Simpatía (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781644213650)

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE

Rodrigo Blanco Calderón has established himself as one of the great voices of Latin American literature with his debut novel The Night, and his short story collection Sacrifices.

Simpatía is a suspenseful novel with unexpected twists and turns about the agony of Venezuela and the collapse of Chavismo.

Simpatía is set in the Venezuela of Nicolas Maduro amid a mass exodus of the intellectual class who have been leaving their pets behind. Ulises Kan, the protagonist and a movie buff, receives a text message from his wife, Paulina, saying she is leaving the country (and him). Ulises is not heartbroken but liberated by Paulina's departure. Two other events end up disrupting his life even further: the return of Nadine, an unrequited love from the past, and the death of his father-in-law, General Martín Ayala. Thanks to Ayala's will, Ulises discovers that he has been entrusted with a mission--to transform Los Argonautas, the great family home, into a shelter for abandoned dogs. If he manages to do it in time, he will inherit the luxurious apartment that he had shared with Paulina.

This novel centers on themes of family and orphanhood in order to address the abuse of power by a patrilineage of political figures in Latin America, from Simón Bolívar to Hugo Chávez. The untranslatable title, Simpatía, which means both sympathy and charm, ironically references the qualities these political figures share. In a morally bankrupt society, where all human ties seem to have dissolved, Ulises is like a stray dog picking up scraps of sympathy. Can you really know who you love? What is, in essence, a family? Are abandoned dogs proof of the existence or non-existence of God? Ulises unknowingly embodies these questions, as a pilgrim of affection in a post-love era.

Author: Rodrigo Blanco Calderón
ISBN-10: 1644213656
ISBN-13: 9781644213650
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Language: English
Published: 03/26/2024
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/22/2024
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2024