Falsa guerra
Carlos Manuel Álvarez
FICTION | 2021 | 248 pages
The characters in Falsa guerra are castaways on dry land, stranded on no man’s land. Some of them want to leave Cuba and can’t, others left and never quite finished getting anywhere. They live in a sort of limbo, a perpetual impasse between reality and desire, past and future, country of origin and country of destination—awaiting a confirmation or, purely and simply, some respite. Something to keep reminding them that life is possible.
What is the difference between an immigrant, someone living in exile, and a refugee? Doomed to chaos, anguish, or tedium, the perennially displaced are beleaguered by a world that—in that simulation of advancement towards the illusion of a consumer society —reminds them that there is no place for them at every turn. In this choral novel, the characters appear to move between Cuba, the United States, Mexico, France, or Germany with confidence, while in reality they all feel paralyzed, immersed in a fake war waged without any real passion or any authentic ideas.
Structured with an atomized narration that brilliantly reflects the disintegration that comes with uprooting and full of tenderness, disenchantment, and melancholy, Falsa Guerra is an extraordinary novel that confirms Carlos Manuel Álvarez as one of the indispensable voices of his generation. A memorable and moving story of the lost steps leading nowhere that are imposed by exile.
RIGHTS: spanish SEXTO PISO | english (uk) FITZCARRALDO | english (us) GRAYWOLF | italian EDIZIONI SUR | french MÉMOIRE D’ENCRIER | spanish audio RECORDED BOOKS
“A new Latin American literature is here: With precocious mastery of a paragon of narrative resources and an overwhelming sensibility, Carlos Manuel Álvarez portrays the only identity that truly matters—not the national one, but the human one.”
BY CARLOS MANUEL ÁLVAREZ:
Los intrusos
NONFICTION, 2023
Falsa guerra
NOVEL, 2021
Los caídos
NOVEL, 2018
La tribu
NONFICTION, 2017