Naming the Spirits

by Lawrence Thornton

No one who read Lawrence Thornton's stunning debut novel, Imagining Argentina, will ever forget its mesmerizing narrative voice, its mixture of realism and magic, or its haunting story of Argentina's Disappeared -- the thousands who vanished without a trace during their country's Dirty War.

Now Thornton, in an electrifying new work, returns to Argentina in the tale of a young woman's mysterious resurrection following a massacre in a killing field. After walking across the pampas, she appears on a doorstep in Buenos Aires, where she is taken in by a couple, both physicians, whose fierce reliance on the rational, explainable world has been shaken by their own daughter's disappearance. Locked inside the girl -- mute but for her first words on arrival, "I am" -- are the stories and names of eleven Argentinians executed in the night, representing the hope and despair of a people struggling to heal the devastating scars left by one fallen regime. The ghostly voices of these eleven carry the narrative of Thornton's powerful novel, lending a moving lyricism to its searing story of loss and redemption.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels, Literature, Magical Realism

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naming the Spirits follows the debut work of Lawrence Thornton, Imagining Argentina’s. These most important books bring to light Argentina’s Dirty War from 1977 to 1983, a dark period where people deemed by the regime to be subversive were kidnapped, most never to be heard from again. The only resistance came from a group of women who marched in the Plaza de Mayo in full view of the Casa Rosada wearing white kerchiefs to symbolize their sorrow and rage as they carried signs bearing the names and photographs of their loved ones who had disappeared.

Naming the Spirits is the story of a teenage girl who miraculously survives a night in the killing field. When she awakens after an extensive and tormented sleep she sets out on a complex and emotional journey as she drifts across the pampas arriving in Buenos Aires at the home of two physicians, Robert and Mercedes Cristiani, who take her in and begin to resolve the mystery of who this girl may be. With a bullet wound in her forehead, she can only mutter the words, ”I am.” The Cristianis, having lost their only daughter in the Dirty War, having taken this girl in set into motion a searing tale of loss and redemption. In this beautiful book, the spirits walk with the living and narrating their stories with compelling voices. This was a haunting and beautiful book written in lyrical prose. I look forward to reading the third book in the trilogy, Tales From the Blue Archives.

”So you can imagine their surprise, their amazement and chagrin, when clues to what they’d done began emerging toward the end of their dirty war. Names of people tortured in clandestine detention centers spoke from carelessly discarded cassette tapes and notebooks. . . stories were discovered in the sepia tones of dried blood on prison walls, rose from the memories of reluctant witnesses. By the mid-eighties, stories were pouring forth as if from a broken dam, filling up the whiteness they’d created. But ours was not among them. Much as it needed telling, much as our families and friends deserved to know our fate, our story remained hidden in the mind of the girl who sought her name in the flights of painted birds.”

”In Argentina the death squads of the generals came to kill and rape in the middle of the night, and the era of the disappeared began. Written in lyrical, elegiac style, ‘Naming the Spirits’ provides a face and a soul to the thousands who were killed during the terrible years of the regime. This novel will move us to shout in the face of oppression: Never again!”
———RUDOLFO ANAYA

[Nilo0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

گویا این کتاب جلد دوم سوگ‌نامه بوئنوس آیرس هست که این جلد درباره کودکانیه که ناپدید شدن یا درواقع از خانواده‌هاشون ربوده شدن تا یه خانواده‌های دیگه بشن. موضوع تلخ و عمیقیه اما یه چیزی تو روایتش کم بود که اون غم رو نتونست عمیقا بهم منتقل کنه.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is told mostly in the "voice" of one of the groups of people who disappeared in Argentina during the times of the Generals who had a dictatorship. These 12 were taken out and shot but while they were being held told each other their stories. Based on true incidences. Sad but interesting.

[Annalisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a moving narrative of the Dirty War in Argentina as told by the "spirits" of 11 political activists executed in a killing field and the mysterious presence of a young girl in Buenos Aires.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

So i'm hanging out a a coffee shop, in a corner, getting near the end, so totally involved, and i screamed out loud.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't have words for how moving, essential, and beautiful this book is. It lets us face horror with hope, invites us to be honest and to be brave.

[Martina Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and it still haunts me to this day. Beautifully written and such an important story.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, a page-turning and painful must read.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in record time .
That being said, I had to go back and look at the Chapter headings to better understand the layout of this book. I thought it was well written, but given the subject matter - it was definitely disturbing.
It did remind me of the Lovely Bones quite a bit. I wonder which came first ?
I knew nothing about Argentina, so it was an eye opener for me .
I cannot say I will read anything else written by this author .

[SuZanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

"For just as Argentina chooses to raise images of its triumphs, it also chooses to ignore its disgrace. The art that would render the fate of the Disappeared is not even that of the airbrush which requires an image to do its work (p252)." This sentence sums up the socio-political background of Argentina during its 1976 military coup when thousands were massacred or disappeared, later giving rise to the word "Disappeared" as a noun. "By the mid-80s, stories were pouring forth as if from a broken dam, filling up the whiteness they'd created," Thornton says in his prologue. This is one (well, several combined) of those stories, fictionalized, and occurs after his well-known book Imagining Argentina.

There are so many secrets that the author reveals gradually, creating the perfect atmosphere for the appalling Argentine situation of the time. Secrets between people; certainly secrets between the government and people, secrets, as in the inexplicable disappearances in the night or broad daylight; painful secrets never shared with others, even those closest to each other; unspeakable secrets too traumatic to utter. It's what people do not say that is deeply important. How secretive people must become under a repressive government. Yet some do speak and that is how they come to trust again and uncover and reclaim their loved ones.

I've told you nothing of the plot, only hinted at the storyline. It's complex and poignant and redemptive, a most worthy read. It takes us inside people's minds. Also imbedded is a warning about totalitarian governments. It's as good as Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and based on the recent past in contrast to Atwood's projection of a possible future.

[Charisse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series! I can't wait to read the last in the trilogy. This book was beautifully written - narrated by one of the disappeared. I should have seen what was coming but was happy with the ending.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review is forthcoming....

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the follow up book to Imagining Argentina and is as riveting a read.

[Michele Abrams Lehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book continues the story-line of the author's first book, "Imagining Argentina." Difficult subject matter but another amazing read.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

top 6 1997

[Jacki Maxwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read about the disappeared in Argentina. Best read after Imagine Argentina