Contravida

by Augusto Roa Bastos

Tras una tentativa de fuga, un preso sobrevive al asesinato de sus compañeros de cárcel. Mientras huye, escucha las descargas que van acabando con los demás. Pero también a él lo dan por muerto y enterrado. Su vida, a partir de esta huida, va a convertirse en una odisea, en las etapas de un proceso iniciático, no exentas, a veces, de tensiones suicidas. Todo transcurre entre el sueño y la pesadilla. Augusto Roa Bastos nos transmite en Contravida todo el carácter de su una tierra de pasión y penitencia, con una historia aterradora. Y, al mismo tiempo, el lector siente el desaforado embrujo de su geografía, y aprende que el sufrimiento humano es lección de grandeza y esperanza de remisión. Este libro es un canto a la estructura humana frente al Destino y la Naturaleza. Una tragedia americana.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Augusto José Antonio Roa Bastos was a noted Paraguayan novelist and short story writer, and one of the most important Latin American writers of the 20th century. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his complex novel Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme) and for his reception of the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1989, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo is one of the foremost Latin American novels to tackle the topic of the dictator. It explores the dictations and inner thoughts of Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who ruled Paraguay with an iron fist and no little eccentricity from 1814 until his death in 1840.

Roa Bastos' life and writing were marked by experience with dictatorial military regimes. In 1947 he was forced into exile in Argentina, and in 1976 he fled Buenos Aires for France in similar political circumstances. Most of Roa Bastos' work was written in exile, but this did not deter him from fiercely tackling Paraguayan social and historical issues in his work. Writing in a Spanish that was at times heavily augmented by Guaraní words (the major Paraguayan indigenous language), Roa Bastos incorporated Paraguayan myths and symbols into a Baroque style known as magic realism. He is considered a late-comer to the Latin American Boom literary movement. Roa Bastos' personal canon includes the novels Hijo de hombre (1960; Son of Man) and El fiscal (1993; The Prosecutor), as well as numerous other novels, short stories, poems, and screenplays.

Roa Bastos was an exponent of the Neobaroque style that brought Latin American literature to the fore internationally in the mid-20th century. Among others, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is also associated with this school of writing. The style uses a complex system of metaphors that are often very closely tied to the land, flora and culture of the particular writer, especially in the case of Roa Bastos. Magic realism is a Neobaroque concept that applies such systems of metaphor to otherwise realistic settings (Yo, el Supremo being a notable example of the form). The Neobaroque style was used by many Paraguayan writers in exile after 1947 and until the 1980s. At the core of much of the work from this group are ideas of political freedom and the emancipation of their homeland.[33]

Roa Bastos started out writing poetry in the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque traditions. Later he took on "a new sensibility" in response to the poetry of Valle-Inclán, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and García Lorca. However, it is as a prose-fiction writer Roa Bastos has built his considerable reputation, through his novels and numerous short stories. Roa Bastos' novels blend the present and past by creating scenes with myths from pre-colonial times and Christian legends, developing a special kind of Magic Realism, although there are significant stylistic variations between his major novels.

Reviews

[Ricardo Loup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Había leído esta novela cuando estaba en el colegio y, sinceramente, no la había entendido. Este vez, con los años y con más conocimiento de la obra de Roa, y habiendo conocido el pueblo de Iturbe, en donde transcurre la novela, la disfruté más. Mucho, la verdad, a pesar de que por momentos más que argumento, nos encontramos con reflexiones metafísicas muy raras. Pero el estilo de Roa lo supera todo. Enorme escritor.

[Gabriela Márquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Las nostalgias de un fugitivo por su pueblito natal.

Bien visceral el relato y, lo conecto más con la perspectiva de nuestro protagonista cuando era niño. Las imaginación infantil puede ser bastante terrorífica, sin quererlo.

Hay de todo, señor: un tren medio víbora, un mono pervertido, referencias a Psicosis, varios personajes secundarios... rubios- ah, y mucha mucha agua.

[ｊａｚｍｉｎｅ ⋆｡°⭒˚｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

╰┈➤ ☆★☆→ 3.5/5 ←☆★☆

˚⟡ 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞/𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨 ⟡˚: novela/novel, ficción histórica/historical fiction

𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬/𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬
↳ Recuerdos - añoranza - melancolía - narrador no confiable - doble vida - escapismo
↳ Memories - longing - melancoly - unreliable Narrator - double Life - escapism

『 Eᴘᴜʙ Dɪsᴘᴏɴɪʙʟᴇ 』

⋆౨ৎ 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬:
𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼 𝄞𝄢♬ ▶︎ Melodia i - Jóhann Jóhannsson
𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝄞𝄢♬ ▶︎ Melodia ii - Jóhann Jóhannsson (as an far away memory, como un recuerdo lejano)
𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝄞𝄢♬ ▶︎ The rocket builder - Jóhann Jóhannsson

.·✩·.¸¸.·⍣✩ 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰/𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 ✩⍣·.¸¸.·✩·.¸

Esta historia cuenta de como un preso logra escapar la cárcel, de cómo fue el único sobreviviente y de cómo deberá seguir viviendo con el peso de los años, en su ruta de escape por tren, se pierde en sus recuerdos de su infancia, su pueblo natal, Iturbe, y se mezclan las narraciones de otros personajes, con recuerdos y conversaciones viejas, creo yo, que refleja el peso de los años, de cómo sus recuerdos lo consumen y desconectan de su presente y de cómo inconscientemente, vuelve a su hogar.

This story tells of how a prisoner manages to escape from jail, how he became the sole survivor, and how he must continue living with the weight of the years. During his escape by train, he gets lost in memories of his childhood and his hometown, Iturbe, while the narratives of other characters, along with old memories and conversations, intertwine. I believe it reflects the weight of the years, how his memories consume him and disconnect him from the present, and how, unconsciously, he returns to his home.

.·✩·.¸¸.·⍣✩ 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬/𝐦𝐢 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✩⍣·.¸¸.·✩·.¸

No creo que este libro sea para mí, me atrajo al inicio, las primeras partes, su estilo de narración, y la intriga de poder escapar y no ser atrapado, de cómo es salvado por el amor de una madre y el peso del dueño de sus ropas, de volverse un "pynandi", pero al momento en el que estaba en el tren, y él escucha el nombre de su tierra natal, de su ciudad que lo vió crecer, se pierde de su propia narración, como si entrara en sí mismo y recorriera entre sus recuerdos, como si conversaciones viejas que escuchó de niño se mezclan con sus propios recuerdos, narran otros personajes de su infancia, y creo que se supone que ésta es la esencia del libro, y es ésta misma la que hizo el libro se me hizo tan pesado.
Creo que si aún no has leído a éste autor (como yo) éste no es el indicado para empezar, pero si uno ya se encuentra ambientado a la narración de Roa, podría ser una lectura entretenida, además, creo que hay muchos datos incluso de su propia biografía dentro de este libro.

I don’t think this book is for me. It drew me in at the beginning—the first parts, its narrative style, and the suspense of escaping without being caught, of being saved by a mother’s love, and the weight of the owner of his clothes, of becoming a “pynandi.” But when he is on the train and hears the name of his homeland, his city that saw him grow up, he loses himself in his own narration, as if he enters himself and wanders through his memories. Old conversations he heard as a child mix with his own memories, other characters from his childhood narrate parts of the story, and I think this is supposed to be the essence of the book—but it’s exactly this that made it feel so heavy to me.
I think if you haven’t read this author before (as I hadn’t), this isn’t the right book to start with. But if one is already familiar with Roa Bastos’ style, it could be an enjoyable read. Also, I believe there are many details from his own biography within this book.

⋆౨ৎ𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝?: Sí, pero primero recomiendo la lectura de otros libros de Roa para empezar. Yes, I do recommend it, but you should read other books of him beforehand.

⋆౨ৎ𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝/𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚 No tenía expectativas, pero estaba emocionada por leer un libro de éste autor, tenía una visión completamente diferente a lo que fue la lectura, esperaba algo más de acción y menos añoranza y melancolía. I had no expectations, but I was excited to read a book by this author. I had a completely different vision of what the reading would be; I expected more action and less longing and melancholy.

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um livro que narra sentimentos, alguém tentando se adaptar à vida num contexto em que não se encaixa. A certa altura passou a ser cansativo, exaustivo. Deveria ter lido num outro momento.

[Enrique Cabrera · Rating 4 out of 5]

No hay un libro malo de Roa Bastos. Impresionante la nostalgia que emana de cada uno de sus relatos. Una grande