Novel
El árbol de los pañuelos
Not translated into English
Julio Escoto · 1972
Synopsis
In the imaginary village of Llama, where Indian, colonial and Christian legacies mingle, Eulogio, the disturbed man, tells of the Cain-like brotherhood that binds him to Balam Cano, son of a supposed sorcerer shot in 1843 for having taught the villagers to read. Balam takes revenge on those who wronged his family and is torn between Panchita and Alida, a schoolteacher whom Eulogio also loves.
Context
The novel was published in 1972 by the Central American university press (Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana) in San José, Costa Rica. It takes as its starting point the execution of the Canos, which a novel by Ramón Amaya Amador had recounted. A false prologue presents it as the memoirs of a madman, and the narrator claims to be giving it a different title, “La fuente de los espejos”. The book has been partly translated into English and Polish, and reissued at least four times.
Who it is for
A novel in Spanish, with no French translation; the fragmented order of the narrative and its symbols call for an attentive reader.
Prizes and reception
Counted by José Antonio Funes among the ten key books of Honduran narrative, for its fractured narration, its interior monologue and the ambiguity of dream and reality.
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