Tag Archives: Anne McLean

Volver la vista atras- Retrospective by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne Mclean.

This most recent novel by Juan Gabriel Vasquez focuses on the life of Colombian film director Sergio Cabrera. The frame story is Sergio’s trip to Barcelona, where a retrospective festival of his films is taking place. Just before the festival … Continue reading

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The Farm by Hector Abad, translated by Anne McLean

Héctor Abad’s 2014 novel The Farm, like much Colombian literature, has a strong sense of place. (I’m thinking The Lucky Ones by Julianne Pachico, set around Cali, Pilar Quintana’s Atlantic Coast novel La Perra, Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s La Forma de … Continue reading

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The Shape of the Ruins-La forma de las Ruinas- by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean

This most recent novel by the acclaimed Colombian writer Juan Gabriel Vásquez is a complex, almost labyrinthine novel which examines history through the lens of conspiracy theories and theorists. It is multi layered in that it deals with two pivotal … Continue reading

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The Informers by Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean-a Colombian story?

This is a story of informers and betrayal. Set in the Colombia of 1991, the narrative goes back to the Second World War and Colombia’s role as a place of refuge for Europeans of every political hue: German Jewish escapees … Continue reading

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Las Reputaciones- Juan Gabriel Vasquez ( translated into English as ‘Reputations’ by Anne Mclean)

This slim novel by Juan Gabriel Vasquez (author of ‘The Sound of Things Falling’ and ‘Dogs of War’) is set again in his native Columbia. The protagonist, Javier Mallarino, is a political cartoonist and the book deals with the fragility … Continue reading

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Two great Europeans- Lunatics, Lovers and Poets- Twelve Stories after Cervantes and Shakespeare.

Now you may be aghast, in shock, in tears or denial about the outcome of the referendum on our membership of the European Union. And I’m not sure whether the brilliance of this book will delight and soothe you or … Continue reading

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The Sound of Things Falling- Juan Gabriel Vasquez, translated by Anne McLean

I had never heard of Juan Gabriel Vasquez before reading in the Guardian Review that his book ‘The Sound of things falling’ had won the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. A few months later I came across the book itself in … Continue reading

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