Esperanto - Rodrigo Fresán

 

Esperanto is the name of a language that its creator thought could be used by everyone, but that isn’t actually used by anyone. And it is also the name of this novel’s main character. Esperanto is a 35-year-old troubled musician, who hasn’t written a song for a long time. A friend of his and her baby went desaparecidos during the Argentina military junta era, while the baby’s father, a revolutionary fighter, was killed in action. A few years after that tragic day Esperanto was somehow considered responsible for his own child’s death and the resulting mental breakdown of his partner. The book starts when Esperanto suddenly feels that the week that is about to begin will be a very unusual one. The readers are then taken through these momentous seven days, marked by encounters with a bunch of bizarre characters, surreal situations, unlikely dialogs and surprising events.
A good idea, several fantastic music references, quite a few original characters. Some may find that there are a bit too many unnecessary virtuoso sentences. But, as with poetry, one doesn’t read a good novel just to speed through it and find out how it ends. This is a musical novel: you’ll want to enjoy the sound of its every paragraph.