3.5
Retrospective
By Juan Gabriel Vasquez & Anne McLeanPublisher Description
An epic yet intimate novel about a Colombian man caught up in the sweep of global historical and ideological revolutions.
The Colombian film director, Sergio Cabrera, is in Barcelona for a retrospective of his work. It's a hard time for him: his father, famous actor Fausto Cabrera, has just died; his marriage is in crisis; and his home country has rejected peace agreements that might have ended more than fifty years of war. In the course of a few intense days, as his films are on exhibit, Sergio recalls the events that marked his family's unusual and dramatic lives: especially his father's, his sister Marianella's and his own.
Growing up in Colombia as the children of famous actors, Sergio and Marianella were privileged and artistic, until their parents became disillusioned with bourgeois conventions and moved the entire family to China. Mao’s Cultural Revolution was underway and the family lived in an entirely ex-pat hotel where they learned Chinese and joined the revolution, became members of the Red Guard, and trained as guerilla fighters. When they returned to Colombia to support the revolution there, they were sent into the countryside to join the guerilla force, were shot at and nearly died. Out of these lives molded by ideology and zealotry, came an artistic second life for Sergio as he escaped the movement and became his country’s most celebrated film director.
From the Spanish Civil War to the exile of his family to Latin America, and from the Cultural Revolution in China to the guerrilla movements of 1960s Colombia, Sergio and his family's experience is extraordinary by any standards. Equal parts family saga and epic historical novel, Retrospective reveals the story of one man and his family -- based on real people and events -- and a devastating portrait of the forces that shaped their lives, and for half a century turned the world upside down.
The Colombian film director, Sergio Cabrera, is in Barcelona for a retrospective of his work. It's a hard time for him: his father, famous actor Fausto Cabrera, has just died; his marriage is in crisis; and his home country has rejected peace agreements that might have ended more than fifty years of war. In the course of a few intense days, as his films are on exhibit, Sergio recalls the events that marked his family's unusual and dramatic lives: especially his father's, his sister Marianella's and his own.
Growing up in Colombia as the children of famous actors, Sergio and Marianella were privileged and artistic, until their parents became disillusioned with bourgeois conventions and moved the entire family to China. Mao’s Cultural Revolution was underway and the family lived in an entirely ex-pat hotel where they learned Chinese and joined the revolution, became members of the Red Guard, and trained as guerilla fighters. When they returned to Colombia to support the revolution there, they were sent into the countryside to join the guerilla force, were shot at and nearly died. Out of these lives molded by ideology and zealotry, came an artistic second life for Sergio as he escaped the movement and became his country’s most celebrated film director.
From the Spanish Civil War to the exile of his family to Latin America, and from the Cultural Revolution in China to the guerrilla movements of 1960s Colombia, Sergio and his family's experience is extraordinary by any standards. Equal parts family saga and epic historical novel, Retrospective reveals the story of one man and his family -- based on real people and events -- and a devastating portrait of the forces that shaped their lives, and for half a century turned the world upside down.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities10 Reviews
3.5
Iris Kushel
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lk.reads.books
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NifPorterfield
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Bethany
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“This was not what I was expecting at all, and once I settled in to that fact I really enjoyed the slower-paced flow of this epic story. There was some definite heaviness but it’s the kind of weight that stays with you in a sad but touching way. I wish I was fluent in Spanish and could read the untranslated version. I bet it’s even better.”
Mollie H
Created 12 months agoShare
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“This book covered a lot of fascinating history that I know very little about. That part I really enjoyed. It was especially cool to connect the events of the cultural revolution (which I started learning more about after reading The Three Body Problem earlier this year) with other communist movements around the world and especially in South America.
The story covers a lot of ground and has some pretty crazy tales, but the writing just never really captured me. Somehow I felt kind of bored even when reading what should have been intense scenes (such as the period when Sergio and Marianella are in the guerrilla army). I also never felt that connected to the characters. The writing made me feel very disconnected from what was happening and that made it really hard for me to stay invested. Maybe this was somewhat intentional, since the whole thing is a retrospective, with time softening a lot of the strong emotions, but it didn’t quite work for me in the way it maybe was meant to.
Overall still a really interesting book, but the writing style just wasn’t for me I think.”
About Juan Gabriel Vasquez
Juan Gabriel Vásquez's previous books include the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award winner and bestseller The Sound of Things Falling and the Booker International finalist The Shape of the Ruins, as well as the award-winning Reputations, The Informers, The Secret History of Costaguana, and the story collection Lovers on All Saints' Day. His books have been published in forty languages worldwide. After sixteen years in Europe, he now lives in Bogotá.
Anne McLean is a Spanish-language translator who has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán. She received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
Anne McLean is a Spanish-language translator who has twice won both the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Premio Valle Inclán. She received the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award with Juan Gabriel Vásquez for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. She lives in Toronto.
Other books by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
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