Remembering his childhood, Miguel tells of a wooden statue the size of a man, carved by a musical instrument maker before his death, so the people of Itape decided to place it at the top of the hill, so that it would become a landmark of the village. Massive events and wars take place, and the novel branches out to narrate the events of two decades of Paraguayan history, before returning to that hill with its steadfast statue, which has become very symbolic.
Rua Bastos shows history from the perspective of ordinary people, poignantly depicting their attempts to rebel against authority, revealing the brutality of the ironies of history when these people are forced to kill and die in senseless wars that they fight while standing with the very authority against which they rebel.
Using a linear sequence in narrating the events of his novel, and painting a huge mural about Paraguay, Rua Bastos writes, in a tight plot, his novel, which the great Argentine writer Borges said was one of America’s best novels...
Does man really develop towards a higher level of civilization? Or are we as savages today as we were at the dawn of history?
This book is a charter of ferocity and a record of brutal atrocities committed - even in the name of religion and justice.
The facts are terrifying, but no description, no matter how accurate and vivid, can describe the truth that has not been told.
This book aims to shock, as humans need to be shocked by their awareness of their potential for ferocity.
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