Gustavo Faveron Patriau

Received in ebook format from http://www.netgalley.com and read on an ipad using kindle software.

I started so well, and after getting into the rhythm of the way the book was written (including near stream of conciousness discourses, paragraphs that last over a page, timelines and narrators chopping and changing), I got about half way through and then simply didnt have the energy to go any further.

So: I think my failure to complete this book is entirely laid at my door. For once I can appreciate the translation (I usually hate books translated into English), I can appreciate that there is a certain lyrical beauty of the story, it just required so much time, effort and concentration at a time that I couldn’t afford it – Perhaps choosing to read this in the run up to Christmas was not the right time to choose!… (mer)

Three years after Gustavo last spoke to his friend Daniel, he gets a call from the psychiatric ward where Daniel has been held since his fiancée’s murder. Claiming he wishes to confess the truth behind the murder, Daniel asks Gustavo to visit the ward, reeling him into a dark world of Daniel’s past. As Gustavo listens, he realizes the truth will come only if he can piece together the stories Daniel tells with remnants gathered from the life he left behind.

While some translations can suffer from stiff sentences and clipped phrases, the language in The Antiquarian is wonderfully lyrical. It feels as though the beauty in the original work was simply moved onto new pages rather than being rearranged or lost, which is an important detail. Though, at its core, the novel has the plot of a murder mystery, it is the prose and Gothic mood that moves it into a wholly new category.

The Gothic tones that permeate the novel will appeal to readers looking for a contemporary Poe, but Patriau’s answers are buried a bit deeper. For those willing to dive into the madness he creates, The Antiquarian is well worth the ride.

Read more at: www.rivercityreading.com… (mer)