Shadow Without a Name : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Great Style
Review: Shadow without a name is a novel very much in the frequency of contemporary Mexican literature. Padilla, along with other writers, are responding to the initial success of Post-Boom narrative by taking over the market seduced by the folkloric version of Mexico (leaded by the nasty Like Water for Chocolate) through the usage of resources and topics that have nothing to do with Mexico. In the case of Padilla's novel, the plot is centered on a story of suplantations, beneath which lies an obscure nazi project to create doubles for political figures. Even though this topic sounds like a Michael Crichton novel, Amphitryon is far from such literature, due to the formal and stylistic construction. The book is very readable and, with the award it got in its Spanish edition, is likely to occupy a central place in Mexican literature. Nonetheless, readers should not wait a deep usage of the nazi topic, since it is only a pretext to develop a narrative strategy. I think the novel will eventually raise the question on the validity to rely on such historical facts to create a story that does not express the horror of the nazis on its full extent. Even so, the novel is a great book for the casual reader. We are only left to expect that the amazing narrative abilities of Padilla will produce a masterpiece in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling, ingenious.
Review: The novel is a progression of stories, each told by a different narrator, and written at a different time, but each casting light on the events and characters in the previous stories. The title, as well as the story names, seem to suggest that this is a philosophical novel about loss of identity. I don't quite take it away. It is a chilling, almost soulless evocation of the dislocations of 20th century central Europe, a time when nihilism seems most in tune with the world. Identities are not lost so much as stolen. It is written in a simple, effective style, and the plotting is ingenious and highly original. One of the characters, Richard Schley, battles for the remnant of his soul, and I enjoyed most the story narrated by him. Conversely, I found little to like or admire in the first story of the novel, so my advice to readers put off by that material is to stick with it, the rest of the novel is 5 star.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling, ingenious.
Review: The novel is a progression of stories, each told by a different narrator, and written at a different time, but each casting light on the events and characters in the previous stories. The title, as well as the story names, seem to suggest that this is a philosophical novel about loss of identity. I don't quite take it away. It is a chilling, almost soulless evocation of the dislocations of 20th century central Europe, a time when nihilism seems most in tune with the world. Identities are not lost so much as stolen. It is written in a simple, effective style, and the plotting is ingenious and highly original. One of the characters, Richard Schley, battles for the remnant of his soul, and I enjoyed most the story narrated by him. Conversely, I found little to like or admire in the first story of the novel, so my advice to readers put off by that material is to stick with it, the rest of the novel is 5 star.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Things, and characters, are not ever what they seem in this excellent novel. The novel has four different narrators, each with a different version of reality. By the time the novel is over, the reader realizes that probably all of them were lying in their narratives for they certainly were all lying as they lived their lives. The novel opens with the story of two men on a train during World War I. One man is headed for the front, the other, for a cushy, safe railroad position. They play chess with high stakes. If the soldier wins, he claims the identity of the railway employee, if he loses, he kills himself. The name of the soldier, Thadeus Dreyer, changes hands several times in the novel. The man who is Dreyer ultimately organizes the Amphitryon Project during World War II, where doubles for high ranking nazis stand in for them at certain public events. The novel is intriguing and labarynth-like, and will have you questioning every word of each narrator in your search for "truth". An excellent read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Things, and characters, are not ever what they seem in this excellent novel. The novel has four different narrators, each with a different version of reality. By the time the novel is over, the reader realizes that probably all of them were lying in their narratives for they certainly were all lying as they lived their lives. The novel opens with the story of two men on a train during World War I. One man is headed for the front, the other, for a cushy, safe railroad position. They play chess with high stakes. If the soldier wins, he claims the identity of the railway employee, if he loses, he kills himself. The name of the soldier, Thadeus Dreyer, changes hands several times in the novel. The man who is Dreyer ultimately organizes the Amphitryon Project during World War II, where doubles for high ranking nazis stand in for them at certain public events. The novel is intriguing and labarynth-like, and will have you questioning every word of each narrator in your search for "truth". An excellent read.