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Delirium
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In this remarkably nuanced novel, both a gripping detective story and a passionate, devastating tale of eros and insanity in Colombia, internationally acclaimed author Laura Restrepo delves into the minds of four characters. There's Agustina, a beautiful woman from an upper-class family who is caught in the throes of madness; her husband Aguilar, a man passionately in love with his wife and determined to rescue her from insanity; Agustina's former lover Midas, a drug-trafficker and money-launderer; and Nicolás, Agustina's grandfather. Through the blend of these distinct voices, Restrepo creates a searing portrait of a society battered by war and corruption, as well as an intimate look at the daily lives of people struggling to stay sane in an unstable reality.
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Never in my life has a book challenged my own sanity until I read this book.
First, it’s lack of quotation marks, direct narration and jumbled mix of past and present timelines started to make me feel a little… well…. delirious.
I actually considered putting this on my DNF shelf but then it occurred to me that this sort of madness might’ve been the author’s true intent for the reader. It was also originally written in Spanish, so the lack of English punctuation might also be due to the way it was translation. Either way, I decided to stick with it.
Once I got the hang of the writing style though, I found myself intrigued with its delirious plot and threads of reality. At one point I even questioned my own predictions and theories of how this book would end and wondered if they were just as delirious as the book itself.
Everything about this book is completely and utterly mad.
Or is it?
The reason for my 4 stars is because I never felt like I connected to any of the characters. It’s also a difficult book to follow, requiring a lot of focus and attention in order to even make sense of what you’re reading. Considering the plot and its obvious challenge of understanding as a whole; this book can be proven difficult to some readers.
I will say that it did get easier to read around the 35% mark. If you’re struggling to get through this in the beginning, I urge you to push through. I feel that it’s definitely a book worth reading.
I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the ending though. On one hand it felt sufficient, but on the other hand it felt like a cliffhanger. So many theories I had about Agustina’s “delirium” that I’ll never have answers to. But then again, that might have been exactly the point of the entire book.
“Delirium” has won the Alfaguara Nobel Prize in 2004 (Spanish Literacy Award) and the Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italian’s Best Foreign Fiction) in 2006.
Interestingly, this book is widely unknown to most of the western world and the English translated version is difficult to find. If you can manage to get your hands on it and overcome it’s challenges, I think it’s worth the read. You won’t forget this book easily.
