2007 books

[peteryoung]

79) Tomás Eloy Martínez, The Tango Singer, 2004
A New York student arrives in Buenos Aires in 2001 in search of Julio Martel, a legendary and highly elusive Tango singer. But while seeking out Martel his real discoveries are of Buenos Aires's many tragic histories, all somehow intertwined with the random performances of Martel himself, and still behind almost everything there is the ghost of Borges to deal with and the indelible stamp he made on the Porteños psyche. As a story of obsessions and a variety of very erudite madnesses, this book quickly becomes a guided tour of the city's unwritten and mostly secret past, bringing Buenos Aires alive with an almost dreamlike lucidity. Borges still casts a very long shadow over modern Argentine literature and when the result is beautiful books like this, that is no bad thing. One of my favourite books this year.

Comments

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting this review! I bought this in a 3-for-2 accident and haven't got around to it, but I'll move it closer to the top of the TBR stack ...

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

I hope you like it as much as I did!

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

Have you read his Santa Evita? It's a fascinating book that made me stop and examine my assumptions about Truth and History. And it's fun at the same time.

[peteyoung.livejournal.com]

No I haven't, and it looks interesting. Plus, one thing Martínez's Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomas_Eloy_Martinez) doesn't mention is that he was shortlisted for the 2005 International Man Booker prize.