life worth it?
Closer to a 4 than a 3 but I felt the need to round down, idk why.
Is life worth it?
August 27, 2026
Colombia. It wasn’t bad, it just did nothing for me. I’ll say that I really enjoyed the QR codes that would link you to the music the author was talking about. That was a neat touch.
July 12, 2026
~2.5
Eh. Just didn’t find the story of the musings that interesting. Maybe it was too heavy on the priesthood and Catholicism for me? If you’re a Christian man with a heart problem then I’d expect for you to adore this book.
Eh. Just didn’t find the story of the musings that interesting. Maybe it was too heavy on the priesthood and Catholicism for me? If you’re a Christian man with a heart problem then I’d expect for you to adore this book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews