3.0 

Not Even the Dead

By Juan Goméz Barcena & Katie Whittemore
Not Even the Dead by Juan Goméz Barcena & Katie Whittemore digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

A claim of justice for the losers of history with echoes of authors as different as Joseph Conrad, Alejo Carpentier, and David Mitchell.

The conquest of Mexico is over, and Juan de Toñanes is one of so many soldiers without glory who roam like beggars for the land they helped subdue. When he receives one last mission, to hunt down a renegade Indian who’s called the Father and who preaches a dangerous heresy, he understands that this may be his last chance to carve himself the future he’s always dreamed of. But as he goes deep into the unexplored lands of the north following the Father's trace, he will discover the footprints of a man who seems not only a man, but a prophet destined to transform his time and even the times to come.

Not Even the Dead is the story of a persecution that transcends territories and centuries; a path pointing northward, always northward, that is to say, always toward the future, on a hallucinated journey from the sixteenth century New Spain to today's Trump wall. Old conquerors on horseback and migrants riding the roofs of the Beast, rebellious Indians and peasants waiting patiently for a better world, Mexican revolutionaries who take their rifles and women murdered in the desert of Ciudad Juárez, all pass by it. All of them share the same landscape and the same hope, the arrival of the Father who will bring justice to the oppressed.

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Not Even the Dead Reviews

3.0
“I must say that this book was not quite what I expected it to be... in a good way. About 50 pages in, I put it down for about 5 months, thinking it was another book that I would add to my "Never finished" pile, but as I forced myself to pick it up again, I have 0 regrets. This book very much reminded me of the magical realism genre found in a lot of Latin American literature, which I deeply love and would recommend reading this if you do too. I think the author did a wonderful job in creating a story where one would have no idea in what world the main character would end up next. I do think that I would have rated it 5 stars if it hadn't dragged on in certain parts of the plot. But I do think that is what makes it unique and so much more intriguing that you want to find out what is coming next.”
“Really wanted to put this book down so many times, and it felt more like a reading assignment than a follow along with a compelling story sort of reading experience. It might be fair to give it more time before writing an opinion, but having just finished the book I found it to be tedious, meandering, and wrapped up in an ending that doesn't do much to resolve anything.”

About Juan Goméz Barcena

Juan Goméz Barcenà (1984) holds degrees in literary theory, comparative literature, and history from the Complutense University of Madrid, and a degree in philosophy from Spain's National University of Distance Education. He's the author of numerous essay, short story, and poetry collections, for which he's received the José Hierro Prize for Poetry and Fiction, the International CRAPE Prize for stories, and the Ramón J. Sender Prize for Narrative, among others. He lives in Madrid.

Other books by Juan Goméz Barcena

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