In his book “Mirrors,” Eduardo Galeano retells the history of human civilization in his own way, condensing what he finds exciting, funny, and worthy of attention through brief, precise passages that give the reader the opportunity to connect with the events and facts he reads, as if history were resurrected before him. The author adopts a cornological path in narrating a history based on bitter paradoxes, and stops at cities, personalities, events, and inventions that constituted milestones in human history. This is how we see him moving lightly between various topics; Such as female circumcision, silkworms, beer, Santa Claus, tango, the torture instruments of the Inquisition. But through the illusion of dispersion, he somehow makes history more logical and full of bitter irony. With extreme selectivity and absolute freedom, Galeano, with his extensive knowledge, chooses the points that stand out to him that seemed to him pivotal in the path of humanity, specifically the forgotten events or people that the dominant narrative of history ignored and wanted to erase from collective memory, as if he was saying to the world: “See your true face reflected in... Mirror".
Eduardo Galeano is a genius writer and a lousy football player, but his lack of skill in playing football did not make him lose his passion for this sport, for which he harnessed his abilities as a storyteller, historian, and loyal fan. The book “Football Between Sun and Shadow” is an attempt to “atone for sin,” in which Galeano provides a brief account of the history of football, and the changes that have occurred to the game over time, especially in light of the fundamental importance that the game has acquired in Latin American countries. He also recalls luminous joints. Unforgettable moments on the field, and exceptional players touched by the temptation of running after the ball.
But Galeano, in his book, does not stop at the moments of excitement, glory, and fame only within the confines of the stadium, but rather goes digging into the shadows. To expose the myths that fans and players of this sport believed in, and the racism that followed them, and to also expose the amount of exploitation and corruption that turned this sport into a business, and its players into commodities, thus killing its enjoyment.