Review of Adorno y sus dos Fantasmas

[Laura Weber]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Adorno y sus dos Fantasmas" by Manelick de la Parra.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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“Adorno y sus dos fantasmas” by Manelick de la Parra Vargas is a novella about the adventures of a Mexican university student in Paris during the 1970s. In those years many Latin Americans were exiled in Europe because of serious political problems in their own countries. Manelick is both the hero and the narrator of this mixture of fantasy, dreams and reality he creates. He tells us that one of his friends has to leave Paris for some time and asks him (“Mane”) to take her place at work. She asks him to take care of her employers’ beloved pet in their absence. The house where he’s going to stay is full of books and luxury wines, and Manelick is more than happy when he first arrives. He doesn’t have any problems with the pet (a beautiful, very hairy cat called Adorno), and he’s quite comfortable. He attends classes—which, incidentally, showcases the author's knowledge of literature, especially the most famous Latin American writers— and comments on his unpaid temporary job, whose perks are savoring the very fine wine and reading good books. Manelick has developed feelings for a pretty French classmate, and invites her to his temporary residence, where they have some romantic encounters, which become discreetely sexual. Mane goes through the house, feeling curious about who the apparently very important owners of both house and Adorno are. He finds very few clues to satisfy his curiosity. A throat and stomach illness starts to affect him, with the addition of some ghosts, misterious animal room-mates and strange phenoma that he believes could take his life. Adorno is apparently involved in the disease development. Some days go by, always with the uncertainty regarding his health, as his real or imaginary companions don’t give him peace! He tells us about his classes at La Sorbonne (making long descriptions of subjects, professors, books, et cetera, thus the reader knows that the author is very educated), his beloved French young lady and the inspection of the house. The suspense gets deeper, Mane feels sick, guilty of intruding through the house, and afraid of the consequences of his inspections. But, as expected of the light character of the narrator and the story as a whole, all misteries and anguish go away in a quite happy ending.
It is a very simple story, that can be read in less than an afternoon. It is written in good Mexican spanish, with correct inserts of Buenos Aires Argentinian phrases and idioms. The author shows imagination, which is a good point, but in my opinion is too simple, too light, at some points boring. This is a personal point of view, it is not meant to stain the imaginative story.
A few failures either in the construction of the story or in the edition, probably a product of the use of "cut and paste", must be highlighted:
Page 8: When he arrives to the house where his friend works, she tells him that she will tell her bosses that he will replace her for some days (“Yo les anunciaré a los patrones de mi ausencia y tu participación para cuidar a Adorno”). However, in page 19 he shows concerns regarding how would he explain his presence in the house should the owners return home (“Ya bastantes problemas tendría para poder explicar al famoso dueño o dueña ¡qué carajos hacía yo en su casa antes de que llamase a la policía!”).
The contradiction between pages 8 and 19 is cleared in page 29: He expresses his doubts as whether the employers of the friend he is temporarily replacing have been informed of his presence ("¿Le habrá llegado la noticia, ......, de mi presencia en la casa?....."). This "dissemination" of data seemed sloppy to me.
Page 30: One of the misteries is who are the owners of the house. In this page he says that "A" is a woman, but he gives no hint of why he concludes this. ("......retomé la foto. Ahí estaba la mujer .... que bien podía llamarse 'A' ......").
Pages 64- 65: A very brief encounter with Jorge Luis Borges that allegedly occurred several years post the "Adorno's episode" is described with unnecessary detail, with a bit malicious comments about the writer's partner: ("...aprovechando que no estaba su fiel compañera y perro de guardia María Kodama..."); ("... al punto en que la Kodama venía hacia mí con la mirada de una metralleta Arisaka tipo 92, ..."). This meeting is not related to the main story, and is disrespectful with the writer's widow.
I rate this novella 2 out of 4 because it is too light, and it seems that the author wanted to show us all his knowledge of literarure, specially os Latin America, and the importance of his studies at La Sorbonne. I found it a little boring.
I think it is good for teen-agers --the mention of two love encounters between Manelique and his girl friend are described very discreetly-- or for very young adults.
Since the title and the cover may suggest that it is a children's book, I think it is important to establish that it is not.

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Adorno y sus dos Fantasmas
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[goreview03]

Thanks for the review. Because it is a relatively simple read, I would say this book is a good starting point for me to read in Spanish.