Alberto Barrera Tyszka, Trans. by Rosalind Harvey and Jessie Mendez Sayer
RaveAsymptoteIn sum, the novel’s English translation does a devastating job of portraying the almost magical power that a single, charismatic leader can hold over a country and its people, becoming in essence a talisman that enables people to ignore reality in favor of a blind faith that things are indeed going to get better ... The Last Days of El Comandante will be a riveting, tragic read for those who are well versed in authors from Borges to Poniatowska, as well as those who are new to Latin American literature in general ... the novel’s intimate portrayal of a country’s slow shattering will resonate globally in its exploration of how people struggle to deal with violence, desperation, hope, and fear, as events drag them into an unthinkable future.
