Sunday, April 27, 2008

Who Killed Palomino Molero

by Mario Vargas Llosa

A short story told mostly from the point of view of Lituma, a simple Guardia Civil man, a cholo, about his and his boss's attempts to solve a horrible crime - the torture and murder of a young handsome and talented singer, Palomino Molero. The story is set in 1950s and it's interesting to see the tensions between the "whites" and the "cholos". Lots of racism going on... And the power of rumors.

Yours, Sandro (Shelcha, Sandro) - Hebrew

by Zvi Yanai

An interesting compilation of letter the author writes to his long lost brother, that for an unknown reason was left in a foster home. Through letters that Zvi (Sandro) writes to his brother Romulo, citing letters to their mother, we learn what happened to that particular family during the years 1930-1944 in Italy and Hungary, and then a little bit about their years in Israel. Hebrew.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

!HUGO! The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution

By Bart Jones

What a fascinating book about such an amazing person!
Having watched a movie about Hugo Chavez a few years ago (The Revolution will not be Televized) followed by a discussion with history professor who seemed very favorable of the man, but then only hearing bad things about him, in the mainstream media and even from South American friends, I felt confused - what should I believe? Bart Jones help me get to a conclusion. But also he made me think of all the lies governments and media tell us. In the case of Chavez - incredible lies and propaganda that seems absolutely ridiculous when confronted with the facts, nonetheless, if it is not (and it usually isn't) it can be very easily considered as the truth by most people.
And that's really scary. What else are they lying to us about?
This book has opened my eyes to all the horrible things US governments were involved in over decades in Latin America. I heard some anecdotes here and there, but never knew to what extent it was striving (and still is) to get rid of leftist leaders. I think it's good to know these things. Better than to be blind.
How can anyone still listen to Bush's lies and not get enraged? I wonder...