What do you think?
Rate this book
Volver al oscuro valle
Manuela Beltrán, una mujer perseguida por una infancia desgraciada, de la que intenta escapar mediante la poesía y los libros; Tertuliano, un predicador argentino que asegura ser hijo del papa y que, para crear una sociedad armoniosa, está dispuesto a emplear los métodos más extremos; Ferdinand Palacios, un sacerdote colombiano con un oscuro pasado paramilitar que hace examen de sus culpas; Rimbaud, el poeta precoz y genial cuya vida no fue más que una indagación incesante, y Juana y el cónsul, que se rastrean y se necesitan, unidos por un sentimiento aún no definido, protagonizan esta novela rica y polifónica, retrato de un mundo hostil y en convulsión, en el que el único reposo posible parece ser la búsqueda, el viaje, la ida y el regreso, la exploración sin tregua.
504 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2016
48 people are currently reading
955 people want to read
About the author
Santiago Gamboa
32 books638 followersBorn at Bogotá, he studied literature at the Javerian University of Bogotá. He travelled to Spain where he remained until 1990 and graduated in Hispanic Philology at the University of Alcalá de Henares. He then moved to Paris, where he studied Cuban Literature at the Sorbonne.
He made his debut as a novelist with Páginas de vuelta (1995), a work which established him as one of the most innovative voices of the new Colombian narrative; later he wrote Perder es cuestión de método (1997), which was internationally acclaimed, and has been translated into 17 lenguages, and about which a film is now being made, and Vida feliz de un joven llamado Esteban (2000), a novel which has added to his international prestige. He is the author of the travel book Octubre en Pekín (2001). As a journalist, he has been a contributor to the Latin American Service of Radio France International in Paris, a correspondent of El Tiempo of Bogotá, and columnist on the magazine Cromos. He is now residing in Rome.
He made his debut as a novelist with Páginas de vuelta (1995), a work which established him as one of the most innovative voices of the new Colombian narrative; later he wrote Perder es cuestión de método (1997), which was internationally acclaimed, and has been translated into 17 lenguages, and about which a film is now being made, and Vida feliz de un joven llamado Esteban (2000), a novel which has added to his international prestige. He is the author of the travel book Octubre en Pekín (2001). As a journalist, he has been a contributor to the Latin American Service of Radio France International in Paris, a correspondent of El Tiempo of Bogotá, and columnist on the magazine Cromos. He is now residing in Rome.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
February 21, 2017
Es el primer libro de Gamboa que leo, como parte de un viaje a Colombia. Lo primero que me sedujo fue la comparación con Bolaño que se realiza en la contratapa. En cierto sentido, la referencia no es gratuita: la historia coral/confesional, la variedad de registros lingüísticos que el autor maneja con soltura, la división en partes que cambian radicalmente, todo eso remite al chileno. Pero Gamboa tiene una impronta propia, cada personaje es un viaje hacia el tormento de las vejaciones y la violencia, y en todos se abre un punto de fuga que es, a su vez, el intento de un retorno. Irse para volver al hogar, irse para encontrar el hogar. El libro retoma asimismo algunos debates contemporáneos sobre la cuestión del perdón y echa luz sobre las contradicciones de una sociedad que está aprendiendo a resolver su conflictividad histórica. Ciertos pasajes también recuerdan a Houellebecq, prrincipalmente en las diatribas del personaje argentino, que le permite a Gamboa enunciar cosas políticamente incorrectas pero con una construcción que, desde el punto de vista del personaje, hacen sentido. Sin embargo, a diferencia del autor francés, Gamboa hace que esos personajes actúen, y esas acciones los llevan a poner en discusión sus propios dichos.
Si bien la primera parte mantiene un mismo tono, la segunda genera una ruptura. Personalmente, se me hizo más difícil sostener el contrato de lectura en el último tercio, que me pareció algo delirante y un poquito hollywoodense, pero aún así la novela mantiene su integridad hasta el final y resulta una muy buena lectura.
Si bien la primera parte mantiene un mismo tono, la segunda genera una ruptura. Personalmente, se me hizo más difícil sostener el contrato de lectura en el último tercio, que me pareció algo delirante y un poquito hollywoodense, pero aún así la novela mantiene su integridad hasta el final y resulta una muy buena lectura.
September 7, 2018
This Savage Parade
"I alone hold the key to this savage parade" wrote Arthur Rimbaud in Les Illuminations (here illustrated by Fernand Léger). It might almost have been the epigraph to this novel by Santiago Gamboa, who brings in the French poetic genius as either its presiding deity or devil. I might simply have translated sauvage as "wild" as opposed to "tame," but in this case the cognate is more appropriate; there is a savagery in Gamboa's storytelling be reckoned with; he does not deal with the deer and rabbits of the world, so much as its tigers and vultures.
Ten thousand bodies lie fallen in the mud, while above them, another twenty or thirty thousand are still fighting, still alive. The bodies become deformed. Blood accumulates in the lower parts of the body and suddenly something bursts. A foul-smelling stream gushes out on top of the mud. The birds circle, pulling out eyes, the worms rise to the surface. That's what the soldier sees in battle: the bare bones of his friend, the amputations, the perforated skulls. What he has seen remains on his retina. Nobody who has contemplated such horror can ever be the same again.Why did I pick up this book? It had a strikingly atmospheric cover. It was published by Europa Editions, a firm I have come to trust. It was by a Latin American author from Colombia whom I did not know. And its flap promised an intriguing combination of characters, three living Colombians and a dead Frenchman. In a more or less regular sequence of chapters, we have an expatriate writer, known only as The Consul, summoned from Rome to Madrid by a woman from his past. We have the tormented childhood of another woman, Manuela, including time in a reformatory, but who somehow emerges from it all as a poet of striking originality. We have a frankly incredible character calling himself Tertullian, claiming to be the son of the Pope (yes, the then Cardinal Badoglio), and building a career as a motivational speaker. And we have episodes in the life story of Arthur Rimbaud, who set the literary world ablaze while still in his teens, but gave up poetry altogether when he was only 21, and spent the last 16 years of his life wandering as an exile in the tropics.
Gamboa writes engagingly, and there is no doubt that each of these stories, expect perhaps that of Tertullian, captures the imagination. But we are in for some stormy waters. No sooner does the Consul get to Madrid than the Irish Embassy is occupied by Boko Haram, who start cutting the throats of the hostages. The Consul himself gets involved in violence and ends up in a prison hospital. Manuela's childhood includes abuse by her mother's lover, and a gamut of sexual experiences, many of which are described in detail, but she also finds support and joy from two older women who believe in her talent. Tertullian's methods, no matter the justification of his cause, seems very close to Fascism. And Rimbaud's history is what it is: utter brilliance, together with a flouting of all social norms, including a two-year affair with the poet Paul Verlaine, passionate love, drunken quarrels, drugs and gunfire.
The passage I quoted above is safely in the realm of history, describing the Franco-Prussian War. But the modern story is no more palatable, seeming to take delight in denying moral norms. Each of the major characters engages in something ethically unexpected at the least, morally unconscionable at worst. And the minor ones too. To cite one small example, a Colombian priest tells his story to the Consul; he seems a sympathetic enough character. Yet we are shocked to see him denounce a parishioner to an anti-Communist hit-squad on the basis of what he has heard in confession only minutes before—and we are expected to excuse his betrayal because he leads to someone even worse. If Gamboa did not write well (or Howard Curtis translate with less brilliance), it would be easy to throw this book away in disgust. As it was, I kept reading, though the disgust remained.
What ties all these threads together? The Consul, Manuela, and Tertullian eventually all meet up in Madrid, so there is a tenuous plot connection. In the last third of the book, they all return to Colombia, I suppose the "dark valley" of the title. For Colombian readers, I suspect that the whole book and the Colombian return adds up to a critique of the new prosperity that seemed to flow like magic from the peace accords of 2016, but it is hard to parse this if you don't know the country. For me, the real link was Rimbaud, the only character who has no literal part in the story. This kind of intertextuality, using the work of a dead writer as a moral (or here anti-moral) sounding-board for contemporary issues, seems to be a Latin-American speciality; Gamboa's compatriot Juan Gabriel Vásquez wrote The Secret History of Costaguana against the background of Conrad's Nostromo, and Roberto Bolaño made a career out of similar techniques.
What really intrigued me here was not any of the fictional threads, but the one that was true: the life of Arthur Rimbaud. The rest of Gamboa's work, it seems to me, was merely a matter of breaking Rimbaud's life down into separate aspects, and inventing modern characters to act them out. The novel even ends with something that has no justification whatever in the modern story, but has a poetic appropriateness to the old one: a return to the city of Harar in Ethiopia where Rimbaud lived before his final illness.
"I alone hold the key to this savage parade."
December 18, 2017
"Un lugar ideal para personas acechadas por oscuros recuerdos. Sólo en medio de esa atmósfera podriamos curarnos".
June 5, 2021
Fascinating story telling.
Đọc tiểu thuyết giống như du hành: nếu đi đến phương xa, ngắm một cảnh đẹp, thưởng thức một món ăn ngon có cảm giác thích thú thế nào thì khi người đọc tiểu thuyết tìm được một cuốn sách lạ và hay từ một nền văn học xa xôi cũng sảng khoái như vậy.
Colombia không quá xa lạ với người đọc Việt Nam. Tình yêu thời thổ tả và Trăm năm cô đơn cùng nhiều cuốn khác của Garbiel Garcia Marquez là món quen của người đọc văn học Việt. Thậm chí tôi nghe đồn tác giả Chết trong ngày Chúa nhật đọc Trăm năm cô đơn không dưới mười lần. Hay tôi nhầm, là nhân vật của anh ta chăng, trong Chung một cuộc tình? Dù sao đi nữa, thì Nguyễn Nguyên Phước là số rất ít nhà văn mà tôi luôn mong chờ tác phẩm. Thật đáng hổ thẹn cho nền phê bình Việt Nam khi chưa lấy có một bài viết tử tế về Một chuyến đi và Nhà máy sản xuất linh hồn. Và cũng thật hổ thẹn cho nền xuất bản Việt Nam, vì bất cứ lý do gì, không in được Chết trong ngày Chúa nhật. Nhưng ngoài G.G. Marquez ra thì ta biết gì về Colombia? Vaderrama tóc bồng bềnh hay Escobar phản lưới nhà trả giá bằng sinh mạng? Cả hai, tiếc thay không viết tiểu thuyết.
Một ngày đẹp trời nọ (dạo này trời thường đẹp, có lẽ vì ít người ra đường, ít xe cộ đua nhau nhả khói khiến trời cứ xanh ngăn ngắt), hoặc cũng có thể không đẹp lắm, quan trọng gì đâu khi đã cắm đầu vào màn hình, sau khi hì hục tìm mãi không ra password Amazon của mình, reset kiểu gì cũng không được, tôi đành đăng ký tài khoản mới để kết nối với cái Kindle mới được tặng (đa tạ). Trời xui đất khiến thế nào mà đập vào mắt là một cuốn e-book giá chỉ 2.99 đô, "Return to the Dark Valley" của Santiago Gamboa. Nhìn lướt qua phần giới thiệu, thấy bảo Gamboa chịu ảnh hưởng Roberto Bolano. Không đắn đo, tôi nhấp chuột, tải về Kindle và đọc luôn.
Santiago Gamboa, sinh năm 1965, học văn chương tại Bogota, triết ở Tây Ban Nha và văn chương Cuba ở Sorbonne, đã viết đâu đó chừng chục cuốn, và Trở về thung lũng tối là cuốn mới nhất của chàng, cũng là cuốn đầu tiên tôi đọc. Theo một cách nào đó, những chủ đề của Trở về thung lũng tối gần gũi với những cuốn nặng ký nhất của Bolano, 2666 và The Savage Detectives: bạo lực, tình dục, thi ca, và vì chàng là người Colombia, nên truyện của chàng còn có rất nhiều ma túy.
Có nhiều hơn một người kể chuyện (narrator) trong cuốn này: một cô gái bị cha dượng hiếp, tìm cách ra khỏi nhà để vào học ở một trường nữ tu, sa lầy ở đó, rồi sau lại trở thành một thi sĩ; một nhà văn vì một tin nhắn bí hiểm mà bay từ Rome sang Madrid để rồi chứng kiến một vụ khủng bố rồi sa vào một cuộc đánh nhau ngoài đường; một gã tân Nazi tự xưng là con trai Giáo hoàng ấp ủ ước mơ thành lập một nền cộng hòa thanh sạch; một giáo sĩ có quá khứ bạo lực. Và xen vào chuyện của các nhân vật trên là câu chuyện về cuộc đời của nhà thơ thấu thị Arthur Rimbaud. Các nhân vật trên, thoạt đầu như chẳng dính dáng gì tới nhau, về sau dần giao thoa, hội tụ, đương đầu với quá khứ, rồi nhiều người trong số họ cùng nhau trở về Harrar, nơi Rimbaud từng sống vài năm cuối đời.
Cấu trúc truyện phức tạp nhưng mạch lạc, gọn ghẽ. Cách kể chuyện cuốn hút. Văn viết chừng mực, tuy có khá nhiều xen bạo lực, tình dục, nhưng tuyệt nhiên không có những miêu tả gớm ghiếc kiểu Đất mồ côi của Tạ nhà văn. Lẫn vào trong đó là những suy ngẫm về thi ca, về những khủng hoảng của xã hội hiện đại, về nguồn gốc của tội ác. Trên hết, ta nhìn thấy mong muốn quên đi, dàn hòa với quá khứ, tha thứ và mong muốn trở về một nơi chốn thanh thản cho tâm hồn.
Còn quá sớm để gọi Trở về thung lũng tối là kiệt tác (dạo gần đây từ này bị lạm dụng). Nhưng chắc chắn, đọc cuốn sách này, tôi khoái.
Đọc tiểu thuyết giống như du hành: nếu đi đến phương xa, ngắm một cảnh đẹp, thưởng thức một món ăn ngon có cảm giác thích thú thế nào thì khi người đọc tiểu thuyết tìm được một cuốn sách lạ và hay từ một nền văn học xa xôi cũng sảng khoái như vậy.
Colombia không quá xa lạ với người đọc Việt Nam. Tình yêu thời thổ tả và Trăm năm cô đơn cùng nhiều cuốn khác của Garbiel Garcia Marquez là món quen của người đọc văn học Việt. Thậm chí tôi nghe đồn tác giả Chết trong ngày Chúa nhật đọc Trăm năm cô đơn không dưới mười lần. Hay tôi nhầm, là nhân vật của anh ta chăng, trong Chung một cuộc tình? Dù sao đi nữa, thì Nguyễn Nguyên Phước là số rất ít nhà văn mà tôi luôn mong chờ tác phẩm. Thật đáng hổ thẹn cho nền phê bình Việt Nam khi chưa lấy có một bài viết tử tế về Một chuyến đi và Nhà máy sản xuất linh hồn. Và cũng thật hổ thẹn cho nền xuất bản Việt Nam, vì bất cứ lý do gì, không in được Chết trong ngày Chúa nhật. Nhưng ngoài G.G. Marquez ra thì ta biết gì về Colombia? Vaderrama tóc bồng bềnh hay Escobar phản lưới nhà trả giá bằng sinh mạng? Cả hai, tiếc thay không viết tiểu thuyết.
Một ngày đẹp trời nọ (dạo này trời thường đẹp, có lẽ vì ít người ra đường, ít xe cộ đua nhau nhả khói khiến trời cứ xanh ngăn ngắt), hoặc cũng có thể không đẹp lắm, quan trọng gì đâu khi đã cắm đầu vào màn hình, sau khi hì hục tìm mãi không ra password Amazon của mình, reset kiểu gì cũng không được, tôi đành đăng ký tài khoản mới để kết nối với cái Kindle mới được tặng (đa tạ). Trời xui đất khiến thế nào mà đập vào mắt là một cuốn e-book giá chỉ 2.99 đô, "Return to the Dark Valley" của Santiago Gamboa. Nhìn lướt qua phần giới thiệu, thấy bảo Gamboa chịu ảnh hưởng Roberto Bolano. Không đắn đo, tôi nhấp chuột, tải về Kindle và đọc luôn.
Santiago Gamboa, sinh năm 1965, học văn chương tại Bogota, triết ở Tây Ban Nha và văn chương Cuba ở Sorbonne, đã viết đâu đó chừng chục cuốn, và Trở về thung lũng tối là cuốn mới nhất của chàng, cũng là cuốn đầu tiên tôi đọc. Theo một cách nào đó, những chủ đề của Trở về thung lũng tối gần gũi với những cuốn nặng ký nhất của Bolano, 2666 và The Savage Detectives: bạo lực, tình dục, thi ca, và vì chàng là người Colombia, nên truyện của chàng còn có rất nhiều ma túy.
Có nhiều hơn một người kể chuyện (narrator) trong cuốn này: một cô gái bị cha dượng hiếp, tìm cách ra khỏi nhà để vào học ở một trường nữ tu, sa lầy ở đó, rồi sau lại trở thành một thi sĩ; một nhà văn vì một tin nhắn bí hiểm mà bay từ Rome sang Madrid để rồi chứng kiến một vụ khủng bố rồi sa vào một cuộc đánh nhau ngoài đường; một gã tân Nazi tự xưng là con trai Giáo hoàng ấp ủ ước mơ thành lập một nền cộng hòa thanh sạch; một giáo sĩ có quá khứ bạo lực. Và xen vào chuyện của các nhân vật trên là câu chuyện về cuộc đời của nhà thơ thấu thị Arthur Rimbaud. Các nhân vật trên, thoạt đầu như chẳng dính dáng gì tới nhau, về sau dần giao thoa, hội tụ, đương đầu với quá khứ, rồi nhiều người trong số họ cùng nhau trở về Harrar, nơi Rimbaud từng sống vài năm cuối đời.
Cấu trúc truyện phức tạp nhưng mạch lạc, gọn ghẽ. Cách kể chuyện cuốn hút. Văn viết chừng mực, tuy có khá nhiều xen bạo lực, tình dục, nhưng tuyệt nhiên không có những miêu tả gớm ghiếc kiểu Đất mồ côi của Tạ nhà văn. Lẫn vào trong đó là những suy ngẫm về thi ca, về những khủng hoảng của xã hội hiện đại, về nguồn gốc của tội ác. Trên hết, ta nhìn thấy mong muốn quên đi, dàn hòa với quá khứ, tha thứ và mong muốn trở về một nơi chốn thanh thản cho tâm hồn.
Còn quá sớm để gọi Trở về thung lũng tối là kiệt tác (dạo gần đây từ này bị lạm dụng). Nhưng chắc chắn, đọc cuốn sách này, tôi khoái.
October 5, 2021
Me encantaron todos los capítulos dedicados a hablar de la vida de Rimbaud, tiene un buen ritmo, para entretener está muy bueno, el final es un gran desacierto, mucho drama.
October 12, 2017
Now this is a novel! Talk about passion ... heat... urgency ... sweaty sex ... grime ... drugs ... violence ... revenge ... murder... poets ... monologues by crazy Argentinian Nazis and paramilitary priests ... Rimbaud... terrorists ... a globe-trotting narrative ... the question of home ... the question of how you forgive and begin again ... the question of how Colombia moves forward post peace process... Basically, this book was a Christmas present for my withered, broken soul.
October 1, 2022
متاهة بين المدن والأشخاص والأحداث، نجح الكاتب في الدمج بين هذه العناصر الثلاثة في عمل الروائي أكثر من رائع في العودة إلى الوادي المظلم.
-ت��وع بين الشعر، الأدب، الروايات، الفنون، الموسيقي، وفلسفة.
إلى أين؟
إلي أسبانيا، بوجوتا، دلهى، باريس، كولومبيا، بروكسل، الأرجنتين، ألمانيا، المكسيك، وبلجيكا.
- ستنتقل بين البلاد، وكأنك طاير بين سطور الكتاب. أحداث الرواية فى القرن التاسع عشر والحادي والعشرون.
- تبدأ الرواية باقتحام بوكو حرام السفارة الأيرلندية في مدريد. فى هذا التوقيت يكون كاتب الدبلوماسي هناك، لمقابلة صديقته جوانا وبدأ في
استراجع الذكريات والنبش في الماضي.
- الرواية منقسمة إلى جزئين، الجزء الأول نظرية الأجساد المُعانِيَة، والآخر جمهورية الخير .
- تدور الرواية حول أرتور رامبو وهو الشاعر الفرنسي ومن أهم الشعراء في ذلك الوقت، واشتهر بروحه المتحررة وانخرط في علاقة رومانسية مربكة مع الشاعر فيرلين. ثم بدأ يسخط من أفعال فيرلين. فتمرد رامبو علي الرب والبرجوازية، الأعراف الاجتماعية، التعليم، الأسرة، السياسة، الدولة، وأيضًا الشِّعر.
- كاتب الدبلوماسىكان يدون الملاحظات عن "رامبو"، وقرأ أشعاره ورسائله وأعيد قراءتها، وأجمع إصدارات كتبه.
- مانويلا بيلتران فتاة التى عانت في طفولتها من أحداث قاسية، فتعطي لها حياة فرصة للبدء من جديد، ولكن الحياة أبت لأن الماضي مثل الظل لا يفارق صاحبه.
- "تِرتوليان" كان محارباً فى الحروب عصابات والشيوعية والدين، والحرب هنا طاغية في موضوع الذي لا ينتهى.
- ينتهي الجزء الأول بالقس الرجل متعلم، لكني في أعماقي ما زلت مجرد فلاح. ثم دخل فى الحرب مع الفلاحين ضد العصابات لتحيا كولومبيا.
- عامل المشتركة بين رامبو وكاتب ومانويلا
والقس هو الشعر والصدمات المتكررة.
- يوجد البشر لا ينتمون إلى دورة الحياة.
سيتوقف الناس عن الأحلام، وتأتي أنت وتحلم بطعام وصحة ونظافة وآه لو في تعليم!
"أنه في معظم أوقات حياته لم يكن يعرف إلى أين يعود".
" للموت ألف وجه".
"ذلك الإنسان يجب أن يكدح ويحزن، ويتعلم وينسى، ويعود إلى الوادي المظلم من حيث أتى، ليبدأ كدحه من جديد".
-ت��وع بين الشعر، الأدب، الروايات، الفنون، الموسيقي، وفلسفة.
إلى أين؟
إلي أسبانيا، بوجوتا، دلهى، باريس، كولومبيا، بروكسل، الأرجنتين، ألمانيا، المكسيك، وبلجيكا.
- ستنتقل بين البلاد، وكأنك طاير بين سطور الكتاب. أحداث الرواية فى القرن التاسع عشر والحادي والعشرون.
- تبدأ الرواية باقتحام بوكو حرام السفارة الأيرلندية في مدريد. فى هذا التوقيت يكون كاتب الدبلوماسي هناك، لمقابلة صديقته جوانا وبدأ في
استراجع الذكريات والنبش في الماضي.
- الرواية منقسمة إلى جزئين، الجزء الأول نظرية الأجساد المُعانِيَة، والآخر جمهورية الخير .
- تدور الرواية حول أرتور رامبو وهو الشاعر الفرنسي ومن أهم الشعراء في ذلك الوقت، واشتهر بروحه المتحررة وانخرط في علاقة رومانسية مربكة مع الشاعر فيرلين. ثم بدأ يسخط من أفعال فيرلين. فتمرد رامبو علي الرب والبرجوازية، الأعراف الاجتماعية، التعليم، الأسرة، السياسة، الدولة، وأيضًا الشِّعر.
- كاتب الدبلوماسىكان يدون الملاحظات عن "رامبو"، وقرأ أشعاره ورسائله وأعيد قراءتها، وأجمع إصدارات كتبه.
- مانويلا بيلتران فتاة التى عانت في طفولتها من أحداث قاسية، فتعطي لها حياة فرصة للبدء من جديد، ولكن الحياة أبت لأن الماضي مثل الظل لا يفارق صاحبه.
- "تِرتوليان" كان محارباً فى الحروب عصابات والشيوعية والدين، والحرب هنا طاغية في موضوع الذي لا ينتهى.
- ينتهي الجزء الأول بالقس الرجل متعلم، لكني في أعماقي ما زلت مجرد فلاح. ثم دخل فى الحرب مع الفلاحين ضد العصابات لتحيا كولومبيا.
- عامل المشتركة بين رامبو وكاتب ومانويلا
والقس هو الشعر والصدمات المتكررة.
- يوجد البشر لا ينتمون إلى دورة الحياة.
سيتوقف الناس عن الأحلام، وتأتي أنت وتحلم بطعام وصحة ونظافة وآه لو في تعليم!
"أنه في معظم أوقات حياته لم يكن يعرف إلى أين يعود".
" للموت ألف وجه".
"ذلك الإنسان يجب أن يكدح ويحزن، ويتعلم وينسى، ويعود إلى الوادي المظلم من حيث أتى، ليبدأ كدحه من جديد".
February 27, 2019
Unlike any book I've ever read. Astonishing in its beauty, yet extremely difficult in subject matter. Anyone who views travel as a gateway to understanding ones own soul should read this book. Pain, redemption, memory, love, politics, and spiritualality are explored in savage detail. A book this good reminds you of how important the craft is. 5 stars all the way 🏆
June 30, 2018
I love reading Gamboa. He’s explicit and macabre. Outlandish and well-researched. Macho and imagistic. His narrators seem to be idealized versions of himself and his characters plucked from the seedy back pages of the world. Best of all, everyone (and I mean everyone) is well-read.
March 23, 2023
Un relato que se vive muy cerca pero a la vez se siente lejano, unos personajes poco comunes dentro de la gran diversidad de opiniones, partidos, regiones, culturas pero sobretodo realidades de nuestro país, a veces pensaba que todo esto no podía partir de la existencia de alguien… 🫣y luego, salía de mi equivocación al escuchar una noticia en el radio o simplemente mirar con atención hacia otros lugares o personas. En este libro Gamboa nos hace reflexionar sobre el dolor ajeno, la crudeza del instinto y la hostilidad que está presente como una señal de que nada ha cambiado entre nosotros. Definitivamente un excelente escritor de novela urbana. Mi parte favorita la historia paralela de Rimbaud, seguramente por mi desconocimiento sobre la vida de este talentoso poeta a quien su época, su ego y sus amores le jugaron un poco en contra para seguir produciendo poemas y obras literarias maravillosas, apasionadas y atormentadas hasta tal punto que era mejor continuar el viaje sin ellas. Para no dañar el libro, una nota final, es crudo, violento y para mi un poco decepcionante al ver que no salimos de ese espiral en Colombia, pero es lo que hay … y que mejor forma de tratar de hacer algo que dedicar unos minutos de lectura! 🪐
October 13, 2018
(3.5) "At dawn, armed with a burning patience, we shall enter the splendid Cities." (Arthur Rimbaud)
May 5, 2023
الجزء الثاني ألطف وأخف من الجزء الأول في نفس الكتاب
December 17, 2017
Éste puede ser el mejor libro que he leído este año, o tal vez uno de los mejores libros que he leído en mi vida, le doy gracias infinitas a mi tío que me recomendó tan maravillosa historia, me demoré mucho en terminarla comencé un nuevo semestre y no me queda mucho tiempo para leer lo que yo quisiera. En este preciso momento no sé como describir lo que siento al terminar de leer esta apasionante historia, disfruté mucho su lectura y aprendí demasiado, comenzando porque encontré en Santiago Gamboa un autor estupendo, no acostumbro a leer muchos escritores colombianos, pero ahora intentaré leer mucho más de él y de otros autores, este libro no me decepciono en lo absoluto cada historia fue tan bien contada y la manera en que se entrelazaban una con otra era fascinante, completamente fascinante Manuela, el cónsul, Juana y el niño son personajes de los que no olvidas, la manera en que Gamboa describe los viajes me encantó , cuando empezó a hablar sobre Rimbaud y Verlanie fue super interesante para mí descubrir a estos poetas a través de este libro fue muy bonito, definitivamente quedé muy satisfecha con esta lectura.
February 26, 2019
Boom. Fulfills much of the promise shown in _Night Prayers_. Gamboa's got a lot on his fastball. I'm not someone who thinks that all Latin American literature has to be filtered through Bolaño, but in this case it's pretty clear that Gamboa's working from a place of being influenced. (If you're going to be influenced, why not be influenced by the greats?) But he's not just knocking off Bolaño is the thing. This isn't store-brand Bolaño. The world has changed, Capital has continued its fragmentation and dissolution of all that came before. The world is smaller now, and Gamboa's work here engages that. The character of the Consul stitches it together nicely, but (as with the earlier book) Gamboa deploys several very distinctive and interesting voices/characters. I love how resolutely he refuses to clarify the relationships between them until nearly 2/3 of the way through. It adds a nice tension.
You'll also learn an awful lot about Rimbaud, possibly more than you want. (I could see some readers growing a little weary of the Rimbaud-biographical thread.) But even that ends up being threaded into the other strands in an artistically satisfying way.
Really strong work.
You'll also learn an awful lot about Rimbaud, possibly more than you want. (I could see some readers growing a little weary of the Rimbaud-biographical thread.) But even that ends up being threaded into the other strands in an artistically satisfying way.
Really strong work.
February 26, 2018
3.5 estrellas. Fans de Bolano van a encantar este libro!
La primera mitad de este libro no me gusto a mi tanto - si hay una variedad de voces y conocemos el pasado de los personajes, pero el estilo "descargas a traves de primera persona" cansa despues de un rato. Tambien, hay mucho perico y polvo. Nunca senti que llegu ea conocer el Consul y la poeta Colombiana tampoco - si sobrevivio violencia intrafamiliar, pero esperaba ver algo mas. Algo falta.
Tertuliano, el NeoNazi Argentino, es el mas fascinante, y tambien me encanta la infancia de Rimbaud (un poeta Frances).
Cuando al fin las piezas se cuadran y los personajes regresan a Colombia, es muy emocionante. Tambien, las bromas estilo Falstaff de Tertuliano son excelentes. "EL SALCHICHA ESTA EN EL PANCITO" jajajaja
Tiene violencia, tiene critica social (de la television, del terrorismo, de Europa, de Colombia) y tiene un muy buen ritmo en la utlima etapa.
La primera mitad de este libro no me gusto a mi tanto - si hay una variedad de voces y conocemos el pasado de los personajes, pero el estilo "descargas a traves de primera persona" cansa despues de un rato. Tambien, hay mucho perico y polvo. Nunca senti que llegu ea conocer el Consul y la poeta Colombiana tampoco - si sobrevivio violencia intrafamiliar, pero esperaba ver algo mas. Algo falta.
Tertuliano, el NeoNazi Argentino, es el mas fascinante, y tambien me encanta la infancia de Rimbaud (un poeta Frances).
Cuando al fin las piezas se cuadran y los personajes regresan a Colombia, es muy emocionante. Tambien, las bromas estilo Falstaff de Tertuliano son excelentes. "EL SALCHICHA ESTA EN EL PANCITO" jajajaja
Tiene violencia, tiene critica social (de la television, del terrorismo, de Europa, de Colombia) y tiene un muy buen ritmo en la utlima etapa.
October 31, 2016
Parece que Gamboa vuelve a encaminarse al regresar al Valle del Cauca. Esta historia de regresos y venganza evoca al buen Santiago, capaz de crear ese ambiente donde no hay fronteras en la mente de sus personajes y donde el afán por conocer nuevas tierras es imperioso. En esta novela narra, de nuevo, el retorno de los migrantes a esta nueva Colombia que acoge a sus hijos en medio de una paz ya consolidada (ojala) y enmarca la historia en un paralelo entre la vida de Rimbaud y "Manuela Beltrán", una poeta caleña tan insurrecta como su predecesora. Buena historia, que retoma un par de personajes de ‘Plegarias nocturnas’ y vuelve a llegar con toda la fuerza de ese Gamboa de "Perder es cuestión de método". Ojala que la vida en Cali lo siga inspirando de esta forma.
October 30, 2017
About farc and rebels? Fighting it out in Colombia and how the violence and distinction affected everyone. And how exiles returned to Colombia after peace.
September 22, 2025
Return to the Dark Valley – Ο κόσμος τελειώνει κάθε μέρα, απλώς το κάνει με περισσότερη λογοτεχνία απ’ όσο αντέχουμε.
4,5 ★
Υπάρχουν βιβλία που διαβάζονται σαν να σκαρφαλώνεις βιαστικά σ’ έναν λόφο: ένταση, ιδρώτας, παλμός. Κι έπειτα υπάρχουν άλλα που μοιάζουν με κάθοδο σε μια χαοτική μητρόπολη φτιαγμένη από ιστορίες, εξομολογήσεις και ανοιχτές πληγές – και το Return to the Dark Valley ανήκει στη δεύτερη κατηγορία. Όχι για τους ανυπόμονους, αλλά για όσους αγαπούν να χαθούν στα στενά των λέξεων και να παρατηρούν ανθρώπους που μιλούν με πάθος για το τίποτα και μετά πεθαίνουν για το κάτι.
Ο Gamboa στήνει μια πλοκή που θυμίζει ταυτοχρόνως Roberto Bolaño και ταξιδιωτικό ημερολόγιο ενός άγρυπνου Ευρωπαίου που έπεσε κατά λάθος μέσα σε πολιτικό δοκίμιο. Ένας αφηγητής- alter ego, ένας πρώην ιερέας με όνομα βγαλμένο από noir (Tertullian!), μια Ισπανίδα ποιήτρια με τραύματα βαθύτερα κι από τα χαντάκια της Κολομβίας, ένας μυστηριώδης πατέρας-φάντασμα, και μια ιστορία που αγκαλιάζει την εξορία, τον τρόμο, την πίστη και τη λογοτεχνία — όλα γραμμένα με την τεχνική ενός συγγραφέα που δεν φοβάται να κάνει το υπαρξιακό πορνό πολιτική ή το αντίστροφο.
Η αφήγηση θυμίζει τα παραληρήματα ενός διανοούμενου σε παρατεταμένη κρίση ταυτότητας, που διαβάζει Rimbaud, ακούει Νίτσε να ψιθυρίζει σε νυχτερινά τρένα και πίνει κρασί για να ξεχάσει πώς τελειώνουν οι προτάσεις. Μια συνεχής σύγκλιση μεταξύ εξομολόγησης και αναφοράς ασφαλείας — όχι τυχαία, αφού η βία του 20ού και 21ου αιώνα εισβάλλει στα κείμενα όπως και στα όνειρα των χαρακτήρων.
Αν έπρεπε να το συγκρίν�� με κάτι, θα έλεγα πως είναι σαν να διαβάζεις τον Ξένο του Καμύ υπό την επίδραση LSD, ενώ δίπλα σου κάποιος σου διαβάζει αποσπάσματα από ένα μανιφέστο για τη λογοτεχνική σωτηρία του κόσμου μέσω προσωπικών τραυμάτων. Και όμως – κάπου εκεί, στη μέση αυτής της φιλοσοφικής καταιγίδας, νιώθεις πως το νόημα περνά ξυστά: ούτε σε λυτρώνει, ούτε σε καταδικάζει. Απλώς υπάρχει, σαν ένα τρένο που φεύγει τη στιγμή που φτάνεις στην αποβάθρα.
Το αφαίρεσα μισό αστεράκι μόνο γιατί στις τελευταίες σελίδες ένιωσα πως έπρεπε να φορέσω ζώνη ασφαλείας ή τουλάχιστον να έχω χάρτη. Αλλά μήπως το σκοτάδι έχει ποτέ διαδρομή GPS;
Ίσως η σκοτεινή μας κοιλάδα – όπως και του Gamboa – δεν είναι γεωγραφικός τόπος αλλά μια διάθεση, μια ηθική κούραση ή ένα αρχείο ανεπεξέργαστων εμπειριών. Και ίσως, κάθε φορά που ξαναμπαίνουμε σ’ αυτήν, δεν επιστρέφουμε κάπου, αλλά πλησιάζουμε κάτι: τον εαυτό που δεν καταφέραμε να γίνουμε, αλλά εξακολουθεί να μας γράφει γράμματα από το μέλλον.
4,5 ★
Υπάρχουν βιβλία που διαβάζονται σαν να σκαρφαλώνεις βιαστικά σ’ έναν λόφο: ένταση, ιδρώτας, παλμός. Κι έπειτα υπάρχουν άλλα που μοιάζουν με κάθοδο σε μια χαοτική μητρόπολη φτιαγμένη από ιστορίες, εξομολογήσεις και ανοιχτές πληγές – και το Return to the Dark Valley ανήκει στη δεύτερη κατηγορία. Όχι για τους ανυπόμονους, αλλά για όσους αγαπούν να χαθούν στα στενά των λέξεων και να παρατηρούν ανθρώπους που μιλούν με πάθος για το τίποτα και μετά πεθαίνουν για το κάτι.
Ο Gamboa στήνει μια πλοκή που θυμίζει ταυτοχρόνως Roberto Bolaño και ταξιδιωτικό ημερολόγιο ενός άγρυπνου Ευρωπαίου που έπεσε κατά λάθος μέσα σε πολιτικό δοκίμιο. Ένας αφηγητής- alter ego, ένας πρώην ιερέας με όνομα βγαλμένο από noir (Tertullian!), μια Ισπανίδα ποιήτρια με τραύματα βαθύτερα κι από τα χαντάκια της Κολομβίας, ένας μυστηριώδης πατέρας-φάντασμα, και μια ιστορία που αγκαλιάζει την εξορία, τον τρόμο, την πίστη και τη λογοτεχνία — όλα γραμμένα με την τεχνική ενός συγγραφέα που δεν φοβάται να κάνει το υπαρξιακό πορνό πολιτική ή το αντίστροφο.
Η αφήγηση θυμίζει τα παραληρήματα ενός διανοούμενου σε παρατεταμένη κρίση ταυτότητας, που διαβάζει Rimbaud, ακούει Νίτσε να ψιθυρίζει σε νυχτερινά τρένα και πίνει κρασί για να ξεχάσει πώς τελειώνουν οι προτάσεις. Μια συνεχής σύγκλιση μεταξύ εξομολόγησης και αναφοράς ασφαλείας — όχι τυχαία, αφού η βία του 20ού και 21ου αιώνα εισβάλλει στα κείμενα όπως και στα όνειρα των χαρακτήρων.
Αν έπρεπε να το συγκρίν�� με κάτι, θα έλεγα πως είναι σαν να διαβάζεις τον Ξένο του Καμύ υπό την επίδραση LSD, ενώ δίπλα σου κάποιος σου διαβάζει αποσπάσματα από ένα μανιφέστο για τη λογοτεχνική σωτηρία του κόσμου μέσω προσωπικών τραυμάτων. Και όμως – κάπου εκεί, στη μέση αυτής της φιλοσοφικής καταιγίδας, νιώθεις πως το νόημα περνά ξυστά: ούτε σε λυτρώνει, ούτε σε καταδικάζει. Απλώς υπάρχει, σαν ένα τρένο που φεύγει τη στιγμή που φτάνεις στην αποβάθρα.
Το αφαίρεσα μισό αστεράκι μόνο γιατί στις τελευταίες σελίδες ένιωσα πως έπρεπε να φορέσω ζώνη ασφαλείας ή τουλάχιστον να έχω χάρτη. Αλλά μήπως το σκοτάδι έχει ποτέ διαδρομή GPS;
Ίσως η σκοτεινή μας κοιλάδα – όπως και του Gamboa – δεν είναι γεωγραφικός τόπος αλλά μια διάθεση, μια ηθική κούραση ή ένα αρχείο ανεπεξέργαστων εμπειριών. Και ίσως, κάθε φορά που ξαναμπαίνουμε σ’ αυτήν, δεν επιστρέφουμε κάπου, αλλά πλησιάζουμε κάτι: τον εαυτό που δεν καταφέραμε να γίνουμε, αλλά εξακολουθεί να μας γράφει γράμματα από το μέλλον.
June 26, 2018
I enjoyed how the story spans overall several continents, multiple character viewpoints, and even transcends time, but if I could go back I probably would not have read it in the first place. It's just so dark and disturbing filled with abuse, mutilation and violence! I kept reading though because the story was so enticing and the prose enriching, plus there were comforting moments that sort of nursed me out of shock, but definitely made my heart feel heavy. If you have a thick skin and are looking to be moved, this book is for you, if you are interested in a light, feel good read then I suggest you look elsewhere. Overall, a beautiful, heartbreaking novel.
May 4, 2022
¿Será que siempre queremos regresar a algún lugar? Muy curiosa esta novela - hace tiempo no tenía ese placer de cerrar el libro para que no se acabe tan rápido :-)
May 5, 2017
Excelente!
May 28, 2017
No words! More than excellent.
Is a fantastic novel, make you explored and have more knowledge about the reality of Latin American countries.
Can be cruel many parts but I believe is true, there are many persons actually hidden angers and wishing take the justice by their hands, specially in Latin American societies.
Additionally Santiago made you travel around famous and world heritage places, where for sure any one of us will like to go before die. LIKE ME
Thank you Santiago Gamboa
Is a fantastic novel, make you explored and have more knowledge about the reality of Latin American countries.
Can be cruel many parts but I believe is true, there are many persons actually hidden angers and wishing take the justice by their hands, specially in Latin American societies.
Additionally Santiago made you travel around famous and world heritage places, where for sure any one of us will like to go before die. LIKE ME
Thank you Santiago Gamboa
August 31, 2018
Es un libro muy Gamboa y por eso a quienes disfrutamos de su estilo nos encanta. Un cruce de historias y personajes muy interesante con referencias a la realidad violenta de Colombia y del mundo. Entre las historias que se entrelazan hay toda una reseña sobre la vida de Arthur Rimbaud, muy interesante.
January 22, 2018
“That Man should labour & sorrow,
& learn & forget, & return
To the dark Valley whence he came,
To begin his labours anew”
William Blake
Santiago Gamboa’s Return to the Dark Valley is a journey into the “dark valley” of hell and back out again. It begins during the 2004 terrorist attacks on the Irish embassy in Madrid where Consul, a Colombian diplomat-turned-writer and the primary narrator of the novel, is mysteriously summoned from Rome, where he’d been living, by a Juana, an ex-lover. Upon his departure to Madrid, we switch narrators to Manuela, a young poet from Cali recounting to a psychiatric Doctor her tale of abandonments and betrayals, first by her father, then by her mother and subsequently friends and lovers. Then, the Argentinian, Tertullian, as he’s called by his followers, narrates to Consul how he became Master of the Universal Republic, a new world order he conceives of, borrowing from Nazi and other principles. Recovering from a bar fight, in the same room in a Madrid hospital, Consul meets Ferdinand Palacios, a fellow Colombian and freedom fighting priest. Palacios becomes the catalyst bringing Consul, Juana, Manuela and Tertullian traveling together back to Colombia, to right wrongs done to Manuela. Rimbaud, the infamous French poet of the late 19th century, known for being explosive, gay and always on the move, whose biography Consul is writing, serves as background to this collective search for revenge and redemption, and inspires the characters’ final adventure.
This is not the magical realist Colombia of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, rather, it explores the modern urban grit beneath the country’s enchanting landscape. There are layers to this underbelly; first is the Madrid terrorist attack, and other bad news, going on in the present. Next, are the individual tragic stories of Consul and his subject, Rimbaud, with whom he identifies, Manuela and Tertullian. In the first half of the book, the heavy story lines of Consul, Manuela and Tertullian are as disconnected from each other as the citizens of Madrid seem to be from the news of the attacks. We have no idea what these characters have to do with each other. Going from one character to the next is like disparate news stories reported one after the other with no connection, no hierarchy of importance. We experience them like an endless barrage of news with no commercial break. Consul’s own chapters get interrupted by headlines: BREAKING NEWS, POLICE ATTACK EMBASSY… BREAKING NEWS, POLICE ATTACK EMBASSY. Through these intrusions in the text, Gamboa suggests that the real intrusion to the story is not the headlines, not the news, but the evasion of the news, the ability to turn it off or ignore it, like the Madrid citizens seem so quickly to forget the attacks and return to their normal lives. “Despite the crisis and embassy siege, there were streams of people in the streets, an incredible hustle and bustle” (95).
Gamboa doesn’t let us turn away from his crew. Instead, he draws us further in. Just when it all seems too much - Manuel’s drama, Consul’s waiting for Juana and Tertullian’s battle cries - Gamboa brings the story lines together in the second half of the book. Through Palacios, the characters all get wrapped up in Manuela’s goal to get back at the source of all her pain. Gamboa’s straightforward prose (the second sentence reads “I wanted to write a book about cheerful, silent, active people”) and informal tone (the characters speak in first person), flies in the face of NEWS, the way it shouts and stimulates. His story compels us to stay with the characters in their search for some kind of closure.
Gamboa’s story subtly criticizes the “Republic of Goodness” Colombia becomes after the peace agreement between FARC and the paramilitary, simultaneous with the group’s arrival in Bogota. As the novel comes to a close, as the characters reach resolution, there’s a discord between the forgiving sentiment abounding in Colombia and the justice our heroes and heroines have served on behalf of Manuela. Is the peace to be trusted? Or is there something to be said for, some security to be found in, fighting and war, like the one Manuela and her advocates waged? The characters have come through hell, but where do they arrive? Like Blake says, the dark valley is where labours begin anew. Consul says “it’s good to write in the middle of a storm” (23). As a diplomat, like Gamboa himself, he seeks the eye of the storm for material, and he finds it in the people he meets during his stay in Madrid. Manuela tells herself, “write to invent another world for yourself, because this one isn’t any good” (111). Traveling in Germany, Tertullian finds a politics rooted in spirituality, ideals rooted in practicality, which often involves violence (257). These characters’ stories incite them, spur them on to action. Their pasts give them a reason to overcome, to keep searching - to create. Rimbaud, in their collective past, provides creative fodder. As a traveller and poet, his yearning for new experiences, whether good or bad, and his constant quest for truth sets an example for the characters and for us, too. Gamboa leaves us with a lifting off point, not an easy landing.
& learn & forget, & return
To the dark Valley whence he came,
To begin his labours anew”
William Blake
Santiago Gamboa’s Return to the Dark Valley is a journey into the “dark valley” of hell and back out again. It begins during the 2004 terrorist attacks on the Irish embassy in Madrid where Consul, a Colombian diplomat-turned-writer and the primary narrator of the novel, is mysteriously summoned from Rome, where he’d been living, by a Juana, an ex-lover. Upon his departure to Madrid, we switch narrators to Manuela, a young poet from Cali recounting to a psychiatric Doctor her tale of abandonments and betrayals, first by her father, then by her mother and subsequently friends and lovers. Then, the Argentinian, Tertullian, as he’s called by his followers, narrates to Consul how he became Master of the Universal Republic, a new world order he conceives of, borrowing from Nazi and other principles. Recovering from a bar fight, in the same room in a Madrid hospital, Consul meets Ferdinand Palacios, a fellow Colombian and freedom fighting priest. Palacios becomes the catalyst bringing Consul, Juana, Manuela and Tertullian traveling together back to Colombia, to right wrongs done to Manuela. Rimbaud, the infamous French poet of the late 19th century, known for being explosive, gay and always on the move, whose biography Consul is writing, serves as background to this collective search for revenge and redemption, and inspires the characters’ final adventure.
This is not the magical realist Colombia of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, rather, it explores the modern urban grit beneath the country’s enchanting landscape. There are layers to this underbelly; first is the Madrid terrorist attack, and other bad news, going on in the present. Next, are the individual tragic stories of Consul and his subject, Rimbaud, with whom he identifies, Manuela and Tertullian. In the first half of the book, the heavy story lines of Consul, Manuela and Tertullian are as disconnected from each other as the citizens of Madrid seem to be from the news of the attacks. We have no idea what these characters have to do with each other. Going from one character to the next is like disparate news stories reported one after the other with no connection, no hierarchy of importance. We experience them like an endless barrage of news with no commercial break. Consul’s own chapters get interrupted by headlines: BREAKING NEWS, POLICE ATTACK EMBASSY… BREAKING NEWS, POLICE ATTACK EMBASSY. Through these intrusions in the text, Gamboa suggests that the real intrusion to the story is not the headlines, not the news, but the evasion of the news, the ability to turn it off or ignore it, like the Madrid citizens seem so quickly to forget the attacks and return to their normal lives. “Despite the crisis and embassy siege, there were streams of people in the streets, an incredible hustle and bustle” (95).
Gamboa doesn’t let us turn away from his crew. Instead, he draws us further in. Just when it all seems too much - Manuel’s drama, Consul’s waiting for Juana and Tertullian’s battle cries - Gamboa brings the story lines together in the second half of the book. Through Palacios, the characters all get wrapped up in Manuela’s goal to get back at the source of all her pain. Gamboa’s straightforward prose (the second sentence reads “I wanted to write a book about cheerful, silent, active people”) and informal tone (the characters speak in first person), flies in the face of NEWS, the way it shouts and stimulates. His story compels us to stay with the characters in their search for some kind of closure.
Gamboa’s story subtly criticizes the “Republic of Goodness” Colombia becomes after the peace agreement between FARC and the paramilitary, simultaneous with the group’s arrival in Bogota. As the novel comes to a close, as the characters reach resolution, there’s a discord between the forgiving sentiment abounding in Colombia and the justice our heroes and heroines have served on behalf of Manuela. Is the peace to be trusted? Or is there something to be said for, some security to be found in, fighting and war, like the one Manuela and her advocates waged? The characters have come through hell, but where do they arrive? Like Blake says, the dark valley is where labours begin anew. Consul says “it’s good to write in the middle of a storm” (23). As a diplomat, like Gamboa himself, he seeks the eye of the storm for material, and he finds it in the people he meets during his stay in Madrid. Manuela tells herself, “write to invent another world for yourself, because this one isn’t any good” (111). Traveling in Germany, Tertullian finds a politics rooted in spirituality, ideals rooted in practicality, which often involves violence (257). These characters’ stories incite them, spur them on to action. Their pasts give them a reason to overcome, to keep searching - to create. Rimbaud, in their collective past, provides creative fodder. As a traveller and poet, his yearning for new experiences, whether good or bad, and his constant quest for truth sets an example for the characters and for us, too. Gamboa leaves us with a lifting off point, not an easy landing.
January 29, 2018
A complex, ever-shifting journey through the new realities of our brutal modern age. This is a thriller as would be written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: dense, shocking, magical. A memorable read.
May 27, 2019
Après ma déception littéraire de "Ayacucho", j'ai continué mon incursion dans les auteurs sud-américains car je ne suis pas rancunière et ce roman avait été stabiloté sur ma liste de ceux que je voulais découvrir.
Un peu d'appréhension tout de même, chat échaudé craignant l'eau froide.
Appréhensions vite balayées car j'ai pris du plaisir avec ce roman, même avec les passages parlant de Rimbaud, alors que je ne suis pas très poétesse.
L'auteur avait un art de présenter ses différents personnages que durant la moitié du roman, j'ai lu avec avidité leurs parcours respectifs, tous les 3 différents dont on pense que jamais ils ne se rencontreront.
Enfin, 4 parcours si on ajoute Rimbaud qui se trouve toujours en toile de fond et à ce sujet, j'ai appris pas mal de choses sur son parcours, sa vie, son oeuvre. On était à la limite de l'autobiographie et sur la fin, j'ai atteint ma limite avec Arthur.
Gamboa a ancré son roman dans la réalité de notre époque, celle des prises d'otage, des groupes islamistes, des égorgements pratiqués par ces tristes sires, celles des migrants, des crises politiques, des inégalités qui se creusent.
Le récit polyphonique (ou choral) nous offre une vision du Monde plus large, selon les points de vue des personnages et chacun ayant des choses à nous apprendre, nous raconter, le temps s'écoule à une vitesse folle et le rythme de lecture est élevé.
Faisant le grand écart entre l'Espagne et la Colombie, la moitié du récit est intéressant, intriguant puisque l'on aimerait savoir si ces trois personnages aux antipodes l'une de l'autre vont un jour voir leurs routes se croiser car entre le Consul, Manuela et Tertuliano, il n'y a quasi rien en commun, si ce n'est la Colombie.
♫ Ils voulaient revoir la Colombie ♪ cette terre de violence, de guérilleros, d'attentat, de meurtres, de cartels, d'assassinats, d'exécutions… Bref, pas le genre d'endroit pour aller au Club Med.
Comme je le disais, durant la première partie, l'ivresse littéraire était à son comble, mes yeux n'en pouvaient plus de découvrir la plume de l'auteur, les sujets abordés, les vies de ses personnages (surtout celle de Manuela, ma chouchoute) et puis, un peu après la moitié du récit, lorsque le Consul sort de l'hosto après son « accrochage », j'ai décroché lentement mais sûrement.
Ça a commencé par mon esprit qui se distrayait pour la moindre mouche qui passait, par le moineau sur la branche, par mon PC installé non loin et les conneries que le Net peut offrir quand ça ne "passe" plus en lecture…
Je me trouvais comme lorsque, étudiante, j'en avais marre de réviser et que je n'arriverais plus à engloutir la matière.
Puis les symptômes se sont aggravés : plus moyen de rentrer dans le récit, impossible de suivre les péripéties de Rimbaud ou du Consul ainsi que des autres protagonistes, saut de paragraphes, saut de pages.
Juste une envie, arriver à la fin en évitant l'overdose ou l'indigestion afin de ne pas gâcher le plaisir que j'avais ressenti lors de cette première moitié du récit.
Malgré tout le talent de l'auteur, à un moment donné, c'était devenu trop long. Cent pages de moins et le roman décrochait la palme d'or, mais c'est 100 pages en trop qui le coule totalement.
Un peu d'appréhension tout de même, chat échaudé craignant l'eau froide.
Appréhensions vite balayées car j'ai pris du plaisir avec ce roman, même avec les passages parlant de Rimbaud, alors que je ne suis pas très poétesse.
L'auteur avait un art de présenter ses différents personnages que durant la moitié du roman, j'ai lu avec avidité leurs parcours respectifs, tous les 3 différents dont on pense que jamais ils ne se rencontreront.
Enfin, 4 parcours si on ajoute Rimbaud qui se trouve toujours en toile de fond et à ce sujet, j'ai appris pas mal de choses sur son parcours, sa vie, son oeuvre. On était à la limite de l'autobiographie et sur la fin, j'ai atteint ma limite avec Arthur.
Gamboa a ancré son roman dans la réalité de notre époque, celle des prises d'otage, des groupes islamistes, des égorgements pratiqués par ces tristes sires, celles des migrants, des crises politiques, des inégalités qui se creusent.
Le récit polyphonique (ou choral) nous offre une vision du Monde plus large, selon les points de vue des personnages et chacun ayant des choses à nous apprendre, nous raconter, le temps s'écoule à une vitesse folle et le rythme de lecture est élevé.
Faisant le grand écart entre l'Espagne et la Colombie, la moitié du récit est intéressant, intriguant puisque l'on aimerait savoir si ces trois personnages aux antipodes l'une de l'autre vont un jour voir leurs routes se croiser car entre le Consul, Manuela et Tertuliano, il n'y a quasi rien en commun, si ce n'est la Colombie.
♫ Ils voulaient revoir la Colombie ♪ cette terre de violence, de guérilleros, d'attentat, de meurtres, de cartels, d'assassinats, d'exécutions… Bref, pas le genre d'endroit pour aller au Club Med.
Comme je le disais, durant la première partie, l'ivresse littéraire était à son comble, mes yeux n'en pouvaient plus de découvrir la plume de l'auteur, les sujets abordés, les vies de ses personnages (surtout celle de Manuela, ma chouchoute) et puis, un peu après la moitié du récit, lorsque le Consul sort de l'hosto après son « accrochage », j'ai décroché lentement mais sûrement.
Ça a commencé par mon esprit qui se distrayait pour la moindre mouche qui passait, par le moineau sur la branche, par mon PC installé non loin et les conneries que le Net peut offrir quand ça ne "passe" plus en lecture…
Je me trouvais comme lorsque, étudiante, j'en avais marre de réviser et que je n'arriverais plus à engloutir la matière.
Puis les symptômes se sont aggravés : plus moyen de rentrer dans le récit, impossible de suivre les péripéties de Rimbaud ou du Consul ainsi que des autres protagonistes, saut de paragraphes, saut de pages.
Juste une envie, arriver à la fin en évitant l'overdose ou l'indigestion afin de ne pas gâcher le plaisir que j'avais ressenti lors de cette première moitié du récit.
Malgré tout le talent de l'auteur, à un moment donné, c'était devenu trop long. Cent pages de moins et le roman décrochait la palme d'or, mais c'est 100 pages en trop qui le coule totalement.
May 9, 2019
Before Juan Diego (our fostered 10 year-old) arrived at the end of June, I wanted to read some contemporary Columbian literature. Thankfully, my friend and novelist, Marcelo Antinori created an epic list of notable books from all over the world. I picked up *Return* from the library.
It is an epic, for sure. Multiple voices. Multiple story lines. All first person except for the historical essay on Arthur Rimbaud, a detailed biography interspersed through the novel, that serves as the cohesion of the other stories—namely, Manuela’s quest to kill Freddy Otalora, her former stepfather who abused her when she was young.
The novel possesses the great spirit of the adventurer that Rimbaud himself possessed. Gamboa equates this spirit to the spirit of the poet. The title refers to a William Blake poem about man always returning to the dark valley whence he came. This is what Rimbaud wanted to do before he died—his new home, that is, Africa. And it is what the author does through the main character, Paco, the counsol whose connections help Manuela exact her revenge—the dramatic climax occurring in Columbia through the eyes of a well-journeyed ex-pat.
There are some dazzling excerpts, my favorite being when the author takes liberties with what Rimbaud must have been thinking and experiencing and the espoition that supports the historical essay.
Frequently, in describing Rimbaud’s life, he captures the spirit of the writer beautifully. I relate closely to passages like, “Someone who has read and loved books is like someone who has tried the coolness of water or the pleasures of sex or good food. He may stop cooking, but not eating. A chef may stop inventing delicious and sophisticated dishes, but I doubt he can do without decent food and willingly decide to spend the rest of his life on bread and water.” (388) This to explain why Rimbaud stopped writing while exploring the world, but remained an avid reader.
And then there’s the excellent descriptions of Columbia. Dig this: “unlike cities such as Paris or Rome, Bogota is a city of memory. Anyone looking at a corner is seeing something else: what was there before, what was demolished to give way to something new.” (367) This comes after the author described the unsettling newness and disquieting healthiness of the post-violent city.
I don’t know if reading a 500 page Columbian epic better prepared me to host Juan Diego for the month, but it sure made me a better reader and a little more sympathetic to a foreign world. Is there a difference?
It is an epic, for sure. Multiple voices. Multiple story lines. All first person except for the historical essay on Arthur Rimbaud, a detailed biography interspersed through the novel, that serves as the cohesion of the other stories—namely, Manuela’s quest to kill Freddy Otalora, her former stepfather who abused her when she was young.
The novel possesses the great spirit of the adventurer that Rimbaud himself possessed. Gamboa equates this spirit to the spirit of the poet. The title refers to a William Blake poem about man always returning to the dark valley whence he came. This is what Rimbaud wanted to do before he died—his new home, that is, Africa. And it is what the author does through the main character, Paco, the counsol whose connections help Manuela exact her revenge—the dramatic climax occurring in Columbia through the eyes of a well-journeyed ex-pat.
There are some dazzling excerpts, my favorite being when the author takes liberties with what Rimbaud must have been thinking and experiencing and the espoition that supports the historical essay.
Frequently, in describing Rimbaud’s life, he captures the spirit of the writer beautifully. I relate closely to passages like, “Someone who has read and loved books is like someone who has tried the coolness of water or the pleasures of sex or good food. He may stop cooking, but not eating. A chef may stop inventing delicious and sophisticated dishes, but I doubt he can do without decent food and willingly decide to spend the rest of his life on bread and water.” (388) This to explain why Rimbaud stopped writing while exploring the world, but remained an avid reader.
And then there’s the excellent descriptions of Columbia. Dig this: “unlike cities such as Paris or Rome, Bogota is a city of memory. Anyone looking at a corner is seeing something else: what was there before, what was demolished to give way to something new.” (367) This comes after the author described the unsettling newness and disquieting healthiness of the post-violent city.
I don’t know if reading a 500 page Columbian epic better prepared me to host Juan Diego for the month, but it sure made me a better reader and a little more sympathetic to a foreign world. Is there a difference?
December 16, 2018
literature is at once what existed and what no longer exists, what might have existed and what was has not yet been written.following the action of his previous novel, night prayers, santiago gamboa's return to the dark valley (volver al oscuro valle) is an ominous tale of revenge, violence, politics, history, and arthur rimbaud. set in the modern age of terrorism and xenophobia, return to the dark valley mingles elements of international thriller, noir, and literary fiction. brutality abounds throughout gamboa's story, but it's his propulsive plot and broken yet yearning characters that make the book so engaging. return to the dark valley (which inevitably will appeal to any fans of bolaño, whom gamboa borrows from for one of the novel's two epigraphs) offers a grim take on the current state of our world a la the geopolitics of late-stage capitalism, but the novel isn't so much an indictment as it is a sinister reflection of pervasive moral and social decay.
of course, poetry helped me formulate the right questions, but also told me that i didn't have any answers. life had been needlessly cruel, expressing a wickedness that, when it came down to it, could only be in people. a wickedness that hovers in the air and suddenly chooses you at random. it's not personal, i'm just a grain of sand, but how can any kind of faith be feasible when god has gone and there's nothing to replace him? those were the questions. i wrote and wrote, hoping to find answers. if there's nothing at the end of the road, what can give light to the heart of man?
* translated from the spanish by howard curtis (ean-claude izzo, canek sánchez guevara, gamboa's necropolis and night prayers, et al.
October 27, 2019
This is one of those books that, for better or for worse, make a mark on you. There are parts that are quite repulsive, but the urgency of the story and the characters lives is completely enveloping and for a lot of the book I struggled to stop reading.
Return to the Dark Valley is a loose sequel to Gambia's Night Prayers, so I would recommend reading that book first. As with Night Prayers, my major impression was that Gamboa writes intricate, fascinating characters, but is let down by slightly contrived storylines. His erudition and love of literature also shine through, and I really liked the balance and contrast of Blake's 'return to the dark valley' and Rimbaud's 'entering the splendid cities'; I suspect this book will find its way onto university syllabuses in 10 years' time.
The violence in this book is even more graphic and unpleasant than in Night Prayers, and once again I'm conflicted about it. Of course it is not nice to read the details of multiple rapes, but I can see why the extremity of the events is crucial for the story to work. In the end I think it is probably necessary, but be warned this is not a book for the squeamish.
There is a lot more I could say about this book, and I may write more later on, but I'll leave it as a summary review for now.
I really look forward to seeing what Gamboa comes out with next. I'm sure he could be one of the great authors of our time, but I don't feel he is quite there yet. Still, this is compulsive reading - highly recommended.
Return to the Dark Valley is a loose sequel to Gambia's Night Prayers, so I would recommend reading that book first. As with Night Prayers, my major impression was that Gamboa writes intricate, fascinating characters, but is let down by slightly contrived storylines. His erudition and love of literature also shine through, and I really liked the balance and contrast of Blake's 'return to the dark valley' and Rimbaud's 'entering the splendid cities'; I suspect this book will find its way onto university syllabuses in 10 years' time.
The violence in this book is even more graphic and unpleasant than in Night Prayers, and once again I'm conflicted about it. Of course it is not nice to read the details of multiple rapes, but I can see why the extremity of the events is crucial for the story to work. In the end I think it is probably necessary, but be warned this is not a book for the squeamish.
There is a lot more I could say about this book, and I may write more later on, but I'll leave it as a summary review for now.
I really look forward to seeing what Gamboa comes out with next. I'm sure he could be one of the great authors of our time, but I don't feel he is quite there yet. Still, this is compulsive reading - highly recommended.
August 27, 2025
He leído ya varios libros de Santiago Gamboa, y tal vez este se ha vuelto mi segundo favorito. Creo que si en El Síndrome de Ulises nos hablaba de la migración su precaried, como de lo grotesco en medio de esta, así como sus riesgos y sobre todo de una cierta marginalidad en medio de un mundo cosmopolita y supuestamente enaltecido, civilizado, en Volver al oscuro valle, en cambio, nos presenta una realidad cambiante, reflexiona más de la sociedad global a partir de ver esos movimientos que ocurren en Europa, del reciente posconflicto en Colombia, a la vez que recurre a interpretar la vida de Rimbaud como una manera más del desarraigo, un desarraigo de un mundo que se le sugería cómodo y seguro. Me queda entonces hablar de una pregunta que puede sea el centro del libro, ¿A dónde volvemos y para qué? Puede uno volver al lugar en que fue su infancia, pero también su decepción o puede también uno volver a algún otro lugar que le dio una certeza, un hogar que se construye a pulso, pero que al final, esa certeza será siempre fantasía y recuerdo.
Nota: Me llama la atención de la presentación recurrente de la violencia, y sobre todo de la violación tanto en hombres como en mujeres en este libro. Me parece que debe a la exploración de la polifonía de los diferentes personajes y que refieren tal vez a un suceso en sí mismo; la perdida de la inocencia a partir de la invasión y por tanto exclusión del primer territorio que es el cuerpo, y las maneras en que tras este evento cada personaje va direccionando sus acciones y elecciones.
Nota: Me llama la atención de la presentación recurrente de la violencia, y sobre todo de la violación tanto en hombres como en mujeres en este libro. Me parece que debe a la exploración de la polifonía de los diferentes personajes y que refieren tal vez a un suceso en sí mismo; la perdida de la inocencia a partir de la invasión y por tanto exclusión del primer territorio que es el cuerpo, y las maneras en que tras este evento cada personaje va direccionando sus acciones y elecciones.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews