The Harp and the Shadow: The Beatification of Christopher Columbus: A Novel [Hardcover]

Alejo Carpentier (Author), Thomas & Carol Christensen (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1990 | ISBN-10: 0916515710 | ISBN-13: 978-0916515713

"An extraordinary display of historical inquisitiveness and stylistic maturity."-The New York Times Book Review

Exploring the consequences of the European discovery of the Americas and challenging the myth of Columbus, Alejo Carpentier-"the father of magical realism"-studies the first meetings of the Western and American cultures and the tragic consequences of tarnished and abandoned idealism.

Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) is considered one of the fathers of modern Latin American literature. He lived in Cuba, France, and Venezuela.

Thomas Christensen and Carol Christensen have translated the works of Julio Cortázar, Laura Esquivel, and Carlos Fuentes.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This posthumous work by the influential Cuban writer does not have the scale of either The Lost Steps or Explosion in a Cathedral , but its baroque subject matter, languid, introspective prose and pointed irony show why the author is often considered the father of magical realism. Examining the ambiguous mythology surrounding Christopher Columbus, the novel begins in the 19th century with stuffy Pope Pius IX considering the explorer's possible beatification. Next, the dying Columbus relives his sea voyages to the New World. The last section returns to the Vatican and the question of sainthood with a rollicking debate waged by Victor Hugo, Jules Verne and the long dead Columbus. The chicanery Columbus used to finance his trips and his ambivalent feelings toward the Indians he enslaved and exploited are portrayed in unflinching detail. As presented here, Columbus's real motivation was hubris--the flaw that finally prevents his beatification. In the end Columbus remains an enigma, which is perhaps as it should be.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

Product Details

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Mercury House, Inc. (May 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916515710
• ISBN-13: 978-0916515713
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #658,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rethinking Columbus, April 27, 2000

By 

Dan DeCoursey (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Harp and the Shadow (Paperback)

Written towards the end of Alejo Carpentier's life, The Harp and the Shadow is both a historical analysis of the Conquest and a personal reflection on fame. Carpentier-the inventor of magical realism, according to Carlos Fuentes-reinterprets Columbus's voyages as driven by greed, not honor.

In the second section of book, we visit Columbus on his death bed. As Columbus awaits his confessor, he revisits his first voyages to the Americas, lamenting the fact that, in one section of his diary, he mentions "GOLD" more than two hundred times, while he mentions the Lord God only fourteen times. At the end of the novel, the ghost of Columbus visits his canonization hearing, at which members of the clergy argue for and against the sainthood of Christopher Columbus. As history tells us, the campaign to canonize Columbus failed, largely because he was responsible for initiating the slave trade from the Americas to Europe. Fittingly, the ghost of Columbus is condemned to wander the earth and contemplate his infamy for eternity.

This book was published in 1979 as Carpentier's cancer spread. One year later, Carpentier died. Perhaps Carpentier contemplated his own literary fame. His name often circulated as a possible recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Most likely, he never won because of his strong support for the Cuban Revolution. We can still remember Carpentier, however, as someone who helped us better understand the history of the Americas by humanizing Columbus.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excelente novela barroca e ironica .., September 19, 2000

By 

Luis Méndez (Republica Dominicana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Harp and the Shadow (Paperback)

Esta obra es un análisis de la vida de Cristóbal Colon, vista desde un punto de vista irónico y divertido a la vez. El autor hace uso del lenguaje barroco y la novela, aunque es corta, parece cargada. La traducción esta muy bien hecha y da un poco de trabajo por todas las palabras que usa Carpentier en el original. La vida de colon es vista desde la perspectiva presente, por un papa que favorece la santificación del marinero para crear una unión entre las iglesias Europeas y Americanas. El segundo capitulo muestra a un hombre movido por la ambición de un oro que parece eludirle en cada viaje y quien después de fallidos intentos ve en el negocio de esclavos el beneficio que tanto le elude. Hacia el final de su vida tenemos un hombre que no desconoce el valor de su gloria, pero se ve plagado, porque quizás no le reconocerán su gloria. Ya el capitulo final, muestra la derrota del personaje al serle negada la canonización. Es un excelente libro, escrito un año antes de la muerte de Alejo Carpentier y que deja ver claramente su estilo barroco y su uso de la lengua española. Es también una excelente traducción al ingles

Luis Mendez