I bought this because of the title and because I was in a lovely bookstore in Toronto and trusted their curation. I visited San Carlos de Bariloche once upon a time, at the northern edge of Patagonia. It has the feel of a ski resort town, with fancy log cabin structures and chilly mountain air. This book is about Demetrio, a young man who works as a trash collector in Buenos Aires, and does jigsaw puzzles at home in the evenings while drifting into his potent memories of Bariloche. The book is well written and translated, I wish I had the Spanish version as well to compare. There is much poetic language and imagery, there is mystery, there is reflection, there is kind of a plot. It's solid writing and unique, I'm glad I read it, but the whole doesn't cohere or stick in a satisfying way. ( )

Demetrio Rota, recogedor de basura de Buenos Aires, duerme por las tardes y monta puzzles por las noches antes de marcharse al trabajo. Su vida cotidiana es mediocre y se mantiene en equilibrio por puro agotamiento. Sin embargo, a traves de los puzzles, Demetrio revisa y encaja su propia memoria. Al final del recorrido por su historia, el presente parece devorar a Demetrio hasta dejarle solo el vacio de si mismo y de la miseria diaria. Parabola de la memoria y del deterioro, Bariloche plantea la confusion entre los recuerdos asombrados de la adolescencia y una conciencia esceptica, entre la idealizacion imposible de la naturaleza o del primer amor y la asfixia moral y fisica de las grandes ciudades, entre el desarraigo y el retorno al origen, con un lenguaje fascinado tanto por el lirismo como por la podredumbre.

Ceuta - Febrero/2000