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La carroza de Bolívar
En apariencia, el doctor Justo Pastor Proceso lo tiene todo para sentirse afortunado: es ginecólogo en Pasto, una pequeña ciudad al sur de Colombia, tiene dos residencias, una mujer atractiva, una hija pequeña y otra adolescente, y una afición para sus ratos libres: investigar la verdadera historia de Simón Bolívar. Pero los enredos en los que se ve envuelto a raíz de la fiesta de los Inocentes y los desfiles carnavalescos del año 1966 hacen caer las falsas apariencias, y el sorprendido doctor Justo Pastor Proceso asume que en realidad su mujer se burla de él, sus hijas no le tienen demasiado en cuenta, y sus amigos se aprovechan. Cuando el cacique local la emprende a tiros contra los artesanos que preparaban una carroza burlesca, al doctor se le ocurre aprovecharla para que el grupo escultórico muestre en su lugar la catadura histórica del libertador Bolívar. El vodevil da paso a la farsa y la farsa a un peligro real y una amenaza fatídica. En la Colombia de los años sesenta, todos prefieren vivir en falso antes de cuestionar los mitos fundacionales.
389 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
28 people are currently reading
369 people want to read
About the author
Evelio Rosero
46 books148 followersEvelio Rosero Diago was born in Bogotá, Colombia, on March 20, 1958. He is a Colombian writer and journalist, who reached international acclaim after winning in 2006 the prestigious Tusquets Prize.
Evelio Rosero studied primary school in Colombia’s southern city of Pasto, and high school in Bogotá, where he later attended Universidad Externado de Colombia obtaining a degree in Journalism. When he was 21, he won Colombia’s Premio Nacional de Cuento del Quindío 1979 (National Short Story Award of Quindío), for his piece Ausentes (The Departed) that was published by Instituto Colombiano de Cultura in the book 17 Cuentos colombianos (17 Colombian Short Stories). In 1982 he was awarded with the Premio Iberoamericano de Libro de Cuentos Netzahualcóyotl, in Mexico City for his earlier stories, and that same year, a novella under the title Papá es santo y sabio (Dad is holy and wise) won Spain’s Premio Internacional de Novela Breve Valencia. After these early successess, Rosero fled to Europe and lived first in Paris and later in Barcelona.
His first novel in 1984 was Mateo Solo (Mateo Alone), which began his trilogy known as Primera Vez (First Time). Mateo Solo is a story about a child confined in his own home. Mateo knows about the outside world for what he sees through the windows. It is a novel of dazzling confinement, where sight is the main character: his sister, his aunt, his nanny all play their own game while allowing Mateo to keep his hope for identity in plotting his own escape.
With his second book in 1986, Juliana los mira (Juliana is watching), Evelio Rosero was translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and German to great acclaim. Once again, the visual experience of a child, this time a girl, builds the world of grownups and family, unveiling all the brutality and meanness of adults as seen with her ingenuousness. Juliana’s world is her own house and family. As Juliana watches her parents and relatives, she builds them. Her sight alters objects as she contemplates them. This was the first book where Rosero involved other themes from Colombia’s tragical reality such as kidnapping, presented here as a permanent threat that in the end justifies Juliana’s own confinement.
In 1988, El Incendiado (The Burning Man) was published. With this book, Rosero obtained a Proartes bachelor in Colombia and won in 1992 the II Premio Pedro Gómez Valderrama for the most outstanding book written between 1988 and 1992. The novel tells the stories of a group of teenagers from a famous school in Bogotá, Colegio Agustiniano Norte, denouncing the education taught by the priest headmasters as “fool, arcaic, troglodite and morbid”.
To date, he has written nine novels, beginning with Señor que no conoce luna in 1992 and Cuchilla in 2000 which won a Norma-Fundalectura prize. Plutón (Pluto) published also in 2000, Los almuerzos (The lunches) in 2001, Juega el amor in 2002 and Los Ejércitos, which won in 2006 the prestigious 2nd Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela and also won in 2009 the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize organized by the British newspaper The Independent.
Evelio Rosero currently lives in Bogotá. In 2006 he won Colombia’s Premio Nacional de Literatura (National Literature Prize) awarded in recognition of a life in letters by the Ministry of Culture. His work has been translated into a dozen European languages.
Evelio Rosero studied primary school in Colombia’s southern city of Pasto, and high school in Bogotá, where he later attended Universidad Externado de Colombia obtaining a degree in Journalism. When he was 21, he won Colombia’s Premio Nacional de Cuento del Quindío 1979 (National Short Story Award of Quindío), for his piece Ausentes (The Departed) that was published by Instituto Colombiano de Cultura in the book 17 Cuentos colombianos (17 Colombian Short Stories). In 1982 he was awarded with the Premio Iberoamericano de Libro de Cuentos Netzahualcóyotl, in Mexico City for his earlier stories, and that same year, a novella under the title Papá es santo y sabio (Dad is holy and wise) won Spain’s Premio Internacional de Novela Breve Valencia. After these early successess, Rosero fled to Europe and lived first in Paris and later in Barcelona.
His first novel in 1984 was Mateo Solo (Mateo Alone), which began his trilogy known as Primera Vez (First Time). Mateo Solo is a story about a child confined in his own home. Mateo knows about the outside world for what he sees through the windows. It is a novel of dazzling confinement, where sight is the main character: his sister, his aunt, his nanny all play their own game while allowing Mateo to keep his hope for identity in plotting his own escape.
With his second book in 1986, Juliana los mira (Juliana is watching), Evelio Rosero was translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and German to great acclaim. Once again, the visual experience of a child, this time a girl, builds the world of grownups and family, unveiling all the brutality and meanness of adults as seen with her ingenuousness. Juliana’s world is her own house and family. As Juliana watches her parents and relatives, she builds them. Her sight alters objects as she contemplates them. This was the first book where Rosero involved other themes from Colombia’s tragical reality such as kidnapping, presented here as a permanent threat that in the end justifies Juliana’s own confinement.
In 1988, El Incendiado (The Burning Man) was published. With this book, Rosero obtained a Proartes bachelor in Colombia and won in 1992 the II Premio Pedro Gómez Valderrama for the most outstanding book written between 1988 and 1992. The novel tells the stories of a group of teenagers from a famous school in Bogotá, Colegio Agustiniano Norte, denouncing the education taught by the priest headmasters as “fool, arcaic, troglodite and morbid”.
To date, he has written nine novels, beginning with Señor que no conoce luna in 1992 and Cuchilla in 2000 which won a Norma-Fundalectura prize. Plutón (Pluto) published also in 2000, Los almuerzos (The lunches) in 2001, Juega el amor in 2002 and Los Ejércitos, which won in 2006 the prestigious 2nd Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela and also won in 2009 the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize organized by the British newspaper The Independent.
Evelio Rosero currently lives in Bogotá. In 2006 he won Colombia’s Premio Nacional de Literatura (National Literature Prize) awarded in recognition of a life in letters by the Ministry of Culture. His work has been translated into a dozen European languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 24, 2015
Judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.
----Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan military and political leader who played a key role in Latin America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire, and is today considered one of the most influential politicians in the history of the Americas.
Evelio Rosero Diago, a Colombian author, spun a remarkable tale about this notorious leader in the history of American politics- Simon Bolivar, in his book, La carroza de Bolívar , which is translated by Anne McLean, and Anna Milsom and the translated version is called, Feast of the Innocents .
Synopsis:
Doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López, adored by his female patients but despised by his wife and daughters, has a burning ambition: to prove to the world that the myth of Simón Bolívar, El Libertador, is a sham and a scandal.
In Pasto, south Colombia, where the good doctor plies his trade, the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents is dawning. A day for pranks, jokes and soakings … Water bombs, poisoned empanaditas, ground glass in the hog roast – anything goes.
What better day to commission a float for The Black and White Carnival that will explode the myth of El Libertador once and for all? One that will lay bare the massacres, betrayals and countless deflowerings that history has forgotten.
But in Colombia you question the founding fables at your peril. At the frenzied peak of the festivities, drunk on a river of arguardiente, Doctor Justo will discover that this year the joke might just be on him.
The story is set in San Juan de Pasto, which is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwestern Colombia. If you are a Colombian and have visited Pasto in the past, then this book might be an easy read for them, but those who don't know about Pasto or have never visited Pasto, for them this book will be a very difficult one to read. The author might have named all the cities in Pasto and about all the locations, but what he failed to do is the intricate detailing. Neither I felt I was transported to Pasto nor I felt the story belongs in Pasto. All the while I felt the story belongs in some ancient city of South America with a bunch of tongue-twisting names of places that I can't at all relate to. I never read anything so factual without any visual imagery descriptions of a particular location.
From the synopsis, it feels like the author has tried to capture the life and times of Simon Bolivar with another story. Unfortunately somewhere in the midway of the story, the author lost his track and ended up mixing both his stories in such a way that it feels like you're in a bad historical movie.
Honestly, I'm not much accustomed with the history of Liberator in America. But reading about it in this book, made me quite enlightened with this chapter of history. There is a gynecologist who is trying to show the real truth behind the Liberator by writing the autobiography of Simon Bolivar. And then on the other hand, there is the story of Bolivar whose evil acts were contradicted by the historian, José Rafael Sanudo, thus arousing national anger with his published works about Bolivar. Bolivar had always been an evil politician in the face of the Liberator who commanded the first slaughter of civilians in Colombia. The author Rosero wrote this book with the aim to vindicate the memory of José Rafael Sanudo, in the form of a doctor who builds a chariot in memory of Bolivar pulled by twelve princesses during the Carnival in Pasto, thus enraging the people of Pasto.
I believe it's not an easy thing to mix history with literature, if not done skillfully, might turn into something very dull and monotonous. And since Rosero chose Bolivar as his subject in his book, it was not an easy job to project that politician without any rigorous historical facts and data. And that is the one reason for which the narration felt kind of inarticulate and at times, I had to read twice so as to understand the story. The prose is fine, crisp yet filled with dark humor and comics. The characters are really brilliant, the doctor and his pastusos friends, his family, his daughters and his elegant and controversial wife. Their story is what I really liked a lot and how the author tried to mend a broken marriage with his story.
Verdict: A nice historical tale about Simon Bolivar and I can accept the fact that the author has truly and gratefully paid tribute to Simon Bolivar. If you want to read about Bolivar's history filled with a tale of a bad marriage set in Pasto, then go for it without thinking about the consequences.
Courtesy: Thanks to the TripFiction team for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
----Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco, commonly known as Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan military and political leader who played a key role in Latin America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire, and is today considered one of the most influential politicians in the history of the Americas.
Evelio Rosero Diago, a Colombian author, spun a remarkable tale about this notorious leader in the history of American politics- Simon Bolivar, in his book, La carroza de Bolívar , which is translated by Anne McLean, and Anna Milsom and the translated version is called, Feast of the Innocents .
Synopsis:
Doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López, adored by his female patients but despised by his wife and daughters, has a burning ambition: to prove to the world that the myth of Simón Bolívar, El Libertador, is a sham and a scandal.
In Pasto, south Colombia, where the good doctor plies his trade, the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents is dawning. A day for pranks, jokes and soakings … Water bombs, poisoned empanaditas, ground glass in the hog roast – anything goes.
What better day to commission a float for The Black and White Carnival that will explode the myth of El Libertador once and for all? One that will lay bare the massacres, betrayals and countless deflowerings that history has forgotten.
But in Colombia you question the founding fables at your peril. At the frenzied peak of the festivities, drunk on a river of arguardiente, Doctor Justo will discover that this year the joke might just be on him.
The story is set in San Juan de Pasto, which is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwestern Colombia. If you are a Colombian and have visited Pasto in the past, then this book might be an easy read for them, but those who don't know about Pasto or have never visited Pasto, for them this book will be a very difficult one to read. The author might have named all the cities in Pasto and about all the locations, but what he failed to do is the intricate detailing. Neither I felt I was transported to Pasto nor I felt the story belongs in Pasto. All the while I felt the story belongs in some ancient city of South America with a bunch of tongue-twisting names of places that I can't at all relate to. I never read anything so factual without any visual imagery descriptions of a particular location.
From the synopsis, it feels like the author has tried to capture the life and times of Simon Bolivar with another story. Unfortunately somewhere in the midway of the story, the author lost his track and ended up mixing both his stories in such a way that it feels like you're in a bad historical movie.
Honestly, I'm not much accustomed with the history of Liberator in America. But reading about it in this book, made me quite enlightened with this chapter of history. There is a gynecologist who is trying to show the real truth behind the Liberator by writing the autobiography of Simon Bolivar. And then on the other hand, there is the story of Bolivar whose evil acts were contradicted by the historian, José Rafael Sanudo, thus arousing national anger with his published works about Bolivar. Bolivar had always been an evil politician in the face of the Liberator who commanded the first slaughter of civilians in Colombia. The author Rosero wrote this book with the aim to vindicate the memory of José Rafael Sanudo, in the form of a doctor who builds a chariot in memory of Bolivar pulled by twelve princesses during the Carnival in Pasto, thus enraging the people of Pasto.
I believe it's not an easy thing to mix history with literature, if not done skillfully, might turn into something very dull and monotonous. And since Rosero chose Bolivar as his subject in his book, it was not an easy job to project that politician without any rigorous historical facts and data. And that is the one reason for which the narration felt kind of inarticulate and at times, I had to read twice so as to understand the story. The prose is fine, crisp yet filled with dark humor and comics. The characters are really brilliant, the doctor and his pastusos friends, his family, his daughters and his elegant and controversial wife. Their story is what I really liked a lot and how the author tried to mend a broken marriage with his story.
Verdict: A nice historical tale about Simon Bolivar and I can accept the fact that the author has truly and gratefully paid tribute to Simon Bolivar. If you want to read about Bolivar's history filled with a tale of a bad marriage set in Pasto, then go for it without thinking about the consequences.
Courtesy: Thanks to the TripFiction team for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
July 4, 2021
Descrifrar la catadura histórica de Bolívar, hacer una alegoría al fabuloso carnaval de negros y blancos y relatar la cotidianidad de la década de los 60´ del siglo pasado a los pies del volcán Galeras. Rosero se traza con el Doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López una tarea con demasiadas aristas para dejar una conclusión evidente: la historia no es como la pintan.
La novela está ambientada en la navidad de 1966 y la idea de una carroza de uno de los hechos más macabros de la historia de la independencia: la entrada a Pasto con miles de muertos a su paso. A la par, Proceso López, sus amigos y sus enemigos, se sumergirán en varias historias de la cotidiana Pasto y los hechos de la guerra de la independencia, en este caso relatados bajo la narración de José Rafael Sañudo, con una obra que muestra una imagen alternativa de Bolívar: un libertador sin éxito, cobarde y ladrón de éxitos ajenos. Entre tintes de historia, guerrillas urbanas, carnavales, disputas matrimoniales y la reputación del padre de la patria, Proceso López, sus amigos distinguidos y sus jóvenes enemigos guerrilleros, ingresan en un círculo sin sentido que explora la pulsión histórica de las gestas de independencia y del orgullo de la república.
Sin entrar en divergencias frente a la historia patria, no cabe duda, Rosero nos da un punto de vista que al menos, debe llamarnos a la reflexión. Entre tanto académico reputado que nos llama a construir un futuro mejor para el país, sería una buena alternativa, luego de tantos infructuosos proyectos de futuro, de mirar al pasado, para hallar en las raíces del nacimiento de la república, los problemas históricos que nos aquejan. Que año tras año, cambiando de personajes y de teatro se reproducen en círculo sin eliminar las rencillas y mentiras con que edificamos esta república.
La novela está ambientada en la navidad de 1966 y la idea de una carroza de uno de los hechos más macabros de la historia de la independencia: la entrada a Pasto con miles de muertos a su paso. A la par, Proceso López, sus amigos y sus enemigos, se sumergirán en varias historias de la cotidiana Pasto y los hechos de la guerra de la independencia, en este caso relatados bajo la narración de José Rafael Sañudo, con una obra que muestra una imagen alternativa de Bolívar: un libertador sin éxito, cobarde y ladrón de éxitos ajenos. Entre tintes de historia, guerrillas urbanas, carnavales, disputas matrimoniales y la reputación del padre de la patria, Proceso López, sus amigos distinguidos y sus jóvenes enemigos guerrilleros, ingresan en un círculo sin sentido que explora la pulsión histórica de las gestas de independencia y del orgullo de la república.
Sin entrar en divergencias frente a la historia patria, no cabe duda, Rosero nos da un punto de vista que al menos, debe llamarnos a la reflexión. Entre tanto académico reputado que nos llama a construir un futuro mejor para el país, sería una buena alternativa, luego de tantos infructuosos proyectos de futuro, de mirar al pasado, para hallar en las raíces del nacimiento de la república, los problemas históricos que nos aquejan. Que año tras año, cambiando de personajes y de teatro se reproducen en círculo sin eliminar las rencillas y mentiras con que edificamos esta república.
October 26, 2019
Esta es una novela ambientada en la ciudad de Pasto por los años sesenta. El protagonista es Justo Pastor Proceso, un médico obsesionado con la historia de Simón Bolívar el "mal llamado Libertador", como dice en la novela.
Manda hacer una carroza para desfilar en la fiesta de blancos y negros mostrando a las claras de qué tipo de malhechor se trataba. Uno que asoló a Pasto en Navidad, cuando la ciudad estaba indefensa, solo habitada por mujeres, niños y ancianos. El que protegía la ciudad se había ido para el monte con sus milicianos. El resultado fueron más de quinientos muertos.
Pero no solo deja ver esta tragedia, cuenta mucho más.
Manda hacer una carroza para desfilar en la fiesta de blancos y negros mostrando a las claras de qué tipo de malhechor se trataba. Uno que asoló a Pasto en Navidad, cuando la ciudad estaba indefensa, solo habitada por mujeres, niños y ancianos. El que protegía la ciudad se había ido para el monte con sus milicianos. El resultado fueron más de quinientos muertos.
Pero no solo deja ver esta tragedia, cuenta mucho más.
April 10, 2014
Un libro interesante. Rosero hace un contrapunto entre la historia de un médico rico que bota la casa por la ventana en la ciudad de Pasto de la década de los sesenta en pleno carnaval, y la historia de las masacres que hizo el libertador de América en la misma ciudad, pero siglo y medio antes. Y el experimento le sale bien: la historia no se cuenta como si fuera un ensayo, sino que se enmarca en la historia del médico y se vive a través de los personajes; por otro lado, la aproximación humana que hace hacia la historia de las campañas libertadoras, enfocando a las víctimas y cuestionando la construcción ritual de los heroes nacionales, hace que esta novela plantee reflexiones vigentes.
Quien busque la sencillez atrapante de Los Ejércitos debe saber que esta novela está en un polo opuesto. Rosero es un riguroso del dato histórico y eso puede hacer que en ocasiones la narración no fluya. Tuve que volver a la página anterior en un par de ocasiones, pero con un poco de esfuerzo y de tiempo pude encontrar una historia que me puso a pensar.
Quien busque la sencillez atrapante de Los Ejércitos debe saber que esta novela está en un polo opuesto. Rosero es un riguroso del dato histórico y eso puede hacer que en ocasiones la narración no fluya. Tuve que volver a la página anterior en un par de ocasiones, pero con un poco de esfuerzo y de tiempo pude encontrar una historia que me puso a pensar.
January 27, 2018
Creo que la mayor virtud de Rosero es conseguir hacernos reír en un párrafo para reventarnos las entrañas en el siguiente. Su literatura es un chiste que se sale de control, una broma desbocada en la cual los dientes se afilan al reír y terminan por desgarrar una garganta (la nuestra, la del prójimo, la de cualquiera).
En La carroza de Bolívar, como en Los ejércitos, presenta a un personaje desde sus obsesiones vitales: la verdad y el sexo, cuya mezcla da "amor" o algo parecido. El doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López vaga a lo largo de las páginas contagiándonos su melancolía irresoluta, su alegría, su grito de vida. La primera parte del libro establece una especie de renacer: un personaje que vuelve a construirse desde los despojos de la mediocridad cuando es conducido, por una serie de casualidades, hasta la posibilidad de elevarse.
La tercera parte volverá a él, y será su elevación, su brillo y su noche. Es hermoso lo que Rosero logra aquí. La tensión de los últimos capítulos está a la altura de la Crónica de una muerte anunciada, y la inmensa poética de la desolación que consigue con las escenas finales es para echarse a llorar, o, por lo menos, para estrellar el puño contra el espejo. Sin embargo, pese a la muerte, la novela apuesta al mito, a la belleza del mito, y eso, un poco al menos, nos salva como lectores.
La segunda parte de la novela no me parece realmente memorable. Ayuda a construir empatía con la obsesión del personaje central, sirve a su propósito de anticipar el tono de las últimas páginas, pero el estilo expositivo del diálogo, monocorde (los dos monologantes son intercambiables, casi), pierde en gran medida la cadencia fortísima del resto de la obra. Quizás, sólo quizás, y haría falta una relectura para sustentar esta hipótesis, esta segunda parte contiene al autor de la novela, y serviría para convertir al narrador en tercera persona omnipresente, en un narrador testigo.
Si lo anterior tiene sentido, debo insistir en el oficio de Rosero, y reconocer en él uno de los autores más capaces de nuestra narrativa actual.
Subrayé poco en la lectura. Sólo dos fragmentos. Se los comparto, a lo mejor cuentan por mucho, o a lo mejor me gustaron tanto por esta soledad tan perra que desde hace días me sopla encima:
Y:
En La carroza de Bolívar, como en Los ejércitos, presenta a un personaje desde sus obsesiones vitales: la verdad y el sexo, cuya mezcla da "amor" o algo parecido. El doctor Justo Pastor Proceso López vaga a lo largo de las páginas contagiándonos su melancolía irresoluta, su alegría, su grito de vida. La primera parte del libro establece una especie de renacer: un personaje que vuelve a construirse desde los despojos de la mediocridad cuando es conducido, por una serie de casualidades, hasta la posibilidad de elevarse.
La tercera parte volverá a él, y será su elevación, su brillo y su noche. Es hermoso lo que Rosero logra aquí. La tensión de los últimos capítulos está a la altura de la Crónica de una muerte anunciada, y la inmensa poética de la desolación que consigue con las escenas finales es para echarse a llorar, o, por lo menos, para estrellar el puño contra el espejo. Sin embargo, pese a la muerte, la novela apuesta al mito, a la belleza del mito, y eso, un poco al menos, nos salva como lectores.
La segunda parte de la novela no me parece realmente memorable. Ayuda a construir empatía con la obsesión del personaje central, sirve a su propósito de anticipar el tono de las últimas páginas, pero el estilo expositivo del diálogo, monocorde (los dos monologantes son intercambiables, casi), pierde en gran medida la cadencia fortísima del resto de la obra. Quizás, sólo quizás, y haría falta una relectura para sustentar esta hipótesis, esta segunda parte contiene al autor de la novela, y serviría para convertir al narrador en tercera persona omnipresente, en un narrador testigo.
Si lo anterior tiene sentido, debo insistir en el oficio de Rosero, y reconocer en él uno de los autores más capaces de nuestra narrativa actual.
Subrayé poco en la lectura. Sólo dos fragmentos. Se los comparto, a lo mejor cuentan por mucho, o a lo mejor me gustaron tanto por esta soledad tan perra que desde hace días me sopla encima:
"Y cuando se empiecen a morir todos los amigos, ¿qué haremos, Justo Pastor, encogernos de hombros?", de nuevo el doctor se encogió de hombros, pero esta vez habló: "Morirnos también, qué tal que no, ¿cómo seguir viviendo entre desconocidos?" (310)
Y:
¿no fue aquí donde jugué trompo, de niño, y gané? (386)
June 8, 2015
Interesante y necesaria versión desconocida sobre el libertador Bolívar, y la reivindicación del pueblo pastuso.
http://asbvirtualinfo.blogspot.com/20...
http://asbvirtualinfo.blogspot.com/20...
August 7, 2016
Cuando la historia enmascara los hechos y las personas tienen miedo de la verdad es bueno encontrar novelas valientes
February 22, 2019
4 por ser latino (merece un 3)
Le faltó mucho para ser un gran libro
Pros:
Buena investigación; buen argumento; pasajes del libro lo hacen espectacular y da ganas de más
Contras:
Para qué armas una intriga y no la concluyes; girar gran parte de la historia en un personaje tan aburrido; la carroza como nombre ya que con ella no pasó nada
Le faltó mucho para ser un gran libro
Pros:
Buena investigación; buen argumento; pasajes del libro lo hacen espectacular y da ganas de más
Contras:
Para qué armas una intriga y no la concluyes; girar gran parte de la historia en un personaje tan aburrido; la carroza como nombre ya que con ella no pasó nada
April 3, 2020
Very close to being a four but I just couldn't dole one out because there were moments of sexual assault that were kind of passed over as nothing or normal and I found it disturbing and unnecessary to the plot of the story.
August 29, 2014
Este libro debería ser leído por aquel que quiera sacudirse el embrujo de un Bolivar de cuento y estereotipo creado por politicos, necesitados de un totem sobre quien hacer descansar la esperanza del Colectivo. Luego de ver la contracara de Bolivar que describe este libro historicamente riguroso, es facil comprender el ejemplo de militarismo, abusos y violencia que el "Libertador" nos legó por obra.
July 11, 2018
Interesante aporte sobre una perpectiva antagonista a la vida y obra del considerado libertador de America.
August 23, 2016
This was a challenging book for me to read. I kept putting it down and not wanting to pick it up again. Some of that might have to do with the chaotic, rambling style, in which sentences are very long and we jump frequently from viewpoint to viewpoint. It wasn't until after page 150 or so (so more than halfway through) that I really started to "get" it. So this might not be the best introduction to Evelio Rosero's work (the unrelentingly bleak yet monumental "The Armies" still takes the cake, followed closely by the darkly satirical "Good Offices"). But if you're interested in Colombian literature or Latin American history, then this is definitely a worthwhile read.
I found the themes of this book moving and compelling, especially the deeper I got into the book. The book opens with a doctor dressing up in an ape suit in preparation for the famous Carnaval de Blancos y Negros in Pasto, a scene that reminded me of the opening sentence of Rosero's "Good Offices" ("He has a terrible fear of being an animal, especially on Thursdays, at lunchime." What a hell of an opening sentence, right?). Anyway, with this scene we meet the doctor, who is a bit of an unlikeable character. His marriage has basically descended into mutual loathing, and he's obsessed with writing a book that exposes Simón Bolívar as a tyrant and a coward, a book he's gotten nowhere near close to completing. However, he is presented with the opportunity to build a carnival float that will depict Simón Bolívar's atrocities in the Pasto region, both the massacres and the sex scandals. However, the building of this float catches the attention of local Marxist students, to whom Bolívar is an important revolutionary icon...
It was fascinating to read this book shortly after reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude," another book concerned with representations of Colombian history (interestingly, "Feast" is set the year before "Solitude" was published, in 1966). García Márquez often writes about carnivals and festivals, and it would be interesting to contrast him with Rosero's depiction, in which the festival is frequently emphasized as an event where people are disguised and hidden.
The parts of the book discussing the perception of Simón Bolívar as a cowardly tyrant were also extremely interesting to read, at times disturbing. However, there were a lot of names and battles listed in these sections, and I kind of wish I'd been reading this book with wikipedia on hand (I read most of it on a train) so that I could look them up. I wouldn't be surprised if other readers found themselves feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. I wonder sometimes if the confusion was intentional, to emphasize to murkiness of history, or something. I also wish there'd been an author's note at the end discussing the research he'd used (specifically, I'd love to know if the oral testimonies shared by certain characters in the book true or fictional). Because while reading them, I was definitely like, is this TRUE? I just looked at wikipedia, and apparently, YES: Karl Marx even wrote a biography of him (which is a big plot point in this book).
In a way, I'm almost proving the book's main point, which is that the perception of Bolívar as anything other than a liberator and hero is NOT a mainstream view in Latin America. Hell, my school was named after him. Anyway, I sure wish I knew more about the Latin American wars for Independence after reading this. And it was fascinating to be presented with a view of Bolívar completely different than the one I was raised with.
So after we get these long sections discussing these negative views of Bolívar in history, that's when the book really started to pick up for me, specifically with the introduction of my favorite character, a young wannabe poet who wouldn't be out of place in Bolaño's universe. "Feast" emphatically reinforced to me how key the intersection between politics and literature was to a specific generation of young Latin Americans, almost tragically so. The way Rosero uses the young poet character was deeply compelling to me: basically, without giving anything away, Rosero introduces someone who ends up being one of the most important characters more than halfway through the book, a very risky move. What ends up happening to this poet evoked SO much for me in terms of Colombia's history with violence and youth that I found it personally very moving, almost difficult to endure.
Another provocative aspect of the book is its depiction of women and sex. I'm sure some people would find it offensive. Personally, I found it liberating. The wife and daughter characters (Primavera and Florencia) were, to me, very clearly the strongest and most determined characters in the book, the ones who are most capable of enacting agency (I especially liked the way the daughter took revenge on the little prat that threw flour on her). IDK, maybe I'm completely misunderstanding it, and they're actually, like, oppressed by their sexuality, or sociopaths in the making. But what impressed me was their bad-assness, especially after frequent depictions of women on the receiving end of violence and oppression (not just in this book but in "The Armies"). It felt to me like Rosero was compensating for that, somewhat. It also can't be a coincidence, surely, that the doctor's specific branch of medicine is gynecology? A job where you're "looking" at women in the most intimate of ways? I wonder how that connects...
Overall, I'm glad to see Rosero's work continue to get translated. I really want his early books to get translated (I've only read one, and it was a trip). It would be fascinating to discuss this novel alongside García Márquez's "The General in His Labyrinth" (there were also certain links with "Crónica de una muerte anunciada"). This book has made me rethink certain things I've always taken for granted, which is a terrific thing for a book to have accomplished.
I found the themes of this book moving and compelling, especially the deeper I got into the book. The book opens with a doctor dressing up in an ape suit in preparation for the famous Carnaval de Blancos y Negros in Pasto, a scene that reminded me of the opening sentence of Rosero's "Good Offices" ("He has a terrible fear of being an animal, especially on Thursdays, at lunchime." What a hell of an opening sentence, right?). Anyway, with this scene we meet the doctor, who is a bit of an unlikeable character. His marriage has basically descended into mutual loathing, and he's obsessed with writing a book that exposes Simón Bolívar as a tyrant and a coward, a book he's gotten nowhere near close to completing. However, he is presented with the opportunity to build a carnival float that will depict Simón Bolívar's atrocities in the Pasto region, both the massacres and the sex scandals. However, the building of this float catches the attention of local Marxist students, to whom Bolívar is an important revolutionary icon...
It was fascinating to read this book shortly after reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude," another book concerned with representations of Colombian history (interestingly, "Feast" is set the year before "Solitude" was published, in 1966). García Márquez often writes about carnivals and festivals, and it would be interesting to contrast him with Rosero's depiction, in which the festival is frequently emphasized as an event where people are disguised and hidden.
The parts of the book discussing the perception of Simón Bolívar as a cowardly tyrant were also extremely interesting to read, at times disturbing. However, there were a lot of names and battles listed in these sections, and I kind of wish I'd been reading this book with wikipedia on hand (I read most of it on a train) so that I could look them up. I wouldn't be surprised if other readers found themselves feeling a bit lost and overwhelmed. I wonder sometimes if the confusion was intentional, to emphasize to murkiness of history, or something. I also wish there'd been an author's note at the end discussing the research he'd used (specifically, I'd love to know if the oral testimonies shared by certain characters in the book true or fictional). Because while reading them, I was definitely like, is this TRUE? I just looked at wikipedia, and apparently, YES: Karl Marx even wrote a biography of him (which is a big plot point in this book).
In a way, I'm almost proving the book's main point, which is that the perception of Bolívar as anything other than a liberator and hero is NOT a mainstream view in Latin America. Hell, my school was named after him. Anyway, I sure wish I knew more about the Latin American wars for Independence after reading this. And it was fascinating to be presented with a view of Bolívar completely different than the one I was raised with.
So after we get these long sections discussing these negative views of Bolívar in history, that's when the book really started to pick up for me, specifically with the introduction of my favorite character, a young wannabe poet who wouldn't be out of place in Bolaño's universe. "Feast" emphatically reinforced to me how key the intersection between politics and literature was to a specific generation of young Latin Americans, almost tragically so. The way Rosero uses the young poet character was deeply compelling to me: basically, without giving anything away, Rosero introduces someone who ends up being one of the most important characters more than halfway through the book, a very risky move. What ends up happening to this poet evoked SO much for me in terms of Colombia's history with violence and youth that I found it personally very moving, almost difficult to endure.
Another provocative aspect of the book is its depiction of women and sex. I'm sure some people would find it offensive. Personally, I found it liberating. The wife and daughter characters (Primavera and Florencia) were, to me, very clearly the strongest and most determined characters in the book, the ones who are most capable of enacting agency (I especially liked the way the daughter took revenge on the little prat that threw flour on her). IDK, maybe I'm completely misunderstanding it, and they're actually, like, oppressed by their sexuality, or sociopaths in the making. But what impressed me was their bad-assness, especially after frequent depictions of women on the receiving end of violence and oppression (not just in this book but in "The Armies"). It felt to me like Rosero was compensating for that, somewhat. It also can't be a coincidence, surely, that the doctor's specific branch of medicine is gynecology? A job where you're "looking" at women in the most intimate of ways? I wonder how that connects...
Overall, I'm glad to see Rosero's work continue to get translated. I really want his early books to get translated (I've only read one, and it was a trip). It would be fascinating to discuss this novel alongside García Márquez's "The General in His Labyrinth" (there were also certain links with "Crónica de una muerte anunciada"). This book has made me rethink certain things I've always taken for granted, which is a terrific thing for a book to have accomplished.
February 3, 2022
I actually don't know an awful lot about Bolivar and so this was an educational read for me as well, if indeed the stories the good doctor collects are truthful. There were moments in this novel that had me really laughing, mostly the antics of the festivals and the various drunken binges many of the characters indulge in. What let it down for me was the very macho vibes, or to go further the misogynist vibes. I really liked Primavera and she was complex to a degree, but as often happens with male writers and male protagonist we get a very objectified view of the female characters, who are judged only on their appearance and their ‘fuckability'. That aside, there was a lot to enjoy
December 31, 2025
La narrativa de Rosero te sitúa en el inicio del Día de los Inocentes y te conduce por el caos de las calles de Pasto para mostrar cómo el pueblo colombiano vive el final y el comienzo del año, en el marco del Carnaval de Negros y Blancos. Todo ello funciona como una excusa para retratar el lado oculto de Simón Bolívar, el Libertador.
El inicio de la novela es majestuoso. Se siente como un plano secuencia. Un ritmo trepidante que hace que te sientas en las calles de Colombia. Es una pena que la novela pierda tanta fuerza a partir de la segunda parte y termine enredándose en un laberinto de personajes carentes de fundamento y de sentido común.
El inicio de la novela es majestuoso. Se siente como un plano secuencia. Un ritmo trepidante que hace que te sientas en las calles de Colombia. Es una pena que la novela pierda tanta fuerza a partir de la segunda parte y termine enredándose en un laberinto de personajes carentes de fundamento y de sentido común.
September 1, 2024
Bolívar fue un descarnado asesino del pueblo, de mi pueblo, un vanidoso sediento de poder. Si aquellos que buscan la justicia y libertad para los pueblos enarbolan la figura de Bolívar solo están legitimando la mentira, la traición y la muerte cómo caminos de hacer política. Ya muchos estamos desencantados hace rato de las enormes contradicciones de nuestras supuesta independencia pero nos falta terminar de conocer a sus protagonistas en su humana incoherencia. Les invito a trasegar otra versión de la historia de Colombia a través de la novela de Evelio Rosero: La Carroza de Bolívar
April 17, 2022
Representa muy bien a Pasto, su historia, sus costumbres, sus expresiones, etc. Creo que es una forma muy interesante de contar la historia de Bolívar desde la mirada de Pasto. Donde no es ni cerca un héroe y al contrario, mostrar como las contradicciones de la historia también nos definen como territorio y país. Hay demasiado humor fino y un buen desarrollo de los personajes. Una de las mejores obras que he leído de Evelio Rosero.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 18, 2022
Me llamó la atención la forma en que el autor entrelaza dos tramas: la historia de desamor y abandono en una familia tradicional de Pasto que se revela alrededor de la construcción de una carroza para el festival de negros y blancos con el paralelo a la historia de un Bolivar cobarde y negligente en tiempos de independencia.
November 13, 2022
En una prosa maravillosa, que atrapa y seduce incluso cuando narra acontecimientos históricos, el autor enlaza las vidas de sus protagonistas haciéndolos acompañar al personaje principal en su vertiginoso andar hacia esa anunciada fatalidad que no consigue asustarlo.
El autor construye personajes sólidos y alejados de falsos idealismos. Hay que leer a Rosero.
El autor construye personajes sólidos y alejados de falsos idealismos. Hay que leer a Rosero.
March 14, 2025
Aprecié las partes sobre historia de Bolívar, aunque realmente la novela va más de los sucesos alrededor de la creación de la carroza y poco se centra en historia. Quizá yo esperaba algo un poco diferente y realmente las partes de la vida de Justo Pastor, Primavera, el depravado de Arcaín y Puelles no conectaron conmigo.
February 28, 2022
The best bits of this book are really absorbing. However, it is overall inconsistent in its pace, and patience is required to go through its second section. Worth reading, although it is not a flawless novel.
October 1, 2019
Muy entretenido
December 22, 2019
Excelente para desmitificar al criminal pedófilo que era Simón Bolívar.
September 18, 2021
Una narración muy onírica en sus últimos capítulos.
November 24, 2021
the amount of details this book has
May 26, 2022
Quién nos cuenta la historia?
Bolivar, Sucre, actores intelectuales de masacres hacia el pueblo de Pasto.
Bolivar, Sucre, actores intelectuales de masacres hacia el pueblo de Pasto.
June 23, 2022
Como todos los suyos; muy en su estilo
December 14, 2022
Espectacular!!!!
January 30, 2023
Muestra una faceta poco conocida de Bolivar y muestra por qué los pastusos tienen tal mal ganada la fama de "bobos"
Un libro que hay que leer 👌.
Un libro que hay que leer 👌.
December 3, 2023
Maravilloso. Bien narrado, bien desarrollado. Salvo algunas gratuidades justificadas en lo "folclórico" de los personajes, encontré arcos muy bien logrados y un trasfondo que invita a reflexionar.
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