Status
Available
Genres
Collection
Publication
Archipelago Books : Brooklyn, NY, 2018.
Description
A riveting family drama set on the lush and dangerous Colombian coast. By one of Colombia's most acclaimed contemporary novelists, The Storm is an atmospheric, gripping portrait of the tensions that devastate one family. Twins Mario and Jose do not know how to cope with the hatred they feel for their father, an arrogant man whose pride seems to taint everything he touches. Over the course of a fateful fishing trip straight into the heart of a storm, father and sons are confronted with the unspoken secrets and resentments that are destroying them.
User reviews
LibraryThing member JosephCamilleri
3.5*
26-year old twins Mario and Jose help their father run a beach holiday complex on the Colombian coast. Their feelings towards him are conflicted. They have a faint, grudging admiration for the life he has built for himself. But what they feel is primarily anger at his casual arrogance, his
Tomás González is one of Colombia’s leading contemporary novelists. Thanks to Andrea Rosenberg, English-speaking readers can now appreciate this finely-crafted novella. True, the Lear-like pathetic fallacy – a storm as a backdrop to a fiery family portrait – borders on the obvious. But the character studies are convincing and insightful. I also liked the quirky narration which alternates between a “real-time” diary of the fateful fishing trip and multiple first-person accounts from the point of view of the people who follow the events from the safety of the Caribbean coast : the estranged wife, the father’s new partner, children playing on the beach, guests at the holiday complex. All this plays out against a lovingly-drawn natural setting, with the awe-inspiring beauty – and violence – of the ocean recalling Romantic notions of the Sublime.
26-year old twins Mario and Jose help their father run a beach holiday complex on the Colombian coast. Their feelings towards him are conflicted. They have a faint, grudging admiration for the life he has built for himself. But what they feel is primarily anger at his casual arrogance, his
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overriding pride, his belittling of his sons and his ex-wife, who has descended into mental illness partly as a result of his philandering (or, at least, that’s what Mario and Jose seem to think). One morning, against all good sense and despite ominous weather warnings, the three men set out on a fishing trip. As the wind and waves gather around them, pent up emotions surface and bubble over.Tomás González is one of Colombia’s leading contemporary novelists. Thanks to Andrea Rosenberg, English-speaking readers can now appreciate this finely-crafted novella. True, the Lear-like pathetic fallacy – a storm as a backdrop to a fiery family portrait – borders on the obvious. But the character studies are convincing and insightful. I also liked the quirky narration which alternates between a “real-time” diary of the fateful fishing trip and multiple first-person accounts from the point of view of the people who follow the events from the safety of the Caribbean coast : the estranged wife, the father’s new partner, children playing on the beach, guests at the holiday complex. All this plays out against a lovingly-drawn natural setting, with the awe-inspiring beauty – and violence – of the ocean recalling Romantic notions of the Sublime.
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Language
Original language
Spanish