Laurent Binet

Laurent Binet’s Civilizations is an exercise in alternate history, or if you like, counterfactual history, beginning with a reimagined settlement of the New World by a band of Vikings. The narrative is clear and logical, but it is not really a novel. It sees events from 20 thousand feet and never gets us particularly close to any of its characters.
The story begins with a voyage by Eric the Red’s daughter and her encounter with Mesoamerican Indians. The Vikings enrich their new home with iron-working, draft animals, and wheeled vehicles. Columbus’s trip west ends badly, leaving the hulks of two of his ships weathering on the beach. The Mayan leader, Atahualpa, reverse engineers them and launches a transatlantic expedition to Europe. He arrives in Lisbon in time to capture Charles V, head of the Holy Roman Empire, and conquer a disorganized Europe—at least until the Aztecs show up.
The book ends with an account of the early adventures of Miguel Cervantes and his encounter with the essayist Michele de Montaigne. It is the most stylish part of the narrative, deftly parodying the styles of both writers. It could be read as a standalone sketch.… (mer)

HHhH
Laurent Binet
Publicado: 2009 | 248 páginas
Novela Histórico

«HHhH».Tras este misterioso título se esconde la frase en alemán «Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich»: «el cerebro de Himmler se llama Heydrich». Esto es lo que se decía en las SS de Reinhard Heydrich, jefe de la Gestapo, considerado el hombre más peligroso del Tercer Reich y una de las figuras más enigmáticas del nazismo. En 1942, dos miembros de la Resistencia aterrizan en paracaídas en Praga con la misión de asesinarlo. Después del atentado, se refugian en una iglesia, donde, delatados por un traidor y acorralados por setecientos hombres de las SS, se suicidan. Laurent Binet narra uno de los episodios más conmovedores de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y, posiblemente, de la Historia de la humanidad. Pero tras la narración de esta hazaña empieza otra lucha: la que enfrenta la ficción con la realidad. HHhH es el relato de la desesperada búsqueda de una forma precisa de contar la Historia. Para ello Binet lleva al lector hasta la tormenta de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, a Berlín, Londres y París, a la Praga actual, y en un giro literario de una fuerza inaudita, traslada el régimen nazi hasta el 2009.… (mer)

I have been meaning to read Laurent Binet for a while now! I LOVED the idea, the concept behind this book. What would have happened if the events of certain historical visitors went slightly differently? Everything as a butterfly effect. Unfortunately, I am not a history buff so this sort of writing style gets very dense as a minefield of things I don't know. So it doesn't hit as well as it probably could have, if I knew my world history better. My fault! I was really hoping I would enjoy this more. There are probably a ton of fun historical easter eggs here, if you can spot them. History buffs can get more mileage out of this, I suppose. This very much reminded me of the book 'Sudden Death' by Alvaro Enrique.… (mer)