Customer Reviews

Abaddon El Exterminador (Spanish Edition)

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As typical as it is to enclose the best literary masterpieces in centuries rather than in periods, I believe this powerful novel deserves its place amongst the best of Latin America and the world during the past century. Sabato is not your common author; his few works portray, more than anything, the internal anguish suffered due to the solitude and terror of the soul. This novel in particular is some sort of literary behemoth or leviathan. It possesses continuous signals of being a creature of its own, mythical and monstrous at times. But it also deals with commonplace situations, excellent dark humour and devastating poetic narration. If you like novels with experimenting in prose (diversity of narration) this novel does it without a flaw. Few authors have used such an agile and fresh 'editing' of their work. The novel is composed of nearly a hundred and more sections which are like individual impressions of the circumstances around a particular date. However, and despite the plethora of characters, the novel keeps its unity. Sabato himself is one of the characters, in a challenging exposure of his innermost fears and dysfunctionalities. Much of the fiction is probably a simple recolection of his true situation in reality. There isn't a specific plot but a compendium of interrelated people in Buenos Aires, before the armageddon of their lives. Full of symbolisms, Abaddon (an apocalyptic angel of destruction) repeatedly deals with the forces of evil and the malignant spirits that govern the world of shadows inside oneself. I hardly give 5 stars to a book, but this is a special one; I am fully convinced this is one of the best novels ever written and definately underrated by history. This work deserves the merit of being read by anyone ready to enter that sordid world of Sabato, that is so majestic and intimidating.

This book will take you to another world. Ernesto's literature is not for everyone, it's a little hard to take its real meaning, but it worth to be read!