Review: A Thousand Deaths Plus One by Sergio Ramirez

Today in January Magazine’s fiction section, contributing editor Pedro Blas Gonzalez reviews A Thousand Deaths Plus One by Sergio Ramirez. Says our reviewer:

Reminiscent of Borges in its maze-like complexity of shadowy figures and surreal situations, A Thousand Deaths Plus One is as unpredictable a work as it is intricate in construction. Sergio Ramirez’s novel is essentially a work of intrigue. In 1987 the author found himself in Warsaw on a state visit. Ramirez was vice-president of Nicaragua from 1984-1990. This visit to Europe serves as the fuel that feeds the plot of the novel.

While in Poland’s capital, Ramirez, who doubles as the narrator, discovers the work of a compatriot photographer named Juan Castellon. Castellon, he is pleased to discover, had worked in Europe from 1880 to 1940. The author becomes curious as to the identity of this Nicaraguan photographer and the circumstances that brought him to Europe. The action of the novel begins with this otherwise inconspicuous revelation. The animated plot sequences and narration oscillate between Ramirez’s description of the world around him, his psychological desire to understand Castellon and Nicaraguan history, and Castellon’s own part in telling his side of the story.

The full review is here.

Review: An Incomplete History of World War II by Edwin Kiester Jr.

Today, in January Magazine’s non-fiction section, contributing editor Pedro Blas Gonzalez reviews An Incomplete History of World War II by Edwin Kiester Jr. Says Gonzalez:

An Incomplete History of World War II does not pretend to be an exhaustive tract on the history of this devastating world conflict. Yet this may be the most enticing aspect of this work and what makes it so readable. The book is not a jargon-filled, hair-splitting, jaw-snapping academic text. It is instead a highly digestible account of the events that made up this world war, as this is reflected in the lives and stories of those who took part in it. In some respects, An Incomplete History of World War II is comparable to Jacques Barzun’s lively history, From Dawn to Decadence. This attention to historical minutiae is what the Spanish thinker and writer of The Revolt of the Masses, Jose Ortega y Gasset, calls historical reason, or what is essentially the individual vitality that underscores our interpretation of history as a monolithic human endeavor.

The full review is here.

Review: Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers by Slava Katamidze

Contributing editor Pedro Blas Gonzales reviews the non-fiction work Loyal Comrades, Ruthless Killers by Slava Katamidze. Says Gonzales:

Gathering and utilizing the intelligence delivered to the west by the many Soviet defectors through the years, the author is able to paint a picture that few myopic or disingenuous intellectuals can continue to evade or “deconstruct.” Simply stated, the Soviet Union’s mechanism of state terror was the premier manifestation of state-organized murder and terror of the 20th century.

The full review is here.

Review: The Albanian Affairs by Susana Fortes

Today in January Magazine’s fiction section, contributing editor Pedro Blas Gonzalez reviews The Albanaian Affairs, the first English translation for Susan Fortes:

Novels set in totalitarian countries always possess a closed-room, double morality ethos that few people in open societies can begin to imagine. These works depict a bare bones realism that more often than not is nothing less than a test of survival.

According to Gonzalez, this runner-up for the Planeta Award for Fiction does not except that rule. You can read the entire review here.

Review: Paradise Regained

Today on January Magazine, contributing editor Pedro Blas Gonzalez takes a close look at Jeffrey Burton Russell’s latest book, Paradise Mislaid: How We Lost Heaven and How We Can Regain It.

The book is an “examination of the history of transcendence that most cultures have identified as heaven,” writes Gonzalez. “Professor Russell’s insightful series on the history of the devil is, in the estimation of this writer, the single most in-depth and penetrating study of this subject.”

The January Magazine review of Paradise Mislaid is here.