anetq's review against another edition
4.0
En lille historie om bødler og ofre - fra bødlens perspektiv - eller i hvert fald bødlens tredie underordnede, eftersom de ansvarlige som regel slipper for straf, når torturregimerne endelig vælter...
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent even enjoyable -- which is not exactly the first word that is meant to spring to mind about a novella narrated in the first person by a low-level torturer/secret policy detective from a recently deposed Latin American dictatorship. Also the "crime" he is part of uncovering is heartbreaking. Altogether, reads like Kafka with more specificity or Kadare set in Latin America. Altogether it appears to have been written from the perspective of the banality of evil, with one cog in the bureaucracy, rather than the monster promised to readers in the inside flap.
girlandgiraffe's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
soolooee's review
2.0
I found the style and story of this book very boring. Its never taken me so long to get through such a short book.
dommasc's review against another edition
2.0
Not sure if it’s the story or the translation but this just didn’t click. I’m interested in re reading now that I know the story better and can read it again knowing it. It’s a very bleak book, I bought this at the beach and I’m glad I didn’t get around to reading it there cause this is not a light beach read at all. Maybe the second time around will be better.
jasminenoack's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good meta novel working together biography/memoir and story telling. It brings the "evil" to the front. I mean I wish I could give it four stars but it does seem a bit average compared to his other book. 3.5 stars is the most it can carry.
ailsapeacock's review
1.0
"He perched one buttock on Rodriguez's desk."19
"He makes his way ponderously around the desk and parks one buttock on it." 98
"He makes his way ponderously around the desk and parks one buttock on it." 98
canadianbookworm's review
4.0
This is a short but chilling piece of fiction by an extremely talented writer.
The story is told by Martens, a man in prison. Martens was previously an inspector (aka torturer) in the secret police of a recently overturned dictatorship. He tells the story of a particular case: the surveillance, arrest, torture, and assassination of Federigo and Enrique Salinas, father and son. The voice of Martens is very neutral, except for those moments when he excuses his actions or inactions by saying he was the 'new boy' at the time. It appears to be his way of distancing himself from his role. I could see, in the final pages, the obvious reference to the present. It is a warning of where the path could lead.
The author won a Nobel Prize.
The story is told by Martens, a man in prison. Martens was previously an inspector (aka torturer) in the secret police of a recently overturned dictatorship. He tells the story of a particular case: the surveillance, arrest, torture, and assassination of Federigo and Enrique Salinas, father and son. The voice of Martens is very neutral, except for those moments when he excuses his actions or inactions by saying he was the 'new boy' at the time. It appears to be his way of distancing himself from his role. I could see, in the final pages, the obvious reference to the present. It is a warning of where the path could lead.
The author won a Nobel Prize.
zachkuhn's review
3.0
A story within a story within a story. Tiresome to read a character's journal within a character's journal.
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