On Heroes and Tombs (Drama/Mystery novel with philosophical tints)

I think the highlights of the book are Quique's mordant critique, Lavalle's story (the poor man got a short, narrow street near the obelisk and General Paz has a huge avenue that encompasses the whole city), and pretty much the whole of chapter three, Informe Sobre Ciegos, except the very final part where it gets uncannily sexual.

The boring parts were most of Martin's thoughts, D'arcangelo's dialogs (Ugh, more stuff about some soccer team I don't care about), and almost the whole chapter four (Dios Desconocido) except for the Lavalle fragments

Also that Alejandra turned out to be a prostitute made me queasy. The book never tells you why Alejandra killed Fernando and suicide immediately after. My dad has quite the theory. He says that Fernando, amidst his delusion, never left the mirador and that the shadowy figure whom he has forceful sex with is not 'the blind lady' or anything of the kind. Is actually Alejandra. So after being raped by her dad Alejandra decides to kill him and burn the whole house, ending the family line once and for all, which of course kills her too. The book left me with a dark, sad feeling. Not quite like a drama, and more like an explicit depiction of child abuse. It pretends at times to be poetic but what it shows is cynicism, crime, misery, and a lot of Argentinean politics and history. Some said that the book changed their lives, but for me, it was a half-boring half-distressing experience that I'm not eager to revive.  


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