Ultimo silencio Reviewed March 22
This is Eugene Carey’s review of “Ultimo silencio”, published by Latin American Review of Books.
Último silencio, by Ronald Flores
One of the most original novels to have been written about Guatemala’s civil war since the 1970s, Último silencio takes as its context not the war itself but the violence of the peace – that confused, postwar condition of unfulfilled reconciliation forever on the verge of real recrimination.
As in much of his work ( Maiz y palabra, 1999; El cuarto jinete, 2000; Errar la noche, 2000; The señores of Xiblablá, 2003; Conjeturas del engaño, 2004), Flores takes a position that is both tangential yet frontal.
The story traces the lives of two characters who embody both sides of the terror that was Guatemala’s conflict: one, a successful psychologist working in the US, whose loved ones were victims and who returns to his country in an effort to emancipate himself from fear and passive guilt; another, a military torturer trying to escape the active guilt of his many heinous crimes, one of which was committed against the former’s brother.
The torturer becomes the psychologist’s patient, creating the perfect atmosphere of dramatic tension for Flores to explore the complex dimensions of the act and psychology of reconciliation.
Winner of the Premio Mario Monteforte Toledo, 1999, Último silencio is a highly intelligent novel that announced the arrival of an important new protagonist on Guatemala’s literary scene. At the same time its clear, lucid style makes it accessible and, surprisingly, not too heavy given the weighty theme.
michelle Juárez Mar 22
I coincide fully with the writer of the reseña. It is not coincidence that this be the novel of Ronald that forms part of the Mar de tinta collection.
wingston gonzález Mar 22
simón. puedo coincidir con la reseña. la lei hace algunos meses y siempre me queda una sensación vaga de estar aún sobre la estructura de la novela. no sé porqué sospecho que junto con conjeturas del engaño es un magnífico legado de ronald a latinoamérica. veremos que viene ahora… saludos.
salomon villeda Apr 27
hola ronald, pzzz yo solo queria preguntarte algo, ¿¿¿quien es el vos de la dedicatoria del libro??? porque ok las otras tres personas si tienen nombre pero ese “vos” ni idea de quien es!!! pzzz re-wenisima onda man!!! lo esperamos de nuevo en el cole!!! y ala pleace, la respuesta!!! ok??? saludos, God bless you!!!
Ronald Apr 28
Gracias por tu interés y tu pregunta, Salomón, pero no todas las preguntas tienen respuesta… Saludos!!!