Από μακριά μοιάζουν με μύγες

by Kike Ferrari, Άννα Βερροιοπούλου (translator)

Ο κύριος Μάτσι είναι η προσωποποίηση της επιτυχίας και της αλαζονείας. Κύριος μιας μικρής αυτοκρατορίας στην Αργεντινή, έκανε περιουσία στα χρόνια της δικτατορίας και απέκτησε δύναμη στις δύο πρώτες δημοκρατικές περιόδους, χάρη στο γάμο του με την κόρη ενός γαιοκτήμονα, μιας γυναίκας με ισχυρό όνομα. Αυτό δεν τον εμποδίζει να περιτριγυρίζεται από ωραίες γυναίκες που υποκύπτουν στα καπρίτσια του. Έχει μια BMW, μια συλλογή από τριακόσιες γραβάτες και δέκα εκατομμύρια δολάρια στην τράπεζα. Η κοκαΐνη και το μπλε χαπάκι του επιτρέπουν να ξεφεύγει από την γκρίνια της γυναίκας του για τις απιστίες του και από τις αδυναμίες των παιδιών του, που δεν του ‘χουν μοιάσει σε τίποτα. Κυρίως όμως τον βοηθούν να ξεχάσει τους πολυάριθμους εχθρούς του, που για εκείνον δεν είναι παρά έντομα που «από μακριά μοιάζουν με μύγες». Ώσπου μια μέρα, στο πορτμπαγκάζ της BMW ανακαλύπτει ένα πτώμα, δεμένο με εκείνες τις χειροπέδες με το ροζ γουνάκι που χρησιμοποιεί στις ερωμένες του. Και από εκεί ξεκινά μια άλλη ιστορία. Με αυτό το δυνατό, πρωτότυπο μυθιστόρημα ο Κίκε Φεράρι, «βραβευμένος συγγραφέας τα πρωινά, καθαριστής του Μετρό τις νύχτες», κέρδισε την προσοχή του διεθνούς τύπου και κατέκτησε εκδότες ανά τον κόσμο. Ένα δυνατό κροσέ στα σαγόνια των αναγνωστών.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Noir, Crime, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Pseudonym of Enrique Ferrari

Reviews

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

K Ferrari's Argentinian Noir has been shortlisted for the CWA crime fiction in translation dagger, it drips with the blackest of humour as it takes in a day of the life of the odious excuse for a human being that is Luis Machi, a self made man with an inflated sense of his own importance. Laughably, he refers to himself as a successful businessman, with the delusion that he has no enemies, only rivals, competitors, employees and partners, and in his eyes, he is a good man. He is untroubled by principles, morals or ethics, is contemptuous of almost everyone, without an iota of humanity in him. After a session of cocaine fuelled sex, he gets into his exclusive and expensive BMW with every intention of driving home to the El Barrio, a gated community. His life is derailed when he discovers a corpse in the trunk, with a shredded face, dressed in a blue suit, chained by pink fur handcuffs, reminiscent of those used by him in his sex games.

He descends into a paranoid nightmare, not once showing any curiosity about the identity of the dead man, it is all about him as he dredges his guilty personal history for who is likely to be responsible for targeting him. It is a past that reveals him to be anti-semitic, a die hard racist, a misogynist, complicit in the crimes of torture and murder by the military junta and its secret police as he pointed his finger at 'communist scum' and troublemakers trying to fight for workers rights in his factory, all of whom 'disappeared'. As times changed, he developed a 'complex' system of favours that ensures that very little changes for him, with other opportunities to make money and to profit from misery, continuing his draconian ways of running his establishment, El Emporio. Machi considers an extremely long list of candidates that might be seeking revenge and retribution, including 'The Cesspit', his sadistic, torturing and murdering Chief of Security, his nagging wife, Mita, whom he has never been faithful to, his daughter, Luciana, his estranged son, Alan, along with many others, like flies from afar.

This is a vibrant and compulsive satire, a picture of Argentina, past and present, its military dictatorship and after, as portrayed through the life and behaviour of the rotten to the core Luis Machi, a micro example that helps to partly explain the country's dark past and how it is people, men like Machi, that prop up human rights abusing regimes. I found this to be an utterly engaging read, but it is not for everyone, there is much profanity, and the brutality is not for the faint of heart. Many thanks to Black Thorn and Canongate for an ARC.

[Glenn Russell]

Like Flies from Afar by Kike Ferrari reads like slimmed down Jim Thompson and an X-rated version at that, with big city Buenos Aires standing in for small town Texas.

Our central character is Mr. Machi, capitalist kingpin who has built his own empire starting out with a textile mill and restaurant but now spanning many businesses, both legal and illegal, for as Mr. Machi tells us, "I did what I needed to do."

But today Mr. Machi is in for a surprise while driving his sleek $200,000 BMW home for breakfast following yet another round of cocaine-fueled sex. For, while driving his "black bolt of lightning," Mr. Machi must deal with a flat tire.

Ah, Mr. Machi, keep your cool. "Above all, he must be ready to put up with the looks of scorn born of resentment on the faces of the passersby in their ramshackle Dunas, Peugeot 504s, and Renault 19s - cars that cost what he spends on a whore or on a lunch out - as they pass the BMW stranded on the roadside, the same BMW they saw shoot past minutes before like a black bolt of lightning."

Mr. Machi gets out of the car to examines his right front tire, the blown tire. Three caltrops! Mr. Machi knows he's been sabotaged. But, by who...and why now?

Mr. Machi pops the trunk and feels around for the spare tire. As per Kike Ferrari, "And this is where the story really begins." For Mr. Machi discovers someone had put a headless body covered with blood in the trunk of his BMW with the gloss finish, his BMW that glides over pavement like a black bolt of lightning, his BMW that's the envy of all the losers in their Dunas, Peugeot 504s and Renault 19s.

From this point onward, we witness Mr. Machi's nightmare adventure in dealing with the headless body and destroying all evidence, all the while considering the many suspects who set him up like this.

The list of those who would have good motive goes on and on, after all, he's cast aside, fucked over, degraded and destroyed many people to get where he is now. "I did what I needed to do."

Was it someone from his restaurant, his textile mill, from the boxing match he fixed, a gangster, a former mistress, one of his thug security guards, his wife, his rich father-in-law, his kids, his brute key employee who was a torturer in his past life? Mr. Machi takes a gulp and recognizes one thing's for sure: he's all alone.

Four epigraphs grace Ferrari's novel - one from Jim Thompson, one from David Goodis, one from Karl Marx, and this one from Rodolfo Walsh that gets its own page: "If someone wants to read this book as a regular old thriller, that's their choice." So appropriate since in the great tradition of Latin American literature, Like Flies From Afar hits hard on issues social and most especially political.

To take one example, Mr. Machi reads the book his daughter in college left in his car, how Michel Foucault came to write The Order of Things: "This book first arose out of a passage in Borges, out of the laughter that shattered, as I read the passage, all the familiar landmarks of my thought." Mr. Machi's reaction? He flings the book out the window. Come on, Mr. Machi, you might learn a thing or two if you opened your eyes to the consequences of your diabolical, deadly deeds. Scratch the surface and you're a complete swine, the type of lowlife that helps to perpetuate totalitarian regimes.

This is crime fiction compressed down to half the length of a novel by Jim Thompson or David Goodis, more in the range of James M. Cain's classics, Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Why can't more authors of crime fiction write short, fast-paced novels like this one? Why do they need 400 pages? Come on Jo Nesbø, Tana French, Anthony Horowitz, Jussi Adler-Olsen. You all could learn a lesson from Kike Ferrari.


Crime fiction author Kike Ferrari from Argentina

[Ankit Garg · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the heck did I just read? I mean, I was expecting humor and profanity after reading the blurb, but this one is way too low on humor and at the other end of the spectrum on profanity. It seems the only adjectives the author has resorted to are abusive and profane to the extent that they become unbearable after a time. After all, one can just take only so much. Or maybe whatever the author tried to present as 'black humor' came out as outright abusive.

The story was alright. The end was unexpected. The narration style is different, and I enjoyed it.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Verdict: I read it so you don't have to.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with Glenn Russell that there should be more mysteries/noir that are short and punchy. Simenon short, one sitting. And this 204-page book, billed as Argentinian noir, answers the call, a dark nasty farce that sends up the corrupt upper crust Argentinians in Buenos Aires. Like almost all noir, it is a castigation of economic inequity, but this features not the underclass, as noir often does, but one of the most despicable protagonists you'll meet, Mr. Machi, a racist, misogynist, vulgar, with no redeeming qualities, really, who discovers a headless body in the trunk of his beloved BMW, secured there with his very own pink handcuffs. He's a name-brand capitalist, who has the best of everything. Until this happens.

There's not much to the story, really, as Machi mainly wants to find out who is setting him up. And we don't care who it is or what ill befalls him. We want him set up, put down, flushed, anything that pays him back for the vileness he has perpetrated on everyone he meets. He sometimes reflects on who it is wants to kill him but he has no regrets.

I like the reference to The Order of Things, by Michel Foucault, framed by a passage from Borges, that his daughter is reading in college, but the order of Machi's universe is being disrupted here, so throwing the book out the window as he does will not solve his problem. Chaos is the order of things for Machi, an order he cultivates, though the tables are turned on him at the moment. A demon in Versace, now being returned to the Hell from whence he came?

One epigraph is from Jim Thompson, every noir fan's most violent nihilistic hero, and this is a tribute to Thompson, though not hampered by the publication limitations Thompson would have faced seventy years ago. This is X-rated Thompson. And ultimately it is very very dark humor, a scathing satire on the corrupt upper crust of Argentina, though at a glance I can see that the claim of humor has not convinced most Goodreads readers, who collectively give this a very low rating. Too offensive, they say, and I understand that. So let the reader beware, this is deliberately offensive. A send-up of arrogant presumption. I see it as in Tarrantino territory, as there are echoes of Pulp Fiction horror/humor excesses in it.

[Eliasdgian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Έρευνα της επιστημονικής επιθεώρησης "Psychological Sience" αποδείκνυε, μερικά χρόνια πριν, πως οι εύποροι άνθρωποι, χωρίς να το συνειδητοποιούν, ελάχιστα ενδιαφέρονται για τους περαστικούς στον δρόμο. Δεν είναι (μόνο) ότι δεν τους νιώθουν ή ότι δεν συμμερίζονται τις αγωνίες τους, αλλά ότι δεν τους βλέπουν καν! Ανίκανοι να εστιάσουν την προσοχή τους σε οτιδήποτε άλλο εκτός από τον εαυτό τους, οι φτωχοί διπλανοί τους τούς φαίνονται από μακριά όπως οι μύγες: αδιάφοροι, ελάχιστα χρήσιμοι και ώρες ώρες εξαιρετικά ενοχλητικοί.

Όμως οι "μύγες" υπάρχουν. Κι όσο δεν τις προσέχεις, τόσο μπορεί να στραφούν εναντίον σου. Ρωτήστε τον Λουίς Μάτσι, τον αντιήρωα του νουάρ μυθιστορήματος του Κίκε Φεράρι, που ένα σκασμένο λάστιχο στην BMW του των διακοσίων χιλιάδων δολαρίων θα τον φέρει αντιμέτωπο με ένα δυσαναγνώριστο πτώμα που κάποια από εκείνες τις ενοχλητικές μύγες που λέγαμε το τοποθέτησε στο πορτμπαγκάζ του αυτοκινήτου του. Ίσως για να τον εκδικηθεί, να του κάνει τη ζωή δύσκολη, να προκαλέσει ένα πρώτο ρήγμα σε μια αυτοκρατορία που μέχρι πρότινος έδειχνε συμπαγής και στέρεη.

Καταιγιστικός ρυθμός και ρέουσα αφήγηση σ' ένα δυνατό νουάρ μυθιστόρημα που αποτέλεσε ήδη καλτ φαινόμενο στα λογοτεχνικά πράγματα της Αργεντινής, από έναν συγγραφέα που έχει τατουάζ στο μπράτσο του τον Μπουκόφσκι και τυγχάνει πολιτικός ακτιβιστής και μισθωτός υπάλληλος (νυχτερινός καθαριστής) στο Μετρό του Μπουένος Άϊρες (σταθμός "Ουρουγουάη", γραμμή Β'). Το λοιπόν, εύλογα θα αναρωτηθεί κανείς, γιατί τρία στα πέντε; Γιατί όσο έντονα με καθήλωσε η ιστορία της "πτώσης" του κ. Μάτσι και η φρενήρης αφήγησή της, άλλο τόσο έντονα με απογοήτευσε το μάλλον απότομο τέλος της (και η στοχευμένη άρνηση του συγγραφέα να μην μάθουμε ποτέ με βεβαιότητα ποια ενοχλητική "μύγα" βρίσκεται πίσω από τον ξαφνικό χαμό στην μέχρι πρότινος στρωμένη ζωή του αλαζόνα κ. Μάτσι).

[Περισσότερος Κίκε Φεράρι στο υπό έκδοση "Ο κόσμος του χτες, ο κόσμος του αύριο", όπου 60 συγγραφείς, ανάμεσά τους κι αυτός ο συμπαθής Αργεντίνος, μοιράζονται κείμενα για την πανδημία]

[Alejandro Soifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela negra y brutal, Que de lejos parecen moscas es un típico ejemplo del género noir que logra la difícil prueba de la adaptación al gusto argentino.
En la discusión eterna acerca de la posibilidad (o no) de escribir género negro en la Argentina, la novela de Ferrari responde con un rotundo sí.
El narrador presenta al Señor Machi, un protagonista despreciable y aún así se las ingenia para que el lector quiera seguir sus desventuras, aunque más no sea por el placer sádico de verlo sufrir.
Este protagonista (empresario corrupto, típico trepador argentino, casi una especie de Señor Lanari de Cabecita negra, el famoso cuento de Rozenmacher, llevado al extremo de la avaricia, el desprecio por las clases bajas y la pisada de cabezas para conseguir una mejor posición social) no está solo, sin embargo, en su crapulencia: casi todos los personajes que lo rodean (que sólo aparecen como flashbacks o mediados por el teléfono) son seres despreciables, arribistas, aprovechadores y egoístas.
La historia es simple y la prosa ayuda a leerla de corrido: este empresario corrupto se encuentra casi al comienzo de la novela con que alguien dejó un cadáver en el baúl de su automóvil. De ahí en adelante el relato se moverá vertiginoso entre la tensión del tipo por deshacerse de semejante carga y los flashbacks que intentan dar un panorama de la lista de posibles enemigos que le hayan tirado el fiambre.
Con algunos guiños divertidos para el lector (uno de esos posibles enemigos parece ser un alter ego del propio autor, lo que nos hace pensar que el tal Machi también está inspirado en una persona real), y un ritmo que no para, se lee con gusto.
En conclusión: una novela dura, rápida, que ata al lector y que se disfruta aún cuando el lector odie al protagonista.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very bad day in the life of Luis Machi, a wealthy, self-made businessman with some shady business practices. Like Flies From Afar is a dark, enigmatic noir along the lines of some of author Jim Thompson's work with maybe a passing nod to James M. Cain.

Basically it's the story of a self-indulgent narcissist who finds a body in the trunk of his luxury car... And it ruins his whole day. Who is the dead man? Who put him there? What is the connection to Luis Machi... Is it a warning? A random coincidence? An act of revenge?

Machi's mind, warped by drugs and paranoia, attempts to make sense of it all as he spirals into an abyss of self pity.

Luis Machi is an unsympathetic character who is hard to connect with as a reader. It took me quite awhile to get into the story. Right from the start I felt I was playing "catch up" due to a narrative that jumps around and a good deal of stream-of-consciousness rambling that can be hard to follow. It's different and doesn't fit comfortably into categorization.

Looking through some of the feedback from other readers I see a lot of negative commentary on the explicit language - cursing and whatnot. I don't really get that particular criticism. This is a dark, gritty, noir-ish tale. It would seem to me that rough language is to be expected. I didn't really see the humor aspect of it (mentioned in the blurb) but dark humor of the ironic sort has never been my forte so there's a good chance that I missed a nuanced joke or three.

I would stop short of an unqualified recommendation but... Fans of dark fiction, or gritty noir in the experimental vein might enjoy this one. My advice is try a sample before you buy.

Thanks to NetGalley, publisher Farrar, Straus and Gioroux, and author K. Ferrari for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

LIKE FLIES FROM AFAR promises that there will be dark humor... I read it at night but there wasn't much humor. I did wonder if it was because of the translation that some of the humor, or perhaps ALL of the humor might have been lost...

At any rate, it is not a surprising story about a self-made guy that has a major self-indulgent narcissist personality, and practices some very underhanded and abusive dealings with business partners, his wife, children, and employees. Clearly, Luis Machi has crossed the path of someone that is not going to forgive him with a simple 'so sorry'. Considering that the crossed person handcuffs a very dead person in the trunk of Mr. Machi's very new BMW.

The story is short, but a little tough to get into, it didn't seem very smooth to me. It was as promised, a bit gritty with language that supports that idea... it is certainly quirky and on the far side of the road if you get my meaning...

Maybe it should be in a genre of its own... gangsta grit? Funny gangsta murder? No, not that one... let me try again. Dark gritty noir? Something like that.. Its not my cup of tea, but it wasn't bad.

3 (on the low side of the number) stars

Happy Reading!

[Uhtred · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written by the Argentine writer Kike Ferrari, is a short (less than 150 pages) but very concentrated noir and in the end it leaves the reader with a feeling of suspension, of absence of solution. A noir where nobody is saved, in the sense that they are all somewhat negative characters; starting with the protagonist, mr. Machi, to move to a dark Argentina, with the dictatorship and death squads, that corrupt Argentina dominated by money, betrayals, scams, prostitution, drugs and trafficking of all kinds. In this scenario, Machi is one who has "made his way": he thinks he is a businessman, but in reality he is a criminal, a cocaine addict, devoid of any morale, who lies to himself also. He feels at the top of society and wandering the infamous streets of Buenos Aires he wonders how normal people can live that way. He, who drive a German car whose value corresponds to the earnings of a whole life for a normal person. While doing this reasoning, Mr. Machi begins to be a little unpleasant, to appear to us as an asshole, a mean person. So when unpleasant things begin to happen to him, we are not surprised that we are a little happy.
One day, while driving his German big car, he punctures a tire. So he gets out of the car very angry and looking at the tire he sees four nails inserted in the front wheel. And here he begins to have some doubts; first he takes his gun from the dashboard and then he opens the trunk in search of the spare tire. As soon as he opens it, he discovers that there is a corpse inside; Machi cannot recognize him, since he was killed with a pistol shot in the face, but he has no doubt that he is not there by chance, since he wears the pink plush handcuffs that Machi uses during his sexual encounters.
From here begins a frantic series of bad events for Machi, who in one morning sees all his certainties collapse. In these few hours, his certainty becomes the paranoia of being surrounded by enemies, because he realizes that those who he has humiliated are many, really many. So many that in the past, when he felt safe, he thought of them that "from a distance they look like flies". But they are flies that now frighten him, because he does not understand who is behind what is happening to him and who is ruining his whole life. Then he tries in every way to get rid of that corpse. He feels hunted, he feels in a nightmare, he wonders who, why, how, where. In all these speculations we know a series of characters who would have a valid reason to take revenge, to make Machi pay for it; people he had harmed in the past. So we also know Machi more and more, and how far he has come down in order to arrive where he is now, the relationship with his wife and children, the trafficking in which he is involved. Machi is one of the most respected man in the city, and no one would ever dare to step on his feet, so as not to risk making a bad end. Machi doesn't ask, he orders. But now he is on the other side of the barricade, from that of the victim. Who dares to scare Machi? Who is the corpse inside the trunk? It is a violent book, where the lack of legality is widespread and constant.
The plot is very compelling and keeps the attention high until the end; end that is really different from what one usually expects from this kind of books, and which obviously can be liked or disliked. I liked the dialogues, very raw and direct, suitable for that people. The story is told smoothly and, even short, it is full of twists and suspense. Four stars.

[Tim Orfanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Το συγκεκριμένο μυθιστόρημα/νουβέλα αποτελεί μια ενδιαφέρουσα αναγνωστική πρόταση, αφού κινείται τόσο στην καταδιωκτική ατμόσφαιρα της κινηματογραφικής 'Χαμένης Λεωφόρου' του Λιντς όσο και στο ρυθμό των μέτριων 'Μαύρων γυαλιών' του Ζαπριζό (ευτυχώς λιγότερο) με τρόπο που θυμίζει στιγμιαία παράκρουση.

Ο Φεράρι πλάθει τον κεντρικό του ήρωα με ένα κυνισμό και ένα αδυσώπητο αριβισμό που θυμίζει Χάμετ ή ακόμα και Τσάντλερ, καταφέρνοντας, ωστόσο, να εμβαθύνει στον ψυχισμό του, ώστε να δημιουργήσει ένα 'νουάρ' ψυχολογικό θρίλερ βουτηγμένο στο μαύρο χιούμορ που χαράζεται στη μνήμη των αναγνωστών.

Αξίζει να αναφέρω, επίσης, ότι το τέλος της ιστορίας αφήνει αρκετό περιθώριο για τροφή στη σκέψη - οι γνώμες για την πορεία και την κατάληξη του κεντρικού ήρωα, ίσως, να οδηγήσουν τους αναγνώστες σε διλήμματα.

Τα μειονεκτήματα θα έλεγα ότι είναι η μικρή έκταση του βιβλίου, η στατικότητα της πλοκής (κάποιες φορές) και το κάπως 'θολό' τέλος.

Βαθμολογία: 4,1/5 ή 8,2/10.

[recontraluchita · Rating 3 out of 5]

pero que corno es ese final no entiendo nada estoy frustrada quede con más preguntas que respuestas

[Juan Araizaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 días y 185 páginas después.

Pasaron varios ayeres, para que pudiera volver con Ferrari, un autor que me parece fresco y hace una novela negra de esta generación bastante guaaay. En este segundo libro que leo de él, me doy cuenta que tengo que leerlo más, sus historias me absorben totalmente, ya que fácilmente puedes leerte cien páginas de corrido.

En la trama tenemos muchas cosas que nos hacen pensar, varias criticas sociales, varios panoramas, pero sobre todo varias historias, que en vez de disipar dudas, lo aumentarán. Así debe ser la novela negra, que te devanes la cabeza pensado quién, quién, quién. Y bueno por ese final, se llevó las cinco estrellas.

Es un libro corto, ya que en pocas páginas el autor logra hacer un panorama de la vida de un millonario (¿cuántos no habrá así?) que empezó desde abajo y ahora lo tiene absolutamente todo.

Bien con este libro, y bien con este autor, y me encantó el guiño que hace de él mismo. Se me renovaron las ganas de leer novela negra estos días. Muy buena recomendación.

Probablemente habrá reseña.

[Esagui · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Muy buen libro de Kike Ferrari!
Una interesante disección de esos nuevos ricos y, generalmente, como es su llegada al poder; ese trono llamado éxito que no se logra sin algunos enemigos a cuestas, aunque no sean enemigos; competidores, negociadores, clientes.

Sencilla narrativa que sirve para descubrir una clase social entera, encerrada en un solo personaje y sus vivencias. Un pequeño anecdotario de una vida vivida, quizá bien, quizá mal, vivida como debe hacerse simplemente.

Solo un pequeña queja con el final... Ese tipo de finales que no me gustan pero que aquí casi, CASI logra gustarme.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Λίγο καιρό πριν, ούτε τον συγγραφέα γνώριζα, ούτε φυσικά το βιβλίο, μέχρι που είδα ότι θα κυκλοφορούσε στα ελληνικά από τις εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη, οπότε διάβασα την ιντριγκαδόρικη περίληψη και το θετικό σχόλιο του αγαπημένου Πάκο Ιγκνάσιο Τάιμπο ΙΙ, και φυσικά το έβαλα στη λίστα μου. Πριν λίγες μέρες κυκλοφόρησε, το αγόρασα με συνοπτικές διαδικασίες και δεν άργησα να το πιάσω στα χέρια μου. Λοιπόν, πρόκειται για ένα αρκετά ωμό και γραφικό νουάρ, στα όρια του παλπ, με την πλοκή να εξελίσσεται με ιλιγγιώδη ταχύτητα, δίχως να υπάρχει πολύς χρόνος για μεγαλύτερη εκβάθυνση στους χαρακτήρες ή για ιδιαίτερους κοινωνικούς προβληματισμούς. Βέβαια, μέσω της πλοκής και των χαρακτήρων, ο συγγραφέας θίγει και κάποια από τα κακώς κείμενα της Αργεντίνικης κοινωνίας, με τους διεφθαρμένους πολιτικούς και τους βρώμικους επιχειρηματίες, αν και οι χαρακτήρες είναι στα όρια της καρικατούρας. Φυσικά υπάρχει ένταση και νεύρο, η ατμόσφαιρα είναι τεταμένη από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος, ο συγγραφέας σε αναγκάζει να διαβάσεις την ιστορία με μια ανάσα, δίχως να σκεφτείς τα γιατί και πώς. Το μπόλικο βρισίδι και το καυστικό, κατάμαυρο χιούμορ κάνει την ανάγνωση ακόμα πιο απολαυστική, έστω με κάποιες ενοχές. Όσον αφορά το τέλος, από τη μια δεν λύνει ορισμένες απορίες (μάλλον δημιουργεί περισσότερες), από την άλλη όμως είχε πολύ πλάκα και ήταν ταιριαστό με το όλο ύφος της ιστορίας. (7.5/10)

[Mónica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si les agradan las novelas negras, o de suspenso en general, la historia definitivamente vale la pena. Una vez que comencé a leerla no pude detenerme, por cómo se estructura te atrapa y no te suelta; sin embargo, no quedé convencida con el estilo de la prosa ni la reiteración en las descripciones.
3.5/5

[Roby_Hood_ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nooo…cioè…ma come…finito così?
E i mille punti di domanda che mi sono fatta durante lo svolgersi della vicenda, peggio delle 5 W, quando li sciolgo?
Quando mi viene offerta una soluzione al gran groviglio in cui immancabilmente mi sono ritrovata invischiata assieme al protagonista? Perché, di solito, uno scrittore è questo che fa, ingarbuglia ma poi offre il bandolo della matassa, che porta alla soluzione di tutto…di solito, appunto, ma non sempre, non qui.

Eh sì, signor Machi, proprio in un bel casino ti ritrovi, anche se sei fermamente convinto e continui a ripetertelo come un mantra che tu sei un uomo d’affari e che “gli uomini d’affari hanno rivali, concorrenti, dipendenti o soci, ma non nemici”…ma ne sei proprio sicuro?
Sì, è vero, guidi una BMW nera da 200 mila dollari, schiocchi le dita e tutti sono ai tuoi ordini, non ti piace stare solo e subito qualcuna delle ragazze del tuo “El Imperio” ti fanno stare bene, anche grazie a un aiutino azzurro e magari a due o quattro strisce di purissima coca, che ti rendono subito la mente lucidissima.
In trent’anni ne hai fatta di strada, Machi, ti piace questo potere che hai, anche se tuo suocero con disprezzo dice che sei un “parvenu”, invece tu ti consideri un vero e proprio “self-made man”, che a differenza degli altri e di tuo padre stesso (un povero emigrato italiano che sapeva solo sgobbare), ha saputo cavalcare l’onda giusta al momento giusto, grazie alle amicizie politiche e ai lavoretti dei tuoi gorilla; hai schiacciato tutti quelli che ti infastidivano o che non ti servivano più, tanto da lontano sembrano mosche…
Bravo Machi, complimenti, pensi di avercela fatta anche oggi, anche dopo quello che ti è successo di davvero incredibile e rocambolesco, credi di aver messo tutto a posto, sei soddisfatto di te, il potere ti dà alla testa come la coca che hai appena preso…
Ma ora rispondi a questa domanda, Machi, mentre crolli sul pavimento della camera da letto sconvolto dopo aver aperto l’armadio: quale cravatta scegli, fra le 300 della tua collezione tutte di seta italiana, mentre attendi alcune delle tue ragazze per dare un degno finale alla storia di oggi, eh Machi?

Una storia davvero cruda questa, sia nelle situazioni descritte sia nel linguaggio utilizzato, ma va bene così, perché è quello che succede nella realtà; i capitoli si susseguono senza ordine cronologico, ma d’altronde è così che noi pensiamo, in ordine sparso, riportando a galla con le nostre elucubrazioni mentali pezzi del nostro passato, volti, conversazioni, azioni compiute per le quali ancora troviamo delle giustificazioni come allora.
Inizialmente pensavo che forse mi sarebbe piaciuto un maggiore scavo psicologico nel protagonista, ma poi nel proseguo della lettura ho capito che sarebbe stata del tutto fuori luogo, perché persone come Machi una profondità non ce l’hanno, sono uomini che vivono solo d’istinti primordiali e allora ho apprezzato molto la scelta dell’autore, anche quella stilistica, e devo dire che ho letto il romanzo con un certo avido ribrezzo.

[Alan Braswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every agent acts for an end.

This is the premise in the book; The Order of Things: The Realism of the principal of fidelity by the French Dominican Theologian Reginald Garrigou LaGrange, the book that our main character Mr. Machi tosses out the window of his 200k BMW with the custom made seats.

Me. Machi, as the short novel, tells us doesn't believe in agents acting for an end. Because Mr. Machi firmly believes that such restrictions inhibit free will and that Mr. Machi is a free agent that is totally in control of their own choices and actions. Screw whomever gets in the way of him as he has on several occasions.
Owning the restaurant El Imperio where he pays off judges, government officials and others including his own wife whom he has cheated on several occasions. Just line up the coke in straight lines while a hooker is going down on him. Usually dressed in his $300 white Armani white shirt with one of his 300 collections of Italian silk ties around his neck.

Free will is tested when his 200k BMW has a blowout and after berating the operator on the phone for forgetting who Mr. Machi is grabs his Glock from the glove compartment goes to the trunk and upon opening finds a dead body whose face has been blown away and is handcuff with a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs that Mr. Machi uses as a sex toy.

Thus his free will for the rest of the night becomes inhibited. And he doesn't know how to act because he is the one in charge. No one else is.

The author does an excellent job filling in the background story of Mr. Machi. And the other characters.
The ending is hilarious reminds of the film Das Boot.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canon Gate for the arc.

[Eba Munoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

76/2023

QUE DE LEJOS PARECEN MOSCAS

La historia comienza con una rubia haciéndole una mamada al protagonista y lo que sigue es un día vertiginoso que se va torciendo más y más hasta llegar a un final inesperado y que me ha dejado perpleja.
Lejos de molestarme (o impedirme la comprensión) los argentinismos y el lunfardo que pueblan sus páginas, como sí me habría sucedido en otras historias (sean novela o cine), aquí los he disfrutado y han favorecido que mi inmersión en la trama haya sido más auténtica.
Y es que la obra, sin ser realismo sucio, sí está llena de suciedad, palabrotas, droga, sexo, matones y asesinatos. Todo en un ritmo trepidante marcado en todo momento por el velocímetro de nuestro protagonista.
Sé que muchos snobs de la literatura (ignorantes los llamo yo) considerarán esta novela, justo por eso, literatura menor, porque creen que la "alta literatura" emplea un léxico elevado, preciosista o rimbombante.
Pero no es obligatorio en la literatura crear belleza (se puede, pero no es un deber). La literatura puede tener muchos propósitos: crear belleza, concienciar, hacer una denuncia o crítica social, persuadir o dirigir el pensamiento, entretener, hacer pensar, aterrorizar, hacer reír, hacer soñar, disgustar, hacer llorar... La única premisa que debe cumplir esta, la única, es transportar al lector a otro mundo, le resulte familiar o desconocido, real o imaginario, hostil o amable. Eso es lo que hace que un libro sea bueno: si has vivido en la historia, si has entrado en ella y te ha arrancado, creado, emociones.

Y mi teoría es que, cuantas menos páginas se necesite para conseguirlo, más calidad tiene la obra, mayor pericia la de su autor.
Y, siguiendo esta idea, la habilidad de este autor es inmensa.

[Hiroto · Rating 1 out of 5]

I closed this book thinking "what and where is the point???". Maybe it is because I don't know a lot about the argentinian politics, or maybe it's because I couldn't give two shits about the mc (it would have been more enjoyable for me to read if I thought he was an actual asshole getting what he deserved, but he seemed so cliché and 2D, his downfall wasn't that cathartic you know?

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recensione: http://bit.ly/2Eeidmz

[Tom Mooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor. Pointless. Feels like a low-grade 70s noir. Jim Thompson this ain't.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quiere ser Fernández Díaz y su maravilloso Remil,y no es más que algo sobreactuado que termina siendo ridículo.Remil provoca rechazo y fascinación;esto,sólo rechazo.Puros clichės,y un triste caso en que el lenguaje soez se utiliza para impactar,no porque sirva a la trama.

[Rocio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difícil de reseñar porque honestamente me lo devoré, o sea que me enganchó, como casi todo este género merqueros poderosos malhablados consumemujeres, pero no entendí un pingo el final. Tal vez soy pelotuda pero tal vez no esté bien cerrada esa historia.

[Felizentrelibros · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sé qué pensar del final 🤷‍♀️

[Getzemaní · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es una novela que vi que Juan Araizaga le ponía 5 estrellas y por eso y porque estaba en oferta, la compré.
Lo bueno: hoy la empecé y hoy la terminé.
Lo malo: la narración es lo que un muertodehambre cree que es un millonario.
Lo bueno: la narración es tan atrapante porque es precisa, como un reloj suizo.
Lo malo: si bien el protagonista es odioso, también son odiosos los que creen que entienden a Foucault (en la facultad de filosofía los vi, jipis hediondos que se creen la gran cosa, pero en una discusión real los desarmas con uno o dos argumentos.)
Lo bueno: las escenas eróticas me dieron mucha risa.
Lo malo: el escritor tampoco entiende a Foucault, la parte que cita está en las dos primeras páginas del libro. Ese libro nadie lo entiende, ni los que dicen que sí. Lo que me molesta es que esté tan marcado lo real, intelectual, profundo contra lo superficial, económico, simulado, cuando ambas cosas podrían caber dentro de un mismo odio. E incluso no tanto los millonarios que regularmente leen mucho más y mejor filosofía que los escritorcillos muertosdehambre. Lo digo porque bendito Dios tengo amigos de las dos clases.
Lo bueno: el escritor se incluye a sí mismo, novio de la hija poser del millonario. También identifico muy bien a esas chicas ricas que se meten a filos para ser más profundas. Tuve un par de compañeras así. Me gusta que en el ámbito de los poser, los personajes son identificables.
Lo malo: entiendo el final y entiendo lo que el escritor quería expresar, pero de igual forma me sentí en un coitus interruptus. Iba alcanzando la cresta de la ola, estaba pasando páginas, estaba en la zona, iba a terminar dos libros en un día. Pasé páginas con la ilusión de que en la última frase se explicara todo el embrollo y zas, lo que pudo ser un orgasmo apoteósico, terminó siendo una follada más.

[F.E. Beyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido. Hace un tiempo estoy buscando una novela así en español. Una novela corta sin un lenguaje literario pero prosa bastante clara y simple. El autor utiliza el slang argentino pero no hasta un punto en que sea difícil entenderlo. También con nada de un manuscrito como un texto dentro del texto, nada de metaficción entonces, y nada de realismo mágico...nada de influencia de Borges o Márquez. Es una novela policíaca basada en la historia Argentina. El protagonista, el señor Machi, es una persona sin remedio, casi psicópata, un símbolo de todo lo que está mal en Argentina. El libro es una crítica del capitalismo sin frenos y sus símbolos de status.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is flat-out fun. The comeuppance of an awful, awful protagonist immediately ignites my stinkin' thinkin' lobe. This book is flat-out fun. By page two, the ink of the portrait of this punching-bag-of-a-scumbag has dried. Everything that follows is just a comical, fowl-mouthed, feces-fling of a farce that takes this jerk down a coke-fueled paranoia parade, spraying the town with evidence of his guilt like a topless blender set to liquefy. This book is flat-out fun.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonostante i thriller non siano tra i generi che mi conquistano di più, ho divorato questo libro di Kike Ferrari. Coinvolgente, accattivante, adrenalinico e curioso. La parola d’ordine è : Chi è stato?
E il signor Machi è un personaggio spregevole, un potente della peggior specie. Eppure, in alcuni momenti, non si puó non simpatizzare per lui.

[Σταμάτης Λαδικός · Rating 3 out of 5]

Παίρνεις το Caryl Ferey, τον μπουκώνεις σπιντάκια, αφήνεις μία μπουκάλα ουίσκυ μπροστά του, βάζεις στο CD player ένα CD των Motorhead, του κολλάς και ένα 45αρι στο κεφάλι και του λες (κοιτώντας το ρολόι σου): "Έχεις 12 ώρες να γράψεις ένα crime novel"...

Διασκεδαστικό, σε σημεία απολαυστικό noir, υπερ-γρήγορο, ως εκεί όμως...

[Encarni Prados · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es de los que empiezas a leerlos y cuesta parar. Con un ritmo trepidante, un lenguaje barriobajero argentino muy logrado y expresivo. Con unos personajes muy especiales y un protagonista tan logrado como pagado de sí mismo. Solo puedo decir que leeré más libros suyos, me ha encantado!!