Diario de un killer sentimental, seguido de Yacaré

Diario de un killer sentimental, seguido de Yacaré
by Luis Sepúlveda
With this book I've completed the Romanian translations available for Sepúlveda. None of them is as good as The
Old Man Who Read Love Stories, but I became attached to his writing style: sometimes funny, sometimes poetical,
pleasant as a mild-sweet cake, simple as a white summer dress, with magical glimpses of places throughout South
America.
With these two stories, Sepúlveda explores the detective fiction genre, as he also did in Hot Line.
The Diary of a Sentimental Killer is about a professional assassin who makes some mistakes that are not allowed in
his field of work: he falls in love with a young French woman and he takes an interest in his latest target, to which
he'll get dangerously close. No, the woman and the target are not one and the same. The ending was more suited
to a soap opera, so I was a bit disappointed.
I enjoyed more the second story, Yacaré. A former Chilean policeman is sent to investigate the apparently natural
death of a business magnate, only to discover that things are much more complicated. Plus there is an invisible
and unusual killer who might strike again.
If you're wondering what Yacaré means, it is a species of small caiman found in central South America.
I felt sorry for the little fellows, as in the story they were ruthlessly hunted down by an Italian company dealing
with leather goods. But I felt even more sorry for the tribe of Indians that revered the caimans as some sort of
deity. I didn't find any clue that they actually existed. Anaré, as they were called, had an interesting mythological
story about the Yacarés (I'll do my best with the Romanian-English translation):
They were Anaré Indians and they followed an ancient law, because in the early years of mankind, the world was
entirely made of water, and humans and animals alike lived on the back of the big Yacaré. The reptile dreamed of
fruits and there were fruits, it dreamed of fish and there were fish, it dreamed of turtles and there were turtles. But
one day, the first Jeashmaré appeared and shot a fiery arrow through the big reptile's heart. Deadly wounded, for
days on end it splashed the water with its tail. A thousand baby reptiles were born, some small as larvae, others
big as hunters, but the ancient Yacaré left no clue as of which should be its heir. Even nowadays, the Anaré Indians
have to take care of all the babies, so that the sweet time of dreams would return, on the back of the big Yacaré.
Man, that felt good! If the stories are not translated into English, you can send me the usual book fee and I'll
translate them to you! Or half of it, if you are only interested in Yacaré. *Smile*|Estuve en Miami presentando mi
novela y haciendo una lectura en una librería conocida y de regreso en el avión finalmente me leí El Diario y
terminé Water for Elephants.
El diario me pareció interesante. Sepúlveda es un tipo con una vida muy rica y lo demuestra en su escritura, de
tantos estilos… En nada se parece este relato al Viejo que leía historias…. Que por cierto para ser sincero me gustó
mucho más.
Para mí el mayor atributo es el desarrollo del personaje sin decir mucho, con el característico lenguaje directo de
Sepúlveda. La narrativa me pareció un poco seca y carente de lírica, lo cual me gustó pues el narrador es un
asesino a sueldo… También disfruté la descripción del apartamento en Francia, con los libros y todo eso y el
hombre del espejo, el doble. Ambas imágenes son posibles debido a esa vida de Sepúlveda tan rica y con
aspectos tan divergentes…
Lo que no me gustó fue lo predecible del relato. Supuse el final a mitad del mismo.
Alberto.
|Yacare is the worst thing I've read by my favorite author... but I liked Diario de un Killer Sentimental.
Me gustó Diario de un Killer Sentimental pero Yacaré es el peor que he leido por Sepulveda.|Jurnalul unui killer
sentimental este o carte ușoară, nu neapărat plină de subtilități și sensuri ascunse, dar captivantă, datorită aerului
de roman polițist. Mi-a plăcut în mod special aerul degajat, dar în același timp firea calculată a personajului
principal, care trebuie să ia o decizie ce-i va îndrepta viața într-o anumită direcție. Autorul, unul dintre cei mai
renumiți scriitori contemporani din Chille reușește să captiveze cititorul prin cuvinte simple, dar bine aranjate,
antrenând omul ce deschide cartea în a pătrunde trup și suflet în lumea ( sau chiar în pielea) killerului sentimental.
|Son dos novelas policíacas cortas. Buenas para leer en una sentada.