By Jack Flores
It is often said, when you publish a book your child is born, and that's almost true. I say almost, because, although the book is the brainchild of one, has the characteristics of one, - the author has also reflected life in others. If you do not have the empathy or affection of the reader, the book would have no literary added-value that would fall into which is commonly called, light literature or meaningless literature . Fortunately, this is not the case with " Mufida, La angolesa", an excellent book of stories written by a Peruvian resident in Scotland, Jorge Aliaga, now back in Peru.
The book, for those not lucky enough to have read it yet, is composed of seven stories, all very well structured with impeccable style and, most notably, set among and homeland -on the move, as they say. There is something more surprising, the idiosyncrasy of the inhabitants of Peru: the love and nostalgia for his own. But the work does not stop there -the reflection of the reader, but there is the other -the personality of the author, and there we found a gem: his interest in social concerns. This is the backbone that connects to almost all accounts. Example: KLM Flight 236, Memoirs of Festival, The Return, La Rectora, etc. I confess that few, very few times, I read a writer living abroad as rooted in social justice, the common good and the longing for a better future, the Peruvian-American dream, without falling into pamphleteer or too little credibility. This book is the exception. To sample one-or two-pearls: the story La Rectora-set in a school in Lima, tells us what happened to the student, Pimbolo, who defended a black student who was the victim of discrimination by his classroom teacher and because of this, Pimbolo was suspended. His mother on hearing this, visited the jail where his father was a politiical prisoner, the reason being having written an article denouncing government corruption. Upon learning the facts, gives a surprising answer, as we read the final paragraph:
"El Sexto" was crowded with political prisoners. Don Rogger saw Dora rushing in haste, ready to tell what happened to Pimbolo. She frantically told him that Pimbolo was insubordinate to a teacher's authority when he defended a black child. When this happened, a smile was reflected in Don Rogger's eyes:
The book, for those not lucky enough to have read it yet, is composed of seven stories, all very well structured with impeccable style and, most notably, set among and homeland -on the move, as they say. There is something more surprising, the idiosyncrasy of the inhabitants of Peru: the love and nostalgia for his own. But the work does not stop there -the reflection of the reader, but there is the other -the personality of the author, and there we found a gem: his interest in social concerns. This is the backbone that connects to almost all accounts. Example: KLM Flight 236, Memoirs of Festival, The Return, La Rectora, etc. I confess that few, very few times, I read a writer living abroad as rooted in social justice, the common good and the longing for a better future, the Peruvian-American dream, without falling into pamphleteer or too little credibility. This book is the exception. To sample one-or two-pearls: the story La Rectora-set in a school in Lima, tells us what happened to the student, Pimbolo, who defended a black student who was the victim of discrimination by his classroom teacher and because of this, Pimbolo was suspended. His mother on hearing this, visited the jail where his father was a politiical prisoner, the reason being having written an article denouncing government corruption. Upon learning the facts, gives a surprising answer, as we read the final paragraph:
"El Sexto" was crowded with political prisoners. Don Rogger saw Dora rushing in haste, ready to tell what happened to Pimbolo. She frantically told him that Pimbolo was insubordinate to a teacher's authority when he defended a black child. When this happened, a smile was reflected in Don Rogger's eyes:
- Dora, we are winning, we are winning, Dora - said Don Rogger. The story ends there.
But this is not the only story where the author shows his 'political' stand. It is also reflected in "KLM flight 236." The protagonist is a Peruvian waiting at Lima's airport, Jorge Chàvez, with his adventures to leave the country. With him is his partner, a foreign woman, Bzyana, and both seek to reach London. "Flavio looked sick, skeletal. Bzyana was rather a reflection of health. Flavio thought that poverty, repression and famine that struck Peru in the eighties did not make an effect on her. The story continues with the protagonist being detained at Bogota airport where the plane stopped over, and where he suffered abuse from the guards who mistook him for a drug dealer. "Hands up!" "He raised his sweaty hands." He thought of Peru, "the methodology of the police in that country was equal to that operating in his country." "I thought those things only happened to Latin Americans." It continued with the fear of being arrested at London airport, which does not occur due to Bzyana. The end of the story is happy, with a depth of compassion, sorrow and deep sadness. "Through the window of the room, Flavio saw the last light of day softly disappear. Flavio embraced Bzyana, and closed his eyes, as if to embrace life. She fell sleep. Flavio was immersed in her breasts and, as a child, cried .... "
The hero had escaped and became shielded by love ... in exile.
But, careful, do not believe what the author, Jorge Aliaga, writes are things that have happened. No. A literary work is a mixture of reality and imagination, which ends up being fiction. Put it at full volume: it is a lie but a lie that has a lot of truth, a truth supported, reinforced, spurred on, loved by the reader. Who has not been tempted into exile? Exile, fleeing a dictatorship or looking for a better future? Thousands. This why I assert that, among the few books that tell this story, "Mufidad, La angolesa", it may be the only one that renders this sad tradition which has started to change.
The book has other values: style, sentence structure, views, etc.,- but for reasons of space and addiction -I am left with this: the Peruvian American drama.
Undoubtedly, one of the good books, perhaps the last, written by a compatriot living abroad who never forgets that behind him there was, is, and always will exist an entire nation. A round of applause.
But this is not the only story where the author shows his 'political' stand. It is also reflected in "KLM flight 236." The protagonist is a Peruvian waiting at Lima's airport, Jorge Chàvez, with his adventures to leave the country. With him is his partner, a foreign woman, Bzyana, and both seek to reach London. "Flavio looked sick, skeletal. Bzyana was rather a reflection of health. Flavio thought that poverty, repression and famine that struck Peru in the eighties did not make an effect on her. The story continues with the protagonist being detained at Bogota airport where the plane stopped over, and where he suffered abuse from the guards who mistook him for a drug dealer. "Hands up!" "He raised his sweaty hands." He thought of Peru, "the methodology of the police in that country was equal to that operating in his country." "I thought those things only happened to Latin Americans." It continued with the fear of being arrested at London airport, which does not occur due to Bzyana. The end of the story is happy, with a depth of compassion, sorrow and deep sadness. "Through the window of the room, Flavio saw the last light of day softly disappear. Flavio embraced Bzyana, and closed his eyes, as if to embrace life. She fell sleep. Flavio was immersed in her breasts and, as a child, cried .... "
The hero had escaped and became shielded by love ... in exile.
But, careful, do not believe what the author, Jorge Aliaga, writes are things that have happened. No. A literary work is a mixture of reality and imagination, which ends up being fiction. Put it at full volume: it is a lie but a lie that has a lot of truth, a truth supported, reinforced, spurred on, loved by the reader. Who has not been tempted into exile? Exile, fleeing a dictatorship or looking for a better future? Thousands. This why I assert that, among the few books that tell this story, "Mufidad, La angolesa", it may be the only one that renders this sad tradition which has started to change.
The book has other values: style, sentence structure, views, etc.,- but for reasons of space and addiction -I am left with this: the Peruvian American drama.
Undoubtedly, one of the good books, perhaps the last, written by a compatriot living abroad who never forgets that behind him there was, is, and always will exist an entire nation. A round of applause.
(Translated by Jorge Aliaga Cacho).
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