Valet Reader

“Superb…Remarkable…Immensely entertaining” are not the words that I would choose to describe this novel. Although some, including Jonathan Yardley of the The Washington Post would. He’s entitled to his review and me, mine.

At the bookstore the other day (Books, Inc., Opera Plaza) I was perusing a table full of paperbacks and stumbled across Vasquez’s Informers. I read the blurb on the back, read a few lines from various pages and decided that it would be coming home with me. One of my main motivations for physically taking it home with me is the fact that Vasquez is a Colombian, a Colombian who now lives in Spain but a Colombian still the same. Prior to my recent trip to Colombia I had contemplated bringing some contemporary Colombian works with me but in the end decided that Márquez, Restrepo and Gamboa weren’t quite what I was looking for. Naturally I’d come across this book once I was back in San Francisco and not before my trip.

This book’s only problem, despite reading the blurb, etc., was that it was not what I was expecting. For whatever reason, I had anticipated a fast paced, mystery/thriller type of novel. Instead what I got was a well written piece of contemporary literature. Now, I’m not saying that “face paced, mystery/thriller” novels are not literature but, typically they are not as well written and evocative as this book is.

While at certain points I was a bit confused and not entirely clear as to what was going on in the book everything was clearly and neatly put together and revealed bit by bit. The story itself is about a man, the book he’s written and his relationship with his father. The book, which the main character has written, is about a subject that is not often discussed, German refugees living in Colombia during WWII. During that time, as you may be aware, the United States issued “blacklists” which were intended to isolate for internment sympathizers of the Axis. The basis for the lists were often controversial and based on much suspicious and dubious information. These lists were distributed to alliant countries who were then requested to intern those people on the list. Colombia was one of those countries.

To try and amply summarize or give you some idea what this book was really about would be akin to copying and pasting the whole novel here. Clearly, I’m not going to do that. The book covers a lot of ground, from the time an immigrant friend, Sara Guterman, came to Colombia in the 1930′s to the main characters current day which is the 90′s. While the main theme of the novel revolves around betrayal, there are many other found mixed in, including a troubled father-son relationship, love and cowardice. Each of which is inevitably connected to the other.

I really have no trouble telling you that I did not love this book or really find it all that entertaining. But, at the same time, I can tell you that the way it was written was truly compelling. The reader can’t help but come away with a strong understanding of the sentiments of Colombians during WWII as well as those of the modern day (well, late 20th century) citizens of that country. Having just visited Colombia it was pretty interesting to read and gain some insight into some of the various places I visited, particularly those of Bogota where much of the book is based.

Whether or not you choose to, at some point, pick up and read Vasquez novel you should know that he is no Marquez. But, he very well may be the next.