This book was originally published in Spanish in 1956 and this English version has been translated by Esther Allen.
My Review:
Don Diego de Zama is a clerk serving the Spanish monarchy in a remote town in Paraguay at the end of the eighteenth century. His position as an assistant for the Governor is supposed to be one of prestige and the first step as he moves up in his political career. But if only he could find a way to get out of the backwater of Paraguay and be assigned a better position in Buenos Aires, which would also be closer to his home and his wife. Zama is a lazy, selfish, and even at times stupid man who only seems to do things that hurt his career and his family.
There is a scene in the book in which Zama has just finished spending what little money he has at the racetrack betting on horses. He decides to take a siesta in the shade where he encounters another man resting. While this man is sound asleep Zama sees a poisonous spider about to jump on this man’s face and Zama decides to do absolutely nothing about it. He doesn’t lift a finger to dispose of the spider or even warn the man of the impending danger of the venomous arachnid that is about to jump on his face. Zama simply sits there and watches the scene unfold and seems rather detached from the fact that a poisonous spider is crawling on another man’s face. This episode perfectly exemplifies Zama’s selfish attitude not only towards the world around him, but also towards his life, his job and his family.
The book is divided into three parts, the first of which takes place in 1790. When we are first introduced to Zama he is waiting for a ship to come in that might contain a letter from his wife and the salary that is owed to him by the Spanish crown. Zama misses his wife a great deal, but the lack of intimate contact with her for almost two years drives him to find a woman to fulfil his sexual desires. In a scene that is reminiscent of the Actaeon and Artemis story from Greek mythology, he accidentally sees a local upper class woman naked while she is bathing in a river. Once he finds out who this woman is he does everything he can to scheme his way into her home without attracting the notice of her husband or the rest of the town. His attempts to seduce this woman are clumsy and not well planned.
The novel skips forward four years to 1794 and Zama is still stuck in this town in Paraguay. But by this time he has moved into a ramshackle farmhouse with a widow named Emilia and has a son with her. Zama’s salary that he is owed by the Spanish crown is very seldom paid to him, so he lives in poverty and doesn’t have very much to offer his mistress and child. He notices the child is oftentimes dirty and crying but he is never moved to console the child or find a way to provide a better life for his family. When he has extra money in his pocket he doesn’t offer it to Emilia or his son but instead he buys his own meals at the local inn or tavern. His own needs continue to always come first. Zama’s wife, whom he was so eager to be near in the first part of the book, is not mentioned at all during this time. Zama’s emotional detachment from the hardships that his families suffer is astonishing.
In the final part of the book Zama’s selfish nature finally brings about his downfall. The year is now 1799 and Zama is sent on an expedition with the local militia to hunt down a notorious pillager and thief. The sole reason that he volunteers for the mission is that he thinks it will finally get him a promotion. The final part of the book is the most exciting as Zama travels with soldiers into remote parts of South America that are dangerous because of Indian tribes. There is also a bit of intrigue during this part of the book when the bandit’s true identity is revealed and the only one who knows this key piece of information is Zama. His selfish and clumsy reaction to this situation is typical of his character throughout the book but this time his impetuous actions bring about his own demise.
Reading about Zama’s life is like watching a train wreck. We know from the beginning that because of his clumsy behavior Zama is headed for a bad end, but we can’t put the book down because of our morbid curiosity to know how he finally does himself in.
About the Author:
Beto is a landscape architect who, like many others, has been hit hard by the economic recession in Europe. Building and maintaining elaborate gardens and parks is a luxury that businesses and municipalities can no longer afford. In order to make some money to pay the bills, Beto enters a landscape architecture contest in Munich, where the first prize would be enough to keep him afloat for a while. Beto and his girlfriend, Marta who is also his assistant and partner in his landscape business, both travel to Munich to attend the landscape conference where the prize winners will be announced.
David Trueba was born in Madrid in 1969 and has been successful both as a novelist and as a scriptwriter. La buena vida was his widely acclaimed debut as a film director and was followed by Obra Maestra (2001), Soldados de Salamina (2003), Bienvenido a casa (2006), and La silla de Fernando (2007). He is also the author of two previous novels; his debut, Four Friends, sold over 100,000 copies with twenty reprints. Learning to Lose won the Critics Award in 2009.
The author explains to us in the introduction of the book that the Plimsoll Line is a mark on a ship’s hull that indicates the maximum depth a vessel can be immersed into the water when it is loaded with cargo without being sunk. In the 18th century, British merchants would overload their cargo, knowing full well that the ships would sink and then they would collect the insurance money on them. The Plimsoll Line was then marked on all ships to prevent shipwrecks and save lives. The main character in this book bears so much cargo in the form of tragedy that he wonders if he has overstepped his personal Plimsoll Line and will sink into oblivion.
Juan Gracia Armendáriz (Pamplona, 1965) is a Spanish fiction writer and contributor to many Spanish newspapers. He has also been part-time professor at the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, and has many works of literary and documentary research. As a writer, he has published a book of poems, short stories, nonfiction books—biographical sketches and a historical story—and several novels. The Plimsoll Line is part of the “Trilogy of Illness”, formed by three separate books that reflect his experience as a person with kidney trouble. The novel was awarded the X Premio Tiflos de Novela 2008.
This interesting tale begins in modern day Paris when Pichón Garay receives a disk with the contents of an absurd story about two doctors in 19th century Argentina whose mission it is to cure the mad. As Garay reads the beginning of the story he learns that no one is sure whether or not this story is pure fiction or has any truth to it. At times the story seems far fetched and ridiculous, but the ways in which these doctors treat the insane is compassionate and for this reason we hope it’s true.
This book is set in an apartment building in Mexico City in which a group of elderly retirees live. The residents of the building engage in various activities together in order to fend off boredom, including the most popular activity which is the daily gathering and discussion at the literary salon. Francesca, the building president and leader, is also the head of this salon. As each new member moves into the building, he or she is given a warm welcome and an invitation to the salon. The only person who has ever dared to turn down an invitation to the salon is our witty, clever and crabby narrator, a man who goes by the name of Teo.
Juan Pablo Villalobos was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1973. His first novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, was the first translation to be shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award (in 2011). He writes regularly for publications including Granta and translated Rodrigo de Souza Leão’s novel All Dogs are Blue (also published by And Other Stories) into Spanish. His work has been translated into fifteen languages. He lives in Barcelona and has two children.
The Book Binder's Daughter 