El Mundo Alucinante/a Hallucinating World (Fabula)

Rating:
Summary: Story or History?... just magic
Review: I met the Reinaldo Arena's work in 1997, by the reading of this book. I felt in love with his writting and I became his fan. Now, he is famous because of the movie "Before Night Falls", but I already admired him. This is an fascinating novel where the History argues with one amazing story: it is like a mix between reality and fiction. Strange (very strange) things happen there. It is the story/history about Fray Servando, a latin-american hero, who lives in the mexican independence time. He fights against the spanish Inquisition and strange enemies with amazing powers chasing him: but he always runs away by "magic".

Rating:
Summary: Readers Construct Their Own Story
Review: This novel is a dialogue between fiction and history, but it also forces the readers to build a story in their minds. Many chapters are written from several perspectives, in other words, the same events are told in different ways; therefore, if five readers were to get together to discuss this book, the basic ideas would be the same, but the storyline would vary from reader to reader as each of them selected which chapter becomes "real" for them. One should also keep in mind the irony of Arenas writing this book about a persecuted man, Servando Teresa de Mier, and the author's life reflecting his art. Perhaps that's why Arenas was compelled to write about this historical figure in the first place. This is a difficult read but worth the effort.